I have a base model 1.5 CVT and our company has a 2021 model grande that I've driven a few times.
I personally find my city a bit more comfortable which is quite unexpected, it's most likely due to the really hard leather seats in the grande and city's cloth seats being pretty soft. Suspension of grande is definitely softer and more comfortable. Steering of corolla is much harder than city's.
In terms of handling in the city, I find city to be better but on motorways grande is more stable.
CVT in grande is more responsive and low end pick of grande is definitely much better, high speed acceleration is about equal, grande is probably slightly better. I really dislike how the Toyota CVT under heavy acceleration sometimes simulates a gear change by itself and that isn't in manual mode either, which I find really annoying and it seems to lessen the acceleration a bit. While in honda city at high speed acceleration the engine never dips below 6k rpm and that's even in D and Econ mode.
In terms of fuel economy in city driving, both are about equal, honda city is probably slightly better. But in highways I noticed about 2-3kmpl difference between both. City 1.5 CVT is not very efficient in city driving but is very efficient on the highways. Even up to 160kmh I've seen the meter showing about 14-15kmpl.
For practicality in cities, honda city is probably more practical due to smaller size and better fuel economy. But in rough areas, corolla is obviously more trustable. Build quality of corolla feels much better than city's.
Personally if I had the extra money to spend over the honda city, I'd go for new civic base model. Base model new civic usually goes for around grande money in ready delivery and is a much better car. Grande feels too old and boring.
