2020 Honda Accord vs 2021 Toyota Corolla

Mary Walton’s “Car: A Drama of the American Workplace” details the development of the 1996 Ford Taurus from sketch to series production. The car was a legendary flop, a collage of compromise. Walton’s book explains why, and in juicy detail.

Bringing a new or redesigned vehicle to market isn’t easy, even if Honda makes it look that way. The 2020 Honda Accord Touring is the family sedan perfected, from its rakish good looks and delightful driving dynamics to its huge back seat and giant trunk. The 2020 Honda Accord also boasts plenty of tech, including Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and adaptive cruise control.

Sure, you can quibble with a few things related to the 2020 Accord. After all, no car is perfect. But the Honda Accord Touring sure does come close in so many of the ways that matter most, from usability to mpg.

Everybody knows somebody who owns or has owned a Toyota Corolla. Thanks to a deserved reputation for affordability, reliability, and efficiency, the Corolla is what comes to mind when all you want is a cheap, dependable, and thrifty set of wheels.

Over the nameplate’s 55-year history, Toyota built a handful of Corollas that were anything but rolling appliances. But those fun-to-drive gems were relative rarities. Under the tenure of Akio Toyoda, the automaker’s current president and a man who loves to drive, the Corolla has become something more than a bore. It’s a car that makes you want to cruise instead of snooze.

We’re talking about the Corolla SE and XSE, of course. Toyota still makes dull and duller versions of its compact car, but the SE and XSE trim levels add some spice to the basic commuter-car recipe.

This year, the 2021 Toyota Corolla SE and XSE are available in a new limited-production Apex Edition flavor. It’s got a track-tuned sport suspension, a lowered ride height, revised steering calibration, a sport exhaust system, and lightweight 18-inch gloss black aluminum wheels that you can wrap in optional summer performance tires. Unfortunately, it also comes with a “Lookit me, Officer, I like to go fast!” body kit.

Fearing this would be the example Toyota sent to us for review, we instead happily accepted the key fob to a Barcelona Red Corolla XSE and discovered that you don’t need the Apex Edition treatment to enjoy driving this car.