What can beat a Civic?

[JHZR2]

While I can't agree or den martyi's post, he does hit on one good point... the civic has shed its 'economy car' status in most all respects (at least it does close to 40 MPG), and in reality it is not the most economical of top-notch choices. At that point, who cares? The accord is a better piece of machinery, the fit is at a better price point.

JMH

 

[WOOCHOW]

I have an 06 Civic Coupe with 16,500 miles on it. Two oil changes, a set of wiper blades, and a bunch of gas is all that has been required. This is my first "________" car. Never really considered owning one since the horrible experiences with my Mom's 1990 Intergra. I went to the Honda store to check out an Accord VP as an everyday car. Drove the Accord, it was about as I had expected, capable, but little else, drove the Civic coupe on a whim and was sold immediately. The Coupe is set up differently from the sedan with a firmer suspension and is a joy to drive-it feels like a go cart with quick steering and a firm,and at times bumpy ride; very enjoyable. Honda still doesn't have a clue to what torque is, but you get used to it. I'm getting fuel mileage in the high 30's with an automatic on a 110 mile round trip commute 90% highway. At first I though the transmission was behaving erratically but seems to be OK over the past few months. I am quite surprized how much I like this car. It seems to ne the perfect commuter vehicle...at least to me. It is miles ahead of the Toyota as far as handling and suspension is concerned. And, while off topic, I had a 2007 Camry LE last week when my other car was in the shop. Very disappointed in the suspension set-up in that car; on one highway entrance ramp I thought I was going to fall out the driver's door as the car was leaning over so far on the suspension. I'm surprixed that Toyota sells so many of those things set up that way. I guess many others don't look for the same things in a car as I do.

 

[JHZR2]

Glad youre happy with your civic... sounds like a fun drive.

JMH

 

[obbop]

Owned and operated a 1975 Civic CVCC 5-speed.

Good gas mileage.

Scooted around the byways and hiways in a delightful manner.

Still, I would peek at a Chevy Cobalt for various reasons I could go into but won't since I feel like being a wee bit mysterious today.

 

[Patman]

Our 2000 Civic has been very reliable for us, and when my wife mentioned she wanted to get a sports car soon, I feared that getting rid of the Civic could be a big mistake.

But now my plan is to hang onto the Civic, and give her my 98 Corvette in a year or two and I'll buy a 2005 Corvette.

Our Civic is fully paid off, has 76k on it, and will probably last us 10-15 more years no problem. With the scratches and dents in it, we wouldn't get much of a trade in value for it, so it's worth it for us to just hang onto it (besides, we can't get by with two Corvettes only, we need a four seater for our son)

 

[ekpolk]

Hmmmmmmm. . . What can beat a Civic? Well, Edmunds' answer to the question is: a Prius!

See right here: click here for detailed article.

Now generally, I hate it when the ignorant press types compare the Prius to a Civic or a Corolla. A Civic has 90.9 cubic feet of interior passenger room, whereas an Accord has 97.7. By contrast, a Gen-II Prius has 96 cubic feet of passenger volume. EDIT: The Camry beats them all at 101 cu ft.

So, with the Prius, you get a car whose mileage generally beats even a Civic Hybrid’s (to say nothing of a gasser), while you get almost all the interior room of an Accord or Camry, in a car that accelerates like an I-4 automatic Camry or Accord.

You can have a brand new, low end Prius for ~$23k. Certainly, you can get a gasser Civic for less, but if you want an LX or EX with stuff, the gap closes quickly.

Civics are fine cars, but they’re not perfect either. I drove an 88 model for 10 years and 150k miles. Would I buy one today? No, I want more a little more room with my great gas mileage. I’m voting with Edmunds on this one.

 

[Carbonics]

friend of mine bought his mazda 3 new, he says it feels cheap and it falls apart, maybe he got a lemon... said the dealer was a real winner (aren't they all though). Civics are hard to beat for reliability, that's really my only concern. The power is extremely weak, not something you can get used to either - but theres always a trade off with cars - you can't have it all, otherwise we would all be driving $12k ferrari's that got 40mpg that only needed a tune-up every 30k and we would pay $30 a month for car insurance.

 

[brianl703]

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Polarizing indeed. I'm on the "can the 2.5 inch tall digital speedo be removed?" crowd.

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I wonder how many of the people buying these things are even old enough to remember the digital dashboards that were really popular in the mid-80s?

 

[mdv]

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Polarizing indeed. I'm on the "can the 2.5 inch tall digital speedo be removed?" crowd.

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I wonder how many of the people buying these things are even old enough to remember the digital dashboards that were really popular in the mid-80s?

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Around here, most of the people who seem to be buying them are in their 40's on up. Lots of economical die hards around here. The kids pretty much stay away from the newer Honda's, they buy older ones to tweek or they buy Scion's.

 

[Auto-Union]

Scion tC is decent.

 

[md_lucky_13]

More money for more car.

Feed the diesel revolution. All your base are belong to us.

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2006/volkswagen/jetta/100544988/ratings_consumer.html

 

[Palut]

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So, with the Prius, you get a car whose mileage generally beats even a Civic Hybrid’s (to say nothing of a gasser), while you get almost all the interior room of an Accord or Camry, in a car that accelerates like an I-4 automatic Camry or Accord.

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Gotta disagree with you there. I was on I-5 today doing 80 mph behind a BMW 745. We come up on this Prius who is doing 70 in the fast lane and refuses to merge right. A mile later the right lane opens up and the BMW starts going around the Prius with me right behind. The Prius decides that he doesn't want us in front of him and starts speeding up to cut us off. Even with him gunning it, I still easily got up to 90 and passed him in 5th gear in my 11 year old Accord 4 cylinder.

Priuses (what's plural for Prius?) may get good mileage and be roomy, but they are SLOOOOW!

 

[ekpolk]

Palut:

Let's not get confused with facts. As I said, like an I-4 automatic Camry or Accord, which if my memory of car magazine tests over the last few years serves me right, usually test out at about 10 seconds for the 0-60 run. Which is just about what a Prius does (they said 10.9 in the linked Edmunds report).

What is the rated torque peak in your ancient Accord? And at what rpm? The Prius generates 295 ft-lb of torque, all on tap from 0-1200 rpms. Yes, 295, that's not a typo. There aren't a lot of Prius drivers around who are who are willing to race (gee, go figure), but if you find one at a stoplight, don't challenge him (or her). The car will absolutely leave your I-4 Accord in the dust, at least up to 30-40 mph. After that, the contest is yours, if it's still on.

I own one of these cars, and drive it every day. In routine driving, it conveys absolutely no sense of the "slowness" you imply. You certainly won't mistake it for a Corvette, but off the line, and it "point and shoot" maneuvers in traffic, it's quite good.

You disagree? Have you ever driven a Gen-II Prius? For the record, I have driven both Camry and Accord I-4 autos (and manuals too, for that matter).

Did you read the Edmunds article? The Prius spanked the Civic Hyb in acceleration, two seconds better 0-60!

 

[Palut]

I don't argue that the Prius has low end grunt. I would love low end grunt. 295 ft-lbs is nice, but not when its useless over 40 mph. My old Accord makes 147 ft-lbs at 4500 rpm and 145 hp at 5500rpm. These aren't impressive numbers at all, but I can still beat a Prius. May not off the line, but everywhere else.

It's irrelevant anyway. As much power as the Prius has, very few Prius drivers ever use it. I see dozens of those cars around the Puget Sound area, and most of them drive under the speed limit. Very frustrating. It drives me bonkers! A local radio show even let people call in and say what they thought of how slow Priuses are:

Bob Rivers Show. Click on the "Arik's Prius' Backlash and Prius Rage" link.

I like you Ekpolk, and this is way off topic of this thread. I'll just settle for disagreeing with you.

 

[2000civic]

My wife and I both have a civic and protege. Mazda has been trying to catch up with Honda for years. Good luck and keep trying. My next car will either be a Legacy or Accord for more room now that we have 2 kids.

 

[Mr Nice]

Can you get a Prius with a 5 speed trans ??

The only downn side to a Civic is the road noise over 80 MPH.

 

[rpn453]

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The Mazda 3 feels European because it and the Ford Focus share the same chassis as the Volvo S4.

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The European Focus does, but not the one here. I think it will when the redesign comes in 2008 though.

 

[ekpolk]

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I don't argue that the Prius has low end grunt. I would love low end grunt. 295 ft-lbs is nice, but not when its useless over 40 mph. My old Accord makes 147 ft-lbs at 4500 rpm and 145 hp at 5500rpm. These aren't impressive numbers at all, but I can still beat a Prius. May not off the line, but everywhere else.

It's irrelevant anyway. As much power as the Prius has, very few Prius drivers ever use it. I see dozens of those cars around the Puget Sound area, and most of them drive under the speed limit. Very frustrating. It drives me bonkers! A local radio show even let people call in and say what they thought of how slow Priuses are:

Bob Rivers Show. Click on the "Arik's Prius' Backlash and Prius Rage" link.

I like you Ekpolk, and this is way off topic of this thread. I'll just settle for disagreeing with you.

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No sweat. I wasn't saying that this is an especially fast car -- I compared it to I-4 automatic trans Camrys and Accords. Yours being a stick, I know it's faster at a boil than either the conventional auto trans siblings or the Prius.

Seriously, some time when you have a few extra minutes, stop by a Toyota dealer and test drive one. I think you'd be quite surprised. This is hard to explain, but the car "squirts" well from almost any speed. The CV transmission is really just an overgrown planetary gear set (like a differential, not one of those belt-and-pulley CVT deals), with the large motor-generator built into the gear set. At all but the highest road speeds, once the ratio slides to "high gear" equivalent, you've got a nice burst of torque available. It's outstanding for real-world city driving, but just barely average in a sustained full-throttle accel. To me, it's only above 60 or so that the car really loses the ability to mask it's relatively low hp with torque.

Anyway, to get back on topic, seriously, if he's considering a high end Civic (or HCH), I think a Prius is a good alternative that, IMO, "beats" the Civic -- better mileage, more room, way more cargo room, in a very clever and tight package.

And don't worry, Prii don't clog highways, people clog highways.

The Prius is also quite happy at 85 mph (where mine is much of the time...). Save your rightful anger for the idiots who are obstructing traffic, don't project it upon this very nice car!

 

[outersquare]

accord

prius

accord:
0-60: 9.5s
1/4: 16.8s

prius: 10.9s
0-60: 17.9s

So no, the prius is not "as fast" as an i4 auto accord.

A 1+ sec difference to 60 or in the 1/4 is basically getting your ________ pounded.

Don't even mention the current accord has gained 10 HP since that edmunds article was written.

 

[brianl703]

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I see dozens of those cars around the Puget Sound area, and most of them drive under the speed limit. Very frustrating. It drives me bonkers!

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I had one of them cut me off while merging onto the Fairfax County Parkway. The sad part is, that particular area has like 1/4 mile of merge lane this Prius driver decided not to use!

When are they going to invent the car that can drive itself for the people who don't want do it the right way?