Let's compare the brand new 2020 Toyota Corolla XLE and see if it is now a better car than the 2019 Honda Civic EX and 2019 Hyundai Elantra Limited.
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| 2020 Toyota Corolla, via allcarseveryday |
The 2020 Toyota Corolla XLE starts life at $23,950. On the
exterior, that money gets you LED headlights, daytime running lights and
taillights. It also makes heated mirrors and 16-inch alloy wheels standard on the Corolla. On the interior, the Toyota sports a moonroof, automatic climate control, and more premium cloth seats that are eight-way power adjustable for the driver and four for the passenger, as well as being heated for those two occupants too. The steering wheel is leather trimmed and has the controls for some active safety features, Bluetooth, and the voice recognition software. Behind the wheel sits the Corolla’s new seven-inch TFT multi-information display in the gauge cluster. In the center of the dash sits an eight-inch touchscreen housing Toyota’s infotainment system. The Corolla is brought into the 21st
century with Apple CarPlay compatibility, but still lacks AndroidAuto. WiFi and
SiriusXM are on a subscription basis, and the vehicle comes with six speakers
standard, though there is a 9-speaker including subwoofer system as on option
on the XLE. Entering the front two doors of the Corolla is easy with the smart
key, but the rear doors are just regular power locks that are activated by
pressing the button on the key. The key also supports push-button start, which
is standard on the XLE. All four windows have one-touch power up and down, and
the car has four cupholders, a 12V auxiliary power outlet and two USB ports.
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| 2019 Honda Civic, via allcarseveryday |
Next in line is the 2019 Honda Civic EX, which costs
$23,400. The headlights are projector beam Halogen units, but the DRLs are LED
and the taillights have integrated LED lightbars. Like the Corolla, the Civic
also has heated outside mirrors, but adds fog lights and bigger alloy wheels into
the mix, at 17 inches. On the interior, the Civic has push-button and remote
start, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and dual-zone automatic
climate control. The seats are cloth, and the front two heated. However, the
driver is the only front seat to have power adjustment, the passenger only gets
power adjustment on the most expensive Touring trim. The Civic has Bluetooth like
the Corolla, and has two additional speakers, bringing the total to eight. A
450-watt system with ten speakers including a subwoofer is available on the
top-of-the line Touring trim. The EX also has two USB ports, and supports both
Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto, which could be a decision changing factor for
some diehard Android fans. The center console touchscreen is seven inches in diagonal
and SiriusXM has a standard subscription when you purchase the car, like the
Toyota. The Civic also has walk away auto-lock, where when the driver leaves a
certain radius of the vehicle with the key, the Civic will automatically lock
itself. A power moonroof, and automatic up/down windows in the front are the
final features that round out the interior of the Civic.
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| 2019 Hyundai Elantra, via allcarseveryday |
Finally, let’s look at the 2019 Elantra Limited. The Hyundai
is the least expensive at $22,700. The Hyundai is the only vehicle with power
folding mirrors, and they’re also heated. The headlights, taillights and
daytime running lights are all LED, and the wheels are 17 inches like the
Civic. On the interior, the Hyundai is the only of the three without a
moonroof, which was initially surprising. However, the Elantra more than makes
up for that by being the only vehicle with leather seating and it also has heated
front seats. Other features that are more common at this price range are the
dual-zone climate control, one touch up/down for the driver’s window, and a
six-way power driver’s seat with lumbar support. The steering wheel and shift
knob are both leather as well, like in the Civic. Other modern features include
a wireless charging pad for cellphones with that capability, and Apple CarPlay
and Android Auto. The Elantra also has remote keyless entry with a proximity
sensor and push-button start. Because this is the highest trim level Elantra,
it also has an Infinity eight speaker sound system with a subwoofer. Music is chosen
through the seven-inch touch-screen in the center console, which also has
Bluetooth, a SiriusXM subscription, and HD radio, like the other cars. The
rearview mirror is auto-dimming, and the gauge cluster is a 3.5-inch TFT
monochromatic unit. Strangely, the Hyundai is skimpy in some areas, like the
gauge cluster, power seating and one-touch auto up/down windows, but then has
extremely valuable big-ticket items standard, like leather, heated seats, and
the audio system. Regardless, it’s also the cheapest, so expect the Hyundai to
win the value segment.
The 2020 Corolla sedan is not yet rated by the
IIHS, but the hatchback was tested in 2019 and received a Top Safety Pick from
the organization as well as scoring ‘Good’ in every category except headlights,
where the trim of the vehicle determined if it received an ‘Acceptable’ rating
or a ‘Marginal’ rating. Expect the sedan to have very similar if not identical
ratings; it’s safe to say the new sedan will be a Top Safety Pick as well. As
for the active safety features on the 2020 Corolla, Toyota went full stop here,
with some new technologies I haven’t seen before. The Corolla has a
pre-collision system with low-light pedestrian detection and daylight cyclist
detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, road edge detection with
sway warning system, automatic high-beams, road sign assist, lane-tracing
assist, full-speed dynamic radar cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and
lane departure alert with steering assist.
The 2019 Civic scored ‘Good’ in every category except
headlights, where it got ‘Poor’ and the child seat anchors ease of use, where
it got ‘Acceptable’. The headlight rating is probably due to the Halogen
headlights, whereas the other two cars have LEDs. The active safety on the 2019
Civic includes forward collision warning, lane departure warning and lane keep
assist, collision mitigation system, road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise
control, auto-high beam headlights, and Honda LaneWatch.
The 2019 Elantra is a ‘Top Safety Pick Plus’ besting the
Toyota with the addition of the ‘Plus’ badge. It scored good in every category
except headlights, where the score varied from ‘Poor’ all the way to ‘Good’
depending on trim. Since we are testing the Limited trim of the Hyundai, it
would get the ‘Good’ rating from its LEDs. The child seat anchors were also
rated ‘Acceptable’. The Elantra also comes standard with blind-spot warning
with cross-traffic assist, forward collision avoidance assist, lane departure
warning, lane keep assist, driver attention warning, and automatic high-beam
assist.
One of the number one priorities of a compact
car buyer is the fuel economy, so let’s see which car sips the least gas per
mile. The 2020 Corolla is rated at 29 miles per gallon of gas in the city, and
37 on the highway for a combined average of 32. Amazingly, the Civic achieves
32 in the city, and 42 on the highway, and this car has been out since 2016. The
Elantra nearly ties the Toyota with 28 in the city and 37 highway. To put into
perspective how amazing those Honda numbers are, remember that the Elantra was
redesigned for 2019 and isn’t even a year old yet, and the Corolla is fully a
2020 model. Not only do they not beat the Civic like the industry trends
typically move, the Civic is getting three to five mpg better than the other
two; which is literally miles ahead when it comes to this category.
Let’s see if we can figure out why the Civic
does so much better in fuel economy, by taking a look at what’s under the hood.
The new Corolla sticks with the old 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, but old
engines should have at least had their kinks worked out. By itself, the engine
makes a measly 139 horsepower and 126 pound-feet of torque, which isn’t much by
today’s standards, even for this class. The Corolla has a Continuously Variable
Transmission, or CVT, that has no actual gears but instead has infinitely
swappable ratios. Oftentimes, these are used to save gas, but auto enthusiasts
usually don’t prefer these transmissions. The average consumer probably won’t
notice much difference in drivability, however. The 2020 Corolla naturally,
then, is a bit of a slowpoke, taking about 8.6 seconds to reach 60 miles per
hour from a standstill. The 2019 Civic has a much newer engine—a 1.5-liter
turbocharged four-cylinder. Bringing the Civic to modern day, the little engine
also makes 174 ponies and 162 pound-feet of twist through Honda’s iteration of
the CVT. Because of the huge power gap between it and the Corolla, the Civic
takes only 6.6 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour. The Elantra Limited has a
2.0-liter four-cylinder, making 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet. The Elantra
is the only one of the three to stick with a traditional automatic gearbox, coming
with 6 speeds. The 0-60 is 9 seconds flat, and that can probably be attributed
to the old six-speed. Expect a mid-cycle update with either a CVT, or more likely,
an eight-speed auto, as Hyundai isn’t the biggest proponent of the CVT yet.
The Toyota is rated as ‘Much Better than
Average’ by Consumer Reports’ extensive field testing, which is the highest
rating. The Civic gets a rating of ‘Average’ like much of the rest of the Honda
line-up. In my experience, Hondas have been just as reliable as my Toyotas, but
I won’t let my opinion cloud this objective comparison. The Hyundai Elantra
manages to get a ‘Much Better than Average’ rating from the same organization.
Now let’s move on to the usability of each
vehicle. The Elantra and Honda seemed to have the roomiest back seats to me,
but the Elantra was a little more uncomfortable than the other two. Two cup
holders are in the front of each car behind the shifter, and the Honda’s can
slide into or out of view depending on if the driver or passenger wants to use
them. All three had a small space for phones, pens, or other trinkets that
passengers bring in the car under the screen in the dash but before the
shifter, which is nice. As for trunk space, the Toyota is smack dab in the middle
of the other two at 13.1 cubic feet, the Civic brings up the rear with 11.9
cubes and the Elantra is the roomiest with 14.4.
And finally, our last area of evaluation is
styling. Of course, this category is purely subjective, so if your opinions
differ from mine, feel free to adjust points assigned to this category at the
end of the video. The 2020 Corolla is a huge improvement over the previous
generation, and I can’t express how far Toyota has come, especially since the
2009 to 2013 Corolla. I can finally say I like the looks of the Corolla, and
for the first time I had fun filming it. That being said, I’ve always loved
this generation of Civic’s styling, so it will be hard for me to pick between
the two. I suppose I like the front of the Civic more, mainly because of the
goofy line of sheet metal in between the headlights on the Corolla. However, I
do like the rear of the Corolla better, though I think it’s kind of a mix
between the old generation Elantra and Ford Fiesta, weirdly. Either way, they
executed well this time. Again, since about 2012, I have loved Hyundai’s design
language, and I don’t think they’ve lost their way. However, I’m not sure about
the front of the Elantra. Hyundai design has been flowy and sinewy, and it has
worked for them even on the new Santa Fe and Sonata. It was a break in style to
go with such sharp and pointy lines on the front of this Elantra, and it
doesn’t even match the rest of the car. Not a big fan of the front, but the
rear looks decent. As for the interiors, again the Toyota is leaps and bounds
better than the previous generation, and somehow exudes some Tesla dash design
here. Typical Toyota dashboards start the beltline low and move it upward
toward the glovebox, which you can still see in this car, but it’s less
emphasized. Instead the main line is a horizontal, unmoving line across the
dash, only interrupted by the large touchscreen, like a Tesla. The two-tone
interior that can be had on some trims is stylish as well but be careful of the
white vinyl…I was seeing it already getting dirty on brand new cars on dealer
lots. The Honda’s interior is not unattractive, but I can just tell it’s
getting a little older compared to these two. There are too many surfaces and
trim pieces transitioning between each other and it looks a little busy. I’ve
almost always considered Honda interiors too busy though, and they too have
come a long way since they used to put two screens on the center console. The
Hyundai has a beautifully integrated interior, with the proportions just right.
The dash moves nicely from left to right, like you’re reading a book, and there
are no hard breaks.
Here are the rankings of each car on a scale
from one to ten in each of the seven categories. I was even surprised by the
2019 Hyundai Elantra, a car that came from behind slightly in this competition.
The Civic has been extremely competitive since 2016, so I thought this
comparison would be between the brand-new Corolla and the award-winning Civic. I
knew the Elantra would win value from the start, but the reliability was
surprising and in the rest of the categories it was really a jack of all trades
and a master of none. The Elantra and Corolla score big in safety for ‘Top
Safety Pick’ and lots of new driver assist features in the Corolla and the
‘Plus’ designation in the Elantra. The Civic dominated fuel economy and
powertrain for its stellar miles per gallon and much newer engine, though it’s
still the oldest car of the group. Where it really gets hurt is reliability,
because I assign two points to each step up or down in Consumer Reports’
ratings. The three were close in usability; I docked the Civic a half point
because of the trunk space. Overall, the two newest cars did the best, with the
Corolla being within a half point of the winning Elantra. These are three
vehicles that I would not have a problem recommending to family and friends,
and I truly believe all three are stellar options that no consumer could go
wrong with. And that wasn’t as true in the last compact comparison test with
the old Corolla and the current Sentra. But in the end, the 2019 Hyundai
Elantra Limited is the King of this year’s compact sedan test. Now we await the
new Sentra.