Oh thats a tough one!! Coz I at one stage or another wanted both (not at the same time!) but the civic seems considerably larger in body than the sp23 and I am one who likes to set the trend, sooo... too many mazda 3's out there! But I guess the civic is catching up.

I think they both deserve a test drive before any real decision can be made.. esp if manual coz feel in the gear change is particularly important. I guess maybe if performance wise, specs are quite similar, then u gotta start looking towards the knick knacks of the cars...