Okay, hear me out. Not the SI or the R. Just the new Civic Hatcback (sport, or sport touring).
I owned 2 Civics over the course of 12 years. They were both...fine. Not like, FOINE! Like, you know, just fine.
They got great gas mileage. Got me where I needed to go. They were super reliable. They rarely needed maintenance, and when they did, it was cheap.
My GTI has had an electrical problem, a bad fuel pump, a bad fuel injector, and a failed manifold arm. Granted most of this was covered by extended warranty, so it's not really a money issue, it's the problem of getting stranded and/or needing to rearrange my schedule to drop off and pick up the car at the dealership.
So I'm looking at the new Civic Hatchback. It's got a little more cargo space. It's a little more fuel efficient, and you can run it with regular unleaded with a minimal loss in HP, plus it's a Honda, so it's got that reliability. Car and Driver also really liked the driving dynamics.
Downside: slower, less torque, and it doesn't have that solid VW feel.
Is it worth the tradeoff?
I owned 2 Civics over the course of 12 years. They were both...fine. Not like, FOINE! Like, you know, just fine.
They got great gas mileage. Got me where I needed to go. They were super reliable. They rarely needed maintenance, and when they did, it was cheap.
My GTI has had an electrical problem, a bad fuel pump, a bad fuel injector, and a failed manifold arm. Granted most of this was covered by extended warranty, so it's not really a money issue, it's the problem of getting stranded and/or needing to rearrange my schedule to drop off and pick up the car at the dealership.
So I'm looking at the new Civic Hatchback. It's got a little more cargo space. It's a little more fuel efficient, and you can run it with regular unleaded with a minimal loss in HP, plus it's a Honda, so it's got that reliability. Car and Driver also really liked the driving dynamics.
Downside: slower, less torque, and it doesn't have that solid VW feel.
Is it worth the tradeoff?