North Georgia Ford Compares 2018 Ford Focus VS 2018 Honda Civic Near Jasper, GA

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Focus have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Civic doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

To help make backing safer, the Focus Titanium’s optional cross-path warning system uses wide-angle radar in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Civic doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Focus and the Civic have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, rearview cameras, available daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and rear parking sensors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Focus is safer than the Honda Civic:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Focus is safer than the Honda Civic:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

There are almost 3 times as many Ford dealers as there are Honda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Focus’ warranty.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Focus has a standard 590-amp battery. The Civic’s 500-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2017 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Ford vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 19 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 20th, below the industry average.

As tested in Motor Trend the Ford Focus 4 cyl. is faster than the Honda Civic 4 cyl. (manual transmissions tested):

As tested in Car and Driver the Ford Focus 4 cyl. is faster than the Honda Civic 4 cyl. (automatics tested):

On the EPA test cycle the Focus SE Sedan SFE Manual gets better fuel mileage than the Civic Sedan Manual (30 city/40 hwy vs. 28 city/40 hwy).

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Focus 1.0 ECOBoost’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The Civic doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Focus stops much shorter than the Civic:

The Focus Titanium offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Civic, it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

The Focus has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Civic’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Focus Titanium Sedan handles at .88 G’s, while the Civic EX Sedan pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Focus Titanium Hatchback handles at .90 G’s, while the Civic LX Coupe pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Focus Titanium Sedan executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Civic EX Sedan (27.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 27.6 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

The front grille of the Focus uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Civic doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the Focus Sedan is quieter than the Civic EX Sedan:

The Focus Sedan has .8 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front hip room, .9 inches more rear headroom and 5.5 inches more rear hip room than the Civic Sedan.

The Focus Hatchback has .8 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front hip room, .6 inches more rear headroom and 4 inches more rear hip room than the Civic Hatchback.

The power windows standard on both the Focus and the Civic have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Focus is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Civic prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Focus Titanium’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Civic’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Focus’ available exterior PIN entry system. The Civic doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Focus’ variable intermittent wipers have an adjustable delay to allow the driver to choose a setting that best clears the windshield during light rain or mist. The Civic LX’s standard fixed intermittent wipers only have one fixed delay setting, so the driver will have to manually switch them between slow and intermittent.

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors available for the Focus Titanium detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The Civic doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

On extremely cold Winter days, the Focus’ optional (except S) heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Civic doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Focus Titanium’s optional Active Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Civic doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Insurance will cost less for the Focus owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Focus with a number “1” insurance rate while the Civic is rated higher at a number “8” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Focus is less expensive to operate than the Civic because typical repairs cost less on the Focus than the Civic, including $11 less for a water pump, $136 less for a starter, $88 less for front struts and $77 less for a power steering pump.

The Focus was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 7 of the last 18 years. The Civic hasn’t been picked since 1996.