04 Rolla vs 04 Civic Si vs 04 Civic EX

04 'Rolla vs '04 Civic Si vs '04 Civic EX

I've read a couple posts on several different forums that Civics and Corollas are about evenly matched when it comes to runnin the 1/4, so I thought I'd do a lil test on my own. I own both an 04 Corolla S w/auto and an 04 Civic Si w/5spd. Both are stock.

My friend in my Si, me in the Corolla, and my other friend in his stock 04 Civic EX coupe w/5spd all went to the middle of nowhere on a long stretch and had a couple quick runs to see how each car held up against the other. We're all pretty good at runnin stick.

The first run was me in the Rolla and my friend in my Si. The Si took an easy lead on the launch, and once he hit 2nd, easily left me behind in the Rolla. I had the O/D turned off. I'd have to say he won by about 3 car lengths, if not slightly more.

2nd run was me in the Rolla vs my other friend in his Ex Coupe. He also took me off the start, but the Rolla stayed just behind his front fender. He hit 2nd, start inching ahead of me, but in the end, I only lost by about 1 1/2 car lengths.

On the 3rd run, I jumped in the Si and my friend jumped in the Rolla. I took him off the launch and left him behind after droppin into 2nd. Pretty much the same scenario as run #1.

I then ran the Si against the EX coupe, and the EX lost by only about 1 - 1 1/2 car lengths.

We repeated runs 1-3 again, and they were the same scenarios.

The auto in my Rolla is pretty disappointing. It just seemed to sluggish and slow when it shifted. Obivously the 5/spds have a greater advantage, so I'm sure the 5/spd Rolla would have handled the situations better.

As for handling, the Corolla beats out my Si anyday!

Just thought I'd share. Hope this doesnt lead to any flamewars!

the corolla handles better than the Si? Wow.

And yeah, I'd like to think that a 5/speed corolla stay fender to fender with the Si.

Yeah, surprisingly. Whenever I'm making a sharp turn in the Si, I feel like its gonna roll over. The Corolla S takes sharp turns quite smoothly, even better than my GAGT did. The Corolla also is a much smoother ride. Dont really feel the bumps and potholes in the road. My Si feels everything. I still love my Si though :wink:

Im also suprised at the handling comment. BTW anyone race a Si in a 5 speed rolla?

Of course 170hp through a 6-speed manual are gonna beat 130hp through a 4-speed automatic in a straight line. What did you expect?

As for the Corolla handling better, are you sure about that? If you felt the bumps in the Si that tells me the springs are stiffer and probably do better in the turns. Did you see how fast you were going through the turns in each?

The k20a3 in my Civic Si has 160hp, 132torque, and a 5spd, just to let you know. As for what I expected, well, I've read in a lot of threads that Corolla owners have beaten Civic EXs and Civic Si's, so I just wanted to do a little test of my own.

And as for the handling, I've driven the same roads and made the same sharp turns in both the Corolla and the Si, going usually the same speed, and the Corolla takes the turns a lot better.

fiexd up (CAI, no muffler) auto EX vs stock auto S. EX loses by 3 car lenghts.

I put my auto S with full exhaust agained an 02 civic LX manual, and i destroyed it without any prolbems.

Great Story....predictable results....two words.....tranny difference.

civic ex is heavier and has taller gears. plus less torque, less hp. thats good. its time for corolla to prove itself better than civics

But the Civic has a smoother gearbox with a no-brainer clutch. The Civic also has a FULLY independent suspension - much better tuning potential, as well as better wheel control.

A true test, would be to autocross each car with the same driver, around the same course. My guess? I'm still betting that the finishing order would be Honda Si, Honda EX and then the Corolla.

for the past 2 years, civics have had struts instead of wishbones...

on an autocross course, I'm sure that the cars are all evenly spaced enough that the driver will make the most difference. I think the differences in the cars are so minimal that it won't make enough of a difference.

i agree. its all about the one driving it. a guy might spent hella money to make his handling hella good, but if he's not a good driver, it's worthless