Honda Civic 2006 kicks ass
At first, I wanted a Japanese car and was interested with a Toyota Corolla. I thought of an American car for 2 seconds but decided to be reasonable. Reasonable being buy a Japanese car. These days, a Japanese car does not means that it is 100% Japanese. Honda Civics are manufactured in Canada. Honda Fit in the UK. Mazda cars have Ford motor engines. Ford owns Mazda, Renault owns Nissan. General Motors owns Isuzu… After two weeks of research, I chose the Honda Civic 2006. The Toyota Corolla is too small for me. The driver seat cannot be lowered. Only the Matrix could do the job. You can get $1000 off MSRP.
There is over 3500km on my Honda Civic odometer and I’ve been driving it for 2 months now. Here are my remarks:
Positive side:
Very spacious driver cabin.
Digital speedometer.
Big buttons for radio player and air con.
CD/MP3 player
ABS (other cars have this optional or do not offer it)
Side-airbags (other cars have this optional or do not offer it)
Maintenance minder (the car tells you when a maintenance is needed)
Negative side:
Soundproofing average (compared to a Corolla)
Car is low. I’ve scratched the bottom several times (when loaded) on the bump to my garage.
Security-wise, they have done a great job. They have become the reference for subcompact cars. The Mazda3s and Corollas will have to catchup, especially the Corolla which is in dire need of a makeover. Overall, I like the car and do not regret my choice.
javed said,
July 25, 2006 @ 12:07 am
Wait a sec ..i own a corolla looool dont agree with some of your points
.. compared to most Japanese cars such as the Honda Civic and Nissan Almera/N16 , the corolla has a lot of interior space , has head-rests for back passengers and this is why it has been adopted by many taxi drivers here in Mauritius.
On the other hand you can’t possibly compare a Corolla with a Honda civic
simply because a Honda Civic (at least the new model) is a luxury car and I personnaly think it rocks not on the outside (as I feel the Accord is much better looking)but on the inside , the gear is so utterly well made along with a 1800CC engine which is mind blowing for its 1.4 ton something chassis.
What I like about the Corrolla is when you seat inside you have the impression of being above other vehicles as the seat is set much higher off the ground.
But its true the Corolla is here since 2001 and hasn’t changed much in design the direct competitor to the new Honda Civic is the Toyota Avensis (Manufactured in UK by the way) , Allion and Premio which are also luxury vehicles .. along with that there is also the new Honday City which has 7 gears all F1-style that allows you to shift gears from your steering wheel.
What I find nice about the new Civic is that all the cd player buttons are set in the steering wheel which allows you to control your music without leaving your hands off the steering wheel…absolutely splendid.
Eddy Young said,
July 25, 2006 @ 5:49 am
Or, you could have considered a Nissan Micra SX with:
* air-conditioning
* electric windows
* automatic wiper activation
* leather seats
* player controls on wheels
* automatic headlight activation
* maintenance schedule reminder + other programmable reminders
* on-board computer (petrol consumption charts, range, trip tracker, etc.)
What I like most is, it does not consume a lot of petrol.
Eddy Young said,
July 25, 2006 @ 5:50 am
I forgot…
* four airbags
* adjustable seats
* very good soundproofing
But knowing Stephane, a Micra wouldn’t do. He’s too big — literally — a man for that.
Stéphane Lee said,
July 25, 2006 @ 9:09 am
If it were a Nissan Mega, I would have considered. But not Micra!
Stéphane Lee said,
July 25, 2006 @ 9:33 am
For taxi, I miss driving in Mercedes in Paris. I’ve been driving in Toyota Camry lately or some American cars.
javed said,
July 25, 2006 @ 11:11 pm
nothing beats a mercedes
Olivier said,
July 27, 2006 @ 11:21 am
one thing does: a bigger mercedes