2017 Honda Civic vs. 2017 Ford Focus: Head to Head

Which Should You Buy?

The compact car market has long been dominated by Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda. But in the 2012 model year, that all changed, when Ford began to sell the third generation of the Focus, offering the best hope an American automaker had to rival the Corolla or Civic.

But last year Honda doubled down with an all-new Civic, which boasts a large and upscale cabin, crisp handling, and excellent fuel economy. The Civic lineup grows this year with the addition of the Civic hatchback, Si, and Type R variants for 2017.

So which is better? The practical Focus or the upscale Civic? Read on to learn more!

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Pricing

Winner: 2017 Ford Focus (Details Below)

The Focus starts at $16,775 for the base sedan. It comes standard with a backup camera, blind spot mirrors, two USB ports, SYNC infotainment with voice recognition. Not counting the performance models, the Titanium hatchback is the most expensive trim. It starts at $24,075 and comes with 17-inch aluminum wheels, heated seats, and a self-parking function.

Meanwhile the Honda Civic starts at $18,740 for an LX sedan that comes with a backup camera, a 7-inch touch screen, Bluetooth hands-free smartphone connectivity, remote entry, and automatic climate control. The range-topping Sport Touring hatchback starts at $28,300. It comes with navigation, leather seats, and a premium audio system. The Focus wins on pricing here.

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Safety

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The Focus scores an impressive 9.4 in U.S. News & World Report safety scoring, but you can’t beat a perfect score. The Civic earns a perfect 10.0 out of 10, and five stars in all phases of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations’ (NHTSA) crash testing.

The Civic also earns a best score of Good in all phases of crash testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and is an IIHS Top Safety Pick. You can’t do much better than that.

While the Focus earns a Five-Star Overall rating, it earns five stars in all but rollover testing. The Focus earns a best score of Good in all phases of crash testing, except for small overlap front crash test, in which is scores Acceptable. That’s pretty good, but can’t rival the Civic’s perfect score.

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Seat Comfort and Refinement

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The Honda Civic is not only one of the roomiest options in U.S. News & World Report’s compact car rankings, it also has one of the nicest interiors. There are better quality materials all around, and upper level trims are downright luxurious. It results in an interior score of 8.3.

The Focus earns an admirable 7.8 for interiors – a credit to its stylish design, good materials used, and solid fit and finish. Front row seating is spacious, with plenty of head and legroom. But that all changes when you get in the back seat, where legroom disappears. 

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Interior Technology

Winner: 2017 Ford Focus (Details Below)

The Focus comes with the latest version of Ford’s SYNC infotainment system. This is one of the better infotainment systems you can find in a compact car today. It is responsive to commands, has easy-to-read fonts and icons, and has a very sensible menu layout.

The touch-screen system in the Civic, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. The menu layouts make less sense, and while it isn’t the maddening dual-screen system found in the Accord, it is far from perfect. It has touch-capacitive buttons for major functions, but some hard buttons would be nice. The absence of an actual volume knob is a real killer.

Both of these systems offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity. 

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Cargo Space

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The Civic sedan has 15.1 cubic feet of trunk space – besting the Ford’s 13.2 cubic feet of trunk space. Move to the hatchback, and the Civic still has the edge. The Civic hatch has 25.7 cubic feet, while the Focus has 23.3 cubic feet.

When you drop the rear seat in the Civic hatch, you can access 46.2 cubic feet of cargo space – slightly better than average for this corner of the market. Drop the rear seat of the Focus hatch, and you have 43.9 cubic feet of cargo space – slightly below the market average.

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Fuel Efficiency

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The Civic sedan comes standard with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. When mated to the continuously variable transmission, it returns fuel economy of 31 mpg in the city and 40 on the highway. A 1.5-liter turbo is available that achieves 32 mpg in the city, and an impressive 42 on the highway.

The Focus has a 2.0-liter engine, and when paired to a six-speed automatic transmission, returns 26 mpg in the city and 38 on the highway. A 1.0-liter turbo is also available, offering 30 mpg in the city and 40 on the highway.

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Performance

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The base engine in the Civic sedan is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 158 horsepower, while an available 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder makes 174 horsepower. The acceleration in the base engine has been described as satisfying, and the turbo engine as “zippy.”

The base 2.0-liter engine in the Focus makes 160 horsepower, while the available 1.0-liter turbo makes 123 horsepower, but is the most efficient. Some critics have said these engines provide adequate power, while others have said the power offered is merely passable.

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Reliability

Winner: 2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

In J.D. Power & Associates Vehicle Dependability Studies, the Civic earns 3.5 out of five, which translates into somewhere between Better than Most and Among the Best.

The Focus earns 2.5 out of five, which equates to the middle place between About Average and Better than Most. While this is still respectable, it falls short of the Civic’s strong reliability score.

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The Winner Is …

2017 Honda Civic (Details Below)

The Focus has some really terrific technology, in the form of the available SYNC 3 infotainment system. It also has a lower price point, across the board. But that can’t make up for all the ways that the Civic edges out the Focus.

Be it safety, interior comfort, cargo space, performance, fuel economy, and even reliability, the 2017 Honda Civic is a better vehicle than its rival from the Blue Oval.

• See 2017 Honda Civic Photos
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• Read the 2017 Honda Civic Full Review
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More Shopping Tools From U.S. News & World Report

Still can't decide betweent the Civic and Focus? Read the 2017 Honda Civic and 2017 Ford Focus full reviews to learn more. Then, when you're ready to buy, use our Best Price Program tool to get the best deal on your new car purchase.