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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
1997. - 2001.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2001.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4425 mm
1695 mm
1410 mm
415 liters
1312 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4438 mm
1702 mm
1447 mm
520 liters
1580 liters
55 liters
1997 Honda Civic Aero Deck
1998 Ford Focus Wagon

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1493 cc
114 hp
134 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1596 cc
100 hp
145 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1090 kg
11.6 s
190 km/h
8.8 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
161 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1118 kg
11.3 s
185 km/h
9.4 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
185 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1159 kg
12.5 s
176 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.2 l/100km
196 g/km

Expenses

1400 EUR
Price from
800 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the small family car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Honda-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 114hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 100hp engine designed by Ford.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the Ford being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the American car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Honda does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Honda with an average rating of 4.7, and models under the Ford badge with 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Civic as average reliability-wise, and Focus is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.3, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Ford is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 185 kilometers per hour, 5km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (41 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Honda appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the American car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Ford offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Ford. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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