1. steering and handling:
The Jazz feels more nimble and ready to change direction. It has firmer steering than the 1.8 Civic (although the 2.0 Civic feels as good as the Jazz), despite having an electric rack. It comes on lower profile tires, which helps handling a lot. The Civic has lower-grip tires, which leads to a little more understeer, and it has a softer rear suspension set-up. The Civic 2.0 feels better, though... so maybe the 1.8 will perform well with better tires and some lowering springs/shocks.
The Jazz feels just like a go-kart. The Civic has a great chassis, but it can't quite match that feeling... not in this guise.
2. suspension and ride:
The Civic rides more comfortably. The Jazz can feel a bit crashy over bumps, but it's not bouncy, like some other subcompacts, at least.
3. acceleration / power:
The Jazz is great for a 1.5... but the Civic is a scorcher. The Civic 1.8 MT accelerates like a 2 liter car. The R18 is a smooth performer, with linear power that just builds and builds as you press on. Response is instant, and it should easily give you a top speed of over 200 km/h.
Special mention should be made for the Civic's manual transmission. It's the best transmission under 2 million pesos... bar none. It's short-sticked and snickety-snick fast. If speed is all that matters to you, you can just forget comparos and go out and buy the Civic now...
4. interior space / passenger comfort:
The Jazz's seat cushoins are set low to help give more headroom. Not a problem if you're driving just two up or around town, but it's bad for your knees in traffic, if you're one of us "old school" guys. (Or just old). Otherwise, it has excellent space, both front or back. It's narrow, yes, but that's to be expected. The Jazz's cargo flexibility is unmatched in any segment. It has better visibility than the Civic, too.
The Civic has the advantage of having a trunk, which will carry cargo even when you're riding four or five up. It's wider, so it can carry more people. Space is very good, even compared to other "compacts". Rear seats are comfortable, but the front seats have a very hard backrest, which can cause back pains in long distance driving... better order seat covers with extra padding for the back.
5. overall design and design functionality:
Jazz is more functional. Civic is a little too "design over function". The Civic's swoopy profile gives it a dash longer than beejesus (you can't see the front of the car over the dash... it's worse if you're short), and a mail slot rear window which gives a poor view of what's at your rear bumper. They keep crowing about the split tier dash, and the ability of drivers to drive without taking their eyes far off the road. What it actually means is that you have to take your eyes
farther off the road to see the closer instruments.
The Jazz has practical, upright windows, and the most clever interior known to man. Hands down, it's one of the most revolutionary products of our decade.
6. maintenance (including parts availability and casa service performance):
Smaller car = cheaper parts and less fluids. CVT might be expensive to replace, but no local failures yet... and that includes turbocharged guys... (Spoon reportedly has a 180hp tuner car running on the CVT).
7. fuel efficiency (km/L):
Toss-up. The Civic MT has a better EPA rating than the Jazz/Fit MT in the US, but I still don't quite believe it. We'll need to see a Honda Econo-run pitting the two against each other. Still, the Civic MT has long gearing, and it allows you to cruise at high speeds with low revs.
8. feedback (reviews):
Read around... lots of satisfied owners of both cars here. You can also get an idea of what problems to watch out for.
your verdict?
Jazz 1.5 VTEC MT
The extra money you save over the CVT and Civic 1.8 can buy you lots of toys...
or: Civic 2.0 MT - for the power...
But honestly, it's a personal choice. Whichever you like better is the one you should get.
HELP po: jazz vs civic
. Thus you can forget about the 1.8V variant.
. Still ends cheaper than a 2.0S manual version.
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