I just bought a new (used) car. 2002 Honda Civic EX. It even has a sunroof and alloy wheels.

But what really impresses me is it's more than twice the gas mileage I was getting on my old car. And the thing is peppy as hell!

Thats a class Skoda!

My Bro-in-law tuned up last night in his new 05 civic sport, I was kinda impressed.

I managed to wrap my Daewoo Lanos round a wall in January and Im now on a 02 VW Polo,  its quite nippy and very nice inside, but I want something a wee bit bigger.

The skoda reminds me of my 1st 'car'  a C-reg Micra, I got it for nothing cos it was so crap, no rear seatbelts, the left front wheel made weird noises when you turned left and there was a nice hole in the fuel tank.  And it was a kind of vomity green colour!

This is what I drive:

Well, sort of.  It's actually blue.  And wouldn't fare well on a circuit.

ddvmor wrote:

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HaloBurn wrote:
 I drive one of these in Black it's a year old :)

I thought Corsas were for girls...

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My Skoda has valves...

...I think...

Heh heh heh.  Lost it in a bitter custody battle...

Well... maybe not bitter...  But I still lost it...  Long story. 

I miss my focus...

I'm thinking I should get one of these:

The fuel consumption would be strong in this one!

I like high performance automobiles, which can handle really **CUCUMBER**ty winters, winters you don't see in Europe south of Sweden. The result tends to be a vehicle that's heavier, has a larger engine and is equipped with 4-wheel drive. And, you'll get no apology from me for this.

If it makes you feel any better, it probably gets better mileage than my current vehicle.

Of course it doesn't help that I constantly try to see just how fast these things can accelerate.

NateO wrote:

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I like high performance automobiles, which can handle really **CUCUMBER**ty winters, winters you don't see in Europe south of Sweden. 

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Ok, there's a kinda logic there, but it only holds up for those parts of the States that get really **CUCUMBER**ty winters.  What about the rest of 'em?

JonnyStead wrote:

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I think JDK was wondering why in America - cars you call Compact are cool here - and why cars we wouldnt touch because they do 9 to the gallon around town are cool in the states? I've had both and its no fun paying $160 to fill the tank each week like you'd have to in the UK!

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NateO wrote:

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Can't speak for Floridians, myself. No M3 And.?!

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As if I could afford an M3.

Well I had a pathfinder for a while. Actually, I've owned two of them... a 90 and a 97. I quite liked it in NY with the snow and all, but then I found out I was getting 17mpg... which is a definate down side when putting 150+ miles on your car is becomming an average day

So I got myself a 2002 Honda Civic EX

Well... mine has better rims and it's a 4 door, but other than that it's the same

38mpg minimum and roughly $20 to fill the tank even at $2.60/gal.

Plus, even with putting no money down, I'm paying less in my car payment than I was in gas for my SUV.

I do miss my SUV tho. Was really helpful when visiting my home away from home - Home Depot

I almost went for the civic hybrid instead because of the amount of miles I've been driving lately and because they just passed the energy bill which would give a tax incentive for a hybrid purchase, but four things deterred me:
1. The back seats don't fold down because the battery is right behind the back seat. This is definately a problem due to my aforementioned love of Home Depot.
2. The battery pack is only rated for 80K miles, and even with the 100K mile bumper to bumper warranty, the battery pack isn't covered... and it's a few thousand to replace.
3. The mpg difference between my car and the hybrid was only 10mpg.
4. It was $4,000 more. No. Thank. You.

One thing I will say for the Civic Hybrid is it really accelerated surprisingly nicely. I had always heard that hybrids were crap on acceleration, but when I test drove it down US1 I had no problems. As a matter of fact, I think I gave the salesman a heart attack when I was testing the acceleration

Funny thing I've noticed about my civic is it wouldn't do well in NY, or any northern state, for one surprising reason. I realized that when I turn my front defroster on, the air conditioner automatically turns on. I think it's a regional thing since here you only need the defroster to get rid of fogginess from humidity. But that would never go over in the north since we all know one of the first things you do on a snow day is turn on the defrosters full blast to melt the ice off the windshield while you're brushing off the rest of the car.

Oh come on...  tell me what the difference is...