Compact Sport Coupe Comparison

It was the question of the day: "Can Chevy's updated Cavalier compete with the Honda Civic?" One male senior put it in plain terms: "A Chevy against that Honda? Dude, that is so whacked. No way!"

Honda's Civic has for years been the most popular canvas upon which young enthusiasts choose to paint their individualized performance picture. It's slickly built, economical, high-value transportation just as it comes and can be pumped up into a torrid straight-line or road-course performer. It remains a huge seller, a fact not lost on General Motors. So the Cavalier (and Pontiac Sunfire) were given yet another midlife update this year. The most important element is a 2.2-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine touted as today's Small Block Chevy; look for higher-performance variants in the future. The Cavalier/Sunfire also received new nose and tail treatments, revised wheel/tire treatments, and reshuffled colors/equipment levels this year.

In terms of performance, the Cavalier's got game. It runs 0-60 in 8.2 seconds, versus 9.1 for the Civic. The Honda trails it through the quarter mile, too, which all makes sense given the Chevy's half-liter-displacement advantage. Stopping distances are similar: 136 feet for the Civic, 132 for the Cavalier, the latter with noticeable brake fade. Skidpad grip is identical at 0.78 g, though the Civic weaved through our slalom cones a significant 2 mph quicker. Honda wins the EPA ratings test by a budget-impacting 6-city/5-highway mpg and has four front airbags to the Cavalier's two.

Give Honda the nod for interior quality. Its materials are monumentally better than Chevy's cheesy plastics and switchgear, which is important to a buyer group that's used to the quality feel of PDAs and high-tech audio gear. The Chevy packs a few extras, like available XM Satellite Radio. But even with deducting the cost of the latter, the Civic is a half a grand cheaper, as tested.

Among the two coupes, our test teens preferred the Civic by about three to one. "Hondas are built better, so you know they're going to last." "The Civic has more performance stuff available for it." "I like American cars, and the Chevy's way better looking." So there you have it.

GM is developing Cavalier/Sunfire tuner parts and sponsoring racing teams in an effort to gain street cred with the international performance crowd; it does appear to be making some headway. The revamped Cavalier is better than the old one--but the chance at being a real Civic beater will have to wait until the next-generation Chevy/Pontiac compact comes to market in '05.