2019 Audi A3 vs Honda Civic

What's the difference?

Great looking and good to drive, if only the A3 35TFSI Sedan was better value for money, had more advanced safety tech and a little extra room.

Well, you might want to hold onto your money and wait. A new generation A3 is coming within the next 18 months and it should tick a couple more of those boxes – can you wait that long?

The Civic was pretty good when it landed in 2016 but remains wilfully weird and lacking in a couple of details. The lack of advanced safety at the lower end of the range is also extremely frustrating. Even though the Mazda3 range now starts where the VTi-S is priced, it's loaded with safety gear and handles well into the bargain.

Where the Civic wins out in this class is the clever interior, excellent build quality and a long reputation for reliability. I just wish Honda would fling that deeply ordinary 1.8-litre engine and get a new set of front seats.

In my view, the second-most-beautiful small, four-door saloon on Earth is the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan. But the top award has to go to the Audi A3 Sedan. And that's saying something, because while the A-Class Sedan has only just arrived, the A3 Sedan has been around since 2013 - and it still looks stunning.

Yes, there has been some cosmetic surgery – the grille has grown and the headlights have been redesigned, but mostly everything has been left as it was when it first appeared six years ago.

That's a good thing, because it's beautiful; from that sharp character line which leads down the side to the little boot lip, to the perfect proportions which make it look like a mini Audi A8 limousine.

And it is small. The dimensions show it to be less than 4.5m long, two metres across (counting the side mirrors), and only 1.4m tall. How does that affect practicality? Hold your horses, we're getting there.

The A3 35 TFSI Sedan's cockpit has a modern design with clean styling, but that seven-inch media screen is beginning to look small compared to the latest, larger ones now that have now become common. The 12.3-inch virtual instrument cluster you can see in my images (sorry about the dirty windscreen) looks amazing, but it's an option.

A3s, no matter what the grade, have almost identical cabins as standard – so you're not missing out on much in the way of luxurious touches by choosing the entry car. They all have the same aluminium inlays and metallic treatment on the air vents. The seats are leather, but they aren't the same sports buckets you'll get on the higher grades.

Yep, the Civic is still not the easiest car in the world to look at when you're front or rear on. The nose is a mess of angles and protuberances and appears to have a catastrophic underbite.

The lights are a weird shape and there's just way too much going on. The new piano black grille isn't helping. The giant carbuncles that are the rear lights still frighten me in traffic, but less so after a few years of bedding in.

The profile is a welcome relief but look closely at the creases and slashes and you realise there is still a fair bit going on. The new 16-inch alloys are handsome if a little lost in the big wheelarches.

The cabin hasn't had any major changes, the biggest update being a chequered pattern on the seats fabric. Look out.

The Civic's interior is very clever, though. The high console features a double-decker arrangement where all the ugly plugs are hidden underneath the dash and you feed the cables up through a gap. The dash is still a festival of angles but the digital layout is a model of clarity. And boy is it big in there.

The A3 35 TFSI Sedan has five seats, but I'd only want to sit in two of them – yep, the front ones. Rear headroom is limited by that roofline to the point that I can't sit comfortably in the back (but I'm 191cm), but even if it was good, I've got almost zero leg room behind my driving position.

Boot space is good at 425 litres (85 litres more than the Sportback's cargo capacity), but cabin storage isn't terrific with two cupholders in the front but none in the back (you'll need to option them), a small centre console bin and tiny door pockets in the rear, but decent-sized ones in the front.

As for power outlets – there are two 12V points (one in the front and another in the rear) and one USB port which is for charging only.

It's so big inside the Civic, but then again, everything in the segment bar the Mazda3 has a voluminous interior. Still, the way Honda has organised the Civic is pretty much the best.

The boot has a massive 525 litres and you can drop the rear seats for yet more space. Honda doesn't offer a seats down figure as it is no doubt complicated by the narrow aperture.

Front and rear passengers are treated to two cupholders each for a total of four, bottle holders in each door, again for a total four and the central console houses a gigantic space you could stand bottles in as well as your cups.

Space for humans is generous. As you do sit low in the chassis, the roofline doesn't take all your headroom and the legroom available is hugely impressive given the car's footprint.

This is something Honda does well - the Jazz and HR-V are also super-roomy for rear seat passengers. Some larger sedans would beg to have this kind of legroom. It's also one of the few cars in the segment where the rear seat is reasonable for three people. Well, it's not an indecent squeeze, anyway.

The 2019 VTi-S ships with a natty new set of 16-inch alloy wheels, an eight-speaker stereo with DAB, climate control, cruise control, power windows, 7.0-inch touchscreen, reversing camera, cloth trim, leather steering wheel, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, rear privacy glass, 'LaneWatch' and a space-saver spare.

Without wishing to go overboard, the update to the multimedia system is life-changing. Okay, perhaps I went slightly overboard, but putting a physical volume knob along with proper shortcut buttons (even if they are a bit flimsy) is so much nicer than the volume and on/off arrangement of the 2018 model.

The software is still pretty basic but the inclusion of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto makes that a moot point and I'll always welcome them both.

The 35 TFSI Sedan has a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine making 110kW and 250Nm. You may have noticed that officially it is called the A3 35 TFSI CoD. The 'CoD' stands for 'Cylinder on Demand' and refers to this engine's cylinder deactivation ability to run on just two when cruising. The fuel saving advantages to this are obvious, but what if you don't do a lot of cruising? See the fuel section below.

It's pretty astounding that an engine this small can make 110kW, but still that's not a huge amount of grunt, and the 40 TFSI above it in the range, with its 140kW, would be my pick.

Now, what the heck does the 35 in 35 TFSI mean? And for that matter, the 40 in 40 TFSI? Well, in 2018 Audi began changing those numerals after the model name, swapping the 1.4 TFSI for 35 TFSI.

Previously the 1.4 indicated the size of the engine, but now the numerals hint at how much power it makes. So, 35 is the designation for an output of between 110 and 120kW; 40 is for 125-150kW; 45 is for those that make between 169 and 230kW and so on all the way up to 70, which is for an output greater than 400kW.

The lowest power an A3 Sedan comes in is the 35, but the Sportback has an even lower output entry grade – the 30, which is for Audis that makes between 81kW and 96kW. In the case of the A3 30 TFSI Sportback, if you're playing at home, it's 85kW.

Clear as dirt mixed with water? Thought so. Back to the story.

The 35 TFSI has a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, which isn't as smooth as a regular auto, but it shifts faster than one for a sporty driving feel.

Honda's 1.8-litre four-cylinder makes its second and final appearance in the Civic range, replaced by the 1.5-litre turbo in the VTi-L onwards.

Generating a reasonable 104kW and a modest 174Nm, a CVT auto connects the engine to the front wheels.

The 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine has cylinder deactivation and when not under load it can run on two cylinders alone. Audi says that after a combination of open and urban roads the A3 35 TFSI should use 4.9L/100km.

At the end of my week with the A3 35 TFSI I used 10.2L/100km, but I have to say that higher figure is down to driving it almost the entire time in the city (and also with a bit of enthusiasm). Having driven the entire A3 range I know that balancing this with motorway miles will bring that figure down dramatically.

Honda says the Civic will consume the cheap stuff at a rate of 6.8L/100km, and that's without any help from stop-start or energy recovery.

It's pretty lo-fi at Honda these days. My week with the Civic netted an entirely reasonable (and consistent with past experience) 8.4L/100km, which isn't bad at all.

If your only two criteria for a new car are that it be good looking and great to drive, then stop reading and buy the A3 Sedan now. Seriously, even though the engine in the 35 TFSI isn't that powerful, the balance and feel of the car when it was in my hands was excellent.

I've driven the entire A3 line-up from the 1.0-litre 30 TFSI to the RS3 monster at the top of the range, and it only gets better as you step up through the grades and models, with each adding more power and agility. But even at the very entry level that DNA is there for a great driving experience.

Our car was fitted with sports suspension that oddly comes with the Style Package, and even with the low profile 225/40 R18 Bridgestone Turanzas the ride was still comfortable and compliant.

The low centre of mass helps keep life composed, too. After having tested so many SUVs lately which often have a bouncy, rolly ride, it was refreshing to steer something low and composed; one that handled flat around corners and didn't become unsettled with a sudden change of direction.

The Civic is perplexing. So many things are good, and a few aren't.

The front seats are overstuffed and uncomfortable on longer trips, as they are in the HR-V and as they have been for the life of the Civic.

Also the same since Civic 10's debut is the lacklustre drivetrain. Every time I mention it, the comments are filled with people telling me the performance is perfectly fine from the 1.8.

It might be for some, but isn't for me. While plenty of blame can be laid at the feet of the buzzy 1.8-litre, it's really the CVT that blunts the performance.

The transmission is one of the better ones, but really, a proper six-speed auto would be much better here. Again, plenty of buyers won't care and in somewhat surprising news, that's okay - it's not a reason to avoid the car. You just have to know that the going is slow and noisy.

There is still a bit of tyre rumble from the Civic, too. It's not as bad as the previous car and is not ever-present. But anything other than a smooth surface will treat you to not only tyre rumble but a bit of suspension noise, particularly sharper frequencies like expansion joints.

The good things about the Civic certainly add a great deal of weight to the good side of the ledger. The driving position is good if you don't mind the seat itself and the ride and handling are for the most part excellent. The steering is particularly good, connecting you with the road below without getting too chatty. The ride is only upset by truly terrible surfaces, usually concrete slabs that have slipped.

The VTi and VTi-S feature six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls and a reversing cameras. The VTi-S also picks up LaneWatch, which is a camera pointing down the left-hand side of the car to show you what or who is in your blind spot. It's activated by the left-hand indicator or via a stalk-mounted button.

There are three top-tether baby seat anchor points and two ISOFIX points.

Frustratingly, you have to move to the VTi-L to get 'Honda Sensing', which includes things like AEB and lane keep assist. The Mazda3 has all the safety gear at this level and the i30 Active has AEB, why not the Civic?

The Civic scored a maximum five ANCAP stars in 2017.

The A3 35 TFSI is covered by Audi's three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or 12 months. That type of coverage used to be the norm five years ago, but now as more car makers move to five-year warranties, we would expect Audi to do likewise.

A service plan is available – it's a three-year/45,000km program which cost $1680.

This low score is down to the short warranty and a lack of service-by-service capped-price plan that spans a longer time period.

Honda offers a bang-on five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is a fine start, but you don't get roadside assist.

You can plan ahead on services costs on your annual/10,000km visits.

That kilometre figure is a bit cheeky because most of us will do more than that every year. The "tailored" servicing costs range from $284 for all but one of the first 10 services, and even then it only increases to $312.