the Civic 1.8V has no airbags, abs, ebd... while the Altis 1.6E has those. the Altis also has a more spacious cabin & cargo area.

the Optra also is a nice bargain choice (since that ECU reprogramming thingie that they did to improve fuel consumption). the Optra LS, which is similarly spec-ed to the Altis 1.6E, is P100K cheaper than the latter. steering isn't its forte (depsite those advertised Lotus-tuned suspension) as it has a tendency to understeer badly under hard cornering but for normal driving it is just ok.