Here's my opinion:
I currently own 2 2005 Civic 1.6L VTi Oriel Pros (On Petrol).. and i find this model absolutely stunning!
Comfort: Civic has an elegant, decent interior.. the seats of both the cars are really comfortable.. the front and rear legroom of the civic is quite much more than the lancer... especially the thing I like is that there is no hump in the Civic at the back which makes it easier for 3 people to sit comfortably at the back as compared to the lancer!
Handling: If your concerned about handling in City at speeds around 60-80Km/h both have desirably great handling.. but at speeds above 100+ km/h I find Civic's handling much better and it much more in control of the driver!
You didn't ask for this, but still i'll mention a few other things...
Braking: The Civic's braking is much much more responsive(talking about dead stop braking from 150+km/h)! Although Lancer's braking is great but still I found Civic's braking much more responsive!
Performance: Both these 1.6L Auto/Pros suck at acceleration in my opinion generally! but if compared to each other then the Civic might be 1-2secs ahead of the Lancer but that doesn't really matter!
Well this is just my opinion.. and not being biased, if u find a clean Civic VTi Oriel Pros driven under 50-60K km. Go For It, it would serve you for the next 5+years with pleasure!
But do test drive both of the cars yourself before buying them, cause at the end of the day your gonna buy it not us!