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

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2005. - 2008.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4248 mm
1765 mm
1460 mm
485 liters
1352 liters
50 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4227 mm
1751 mm
1430 mm
330 liters
1150 liters
53 liters
2005 Honda Civic
2004 BMW 1 Series

Engine

Honda
2.2 N22A
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2204 cc
142 hp
340 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
122 hp
280 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1322 kg
8.6 s
205 km/h
6.7 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
140 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1285 kg
10.0 s
201 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
150 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
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

3200 EUR
Price from
2500 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Honda and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Honda-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 142hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 122hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. 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. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Honda is significantly less fault-prone, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Honda with an average rating of 4.7, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Civic as average reliability-wise, and 1 Series is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.8 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Honda is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 205 kilometers per hour, 4km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (52 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 German car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Honda being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Honda. 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, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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