Why would I buy a Civic?

[Fergs]

interesting - I work at Eastside Mits - I can see if I can help you with a car too - I drive a early civic because of it's character, it's funny but the newer cars haev had there teeth filed back. Thats just the way I see it anyway. I used to have a 08 type R but it didn't have the feel of my current EF9 - gotta love JDM

[warwick108]

i think the new clio sport is just damn sexy.. =).. how much is the rs band new?.. is it close to 35k?.. can you buy the new accord vti for 35k?..=S. i always thought the base model of the accords/euro accords are 40k?.. =S..

[buddah51au]

You should be able to get a base model Euro manual for around 36K, add 2K for Auto that's drive away

[MackTheKnife]

I thought I might throw in my 2c worth. I was in a similar predicament last year, I was aiming sub $30k and wanted a car that would commute about 150km per day, often using the Old Pacific Highway north of Sydney.

As a result my top priority was a good Chassis which needed to be as light as possible (at 1180 kg the Civic VTi was a clear winner on that front). It needed to have the ability to be driven without traction control (VTi has no traction control, bonus but this ruled out the Lancer for me and Civic Sport).
Cruise Control was required as was a Manual box.

Power to Weight is more telling than outright power as anyone who has ever driven a Lotus attest, and the Civic Vti being lighter than the Corolla, Focus & Mazda 3 showed a better power to Weight. The manual VTi puts out 11.45 kg/kw, which was better than the base Lancer 2.0 (11.54 kg/kw) and close enough to the Civic Sport and Lancer VRX (11.09 & 10.76 respectively). The Civic Sport's lack of steering feel from the electronically assisted set up had ruled it out anyway and at 1,345kg, the Lancer would have been a pig in the twisty's.

The Civic VTi won out after exhaustive test drives, a drive down a corkscrew type road sealed the deal, Optioned of course with the optional 16's offered for the VTi-L. It doesn't understeer too bad on the limit, and the lift off oversteer is dished up in a pleasant manner.

Looks wise, I thought at the time the Lancer was a stand out, and I thought the Civic looked like a Honda Odyssey sedan. Looks wasn't a priority at all since I souldn't have to look at it sitting inside. Time has done it favours and I do like the Honda now. Conversley, since the advent of the afterthought known as the Lancer Sportback I think the Lancer looks dated now.

Anyway, my advice is to keep your options open and draw up a list of must haves and wants. Drive everything that ticks your boxes and pick the one you like to drive the most. Who knows, you might even end up with a Holden Cruze Diesel?? and happy.

[warwick108]

i took my cousins sp25 for a drive last nite.. that thing is pretty grunty... not a bad ride over all.. feels alot smoother than the fd.. =).. bose system, leather, sunroof and sat nav.. =D

[buddah51au]

i took my cousins sp25 for a drive last nite.. that thing is pretty grunty... not a bad ride over all.. feels alot smoother than the fd.. =).. bose system, leather, sunroof and sat nav.. =D

But once again the SP25 is close in price to a base CU2 Euro & the 2 cars can't be compared.

[Sherweeeny]

Mitsubishi's are not built to the same calibre as Honda, their panels are dodge and I would bet anthing their electrics in that paddle shifter like an alfa will leave you stranded and looking at over 6k to replace after the warranty expires...

wtf???? find out where the lancers are built then find out where the civics are built. also alfa selespeeds are manuals with auto clutches, and the parts on that is where it screws them up. im sure mitsubishi can manage 2 wires going in and out of the steering wheel attached to a paddle just fine.

ps i havent read other posts, so if ur "smart and educated" comment has already been flamed, then i apologise.

[UCNDRM]

hey guys i no the thread has gone in another direction, however,

from the outset we arent comparing apples with apples,

you cant compare a sportsback VRX with a civic sedan VTi-L

to compare properly you need to go sedan with sedan not hatch and compare the right models

civic vti = lancer es
civic vti-l = lancer vr
civic sport = lancer vrx / lancer aspire

do some reasearch mate and pick what makes you happy

btw dont even bother with the impreza, my mate has an RS in manual and my shitty vti manual kicks its ass from a standstill and even more from rolling at 40, 60 and 80 km/h, but if ur not a lead foot that wouldnt interest you.