The Corolla is a good lease deal if all you need is something to get from A to B and don't care about much else. Looks way better than prior years. The heated steering wheel would make it a great winter beater.
Going to drive the new Civic tonight (touring 1.5T), I will report back. I have a feeling it will end up being one of the front runners, and has been getting great reviews. Downside will probably be the CVT - I read it is one of the better ones but I suspect I would still prefer a traditional transmission.