will you get a Civic or I4 Accord?

I drove many big SUVs before and am planning to get a fuel efficient sedan
to commute to work (50% HWY, 50 % not so heavy local).
My wife has a 06 Accord V6, I loved driving it but the gas mileage is
terrible (17-18mpg). I may get up to 20mpg in my driving road condition but
it is not a real saving in gas to me.

Here is the dilemma, I like to save gas and I don't want to lose fun of
driving and stability/performance. Owned a Civic in 80s and feel it "heavy"
when two or three adult sit in, struggling when it is taking more than one
adult passenger was my impression with Civic.

This Civic/accord I4 will be 99% my commute car and at most with my teen
daughter for local soccer practice.

What is your opinion?
I have been driving trucks for more than 15 years, any modern sedan is
considered agile responsive car to me. Not like my wife, she can not settle
with Accord 4 cyl., must be a V6. to drive her 40mph top roads to office..

 

The civic will easily handle the load. Get the Sedan, and you'll be plenty
happy with it. They are bigger than they used to be, with better
suspensions and a damned peppy engine.

--
Joseph M. LaVigne

http://www.thelavignefamily.us/MyPipePages/ - 8/25/2006 1:38:07 AM
Tobacconist Brick and Mortar Database: http://bam.tobaccocellar.org/

When you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

 

My opinion is thusly: There should never have been a v6 accord or
camry ever produced in america. Those people who believe they need a
v6 have never driven a late-model K24 equipped 4-cylinder accord.

My '04 accord ex-L coupe with the 4-cylinder and 5-speed manual tranny
is untouchable anywhere during my daily 180 mile commute. If I am
running a little late and i need to make a banzai blast (75mph min. and
occasionally touching 100mph) to work, I will get at least 32 mpg.
This is with the A/C on. I never cruise any slower than 75 and with
that, I am able to obtain 36 mpg. I am currently at an average of 34.2
mpg for the last 9251.4 miles.

I got a little sidetracked with the mileage thing, but that seems to be
a fairly hot topic these days. In all seriousness, test drive a 4
cylinder accord. You will be very surprised at how
'un-four-cylinder-like' this engine is. Nothing against the civic (my
wife has an '05 Civic Si), but the engine just isn't as smooth.

has something to do with the extra balance shafts and stuff...

bob z.

 

I agree completely.

I had the exact same opinion of my 2000 Accord 4 cylinder with manual
trans. The new ones are even better.

 

I just bought an Accord SE with the 4 cylinder, 5 speed. It's got tons of
power and is smooth as anything. The great part is how easy it is on gas for
the performance. It has a plush-enough ride and still feels sporty - you
sometimes forget that there is a back seat in it. Honda has done a great job
with this vehicle and, I suspect, the Civic is a super car too on a smaller
scale. You can't go wrong with a Honda.

 

My opinion on the V6 Accord differs from yours. I've driven 2003-2005 4
cyl Accords and they do move out nicely(and I take your word on the
mileage since the 4 cyl's weren't mine so I didn't track mileage). But,
good as the 4 cyl is, the V6 is better overall in my experience. The
acceleration is noticeably better both at low and high speeds (and you
don't have to wind up the engine as much to do this), and my mileage
over frequent 275-300 trips(95% highway at a steady 70 mph) gets me a
consistent 32 mpg. Mileage not as good as the 4 cyl, acceleration
better. To me this is a good trade off. Others may differ.

Ken

 

Civic should be adequate but they are selling for top dollar right now.
A 4 cylinder Accord is a far better deal. Also pays to test drive a 4
cylinder Toyota Camry.

 

disappointingly, the 2001-on civics just don't handle as well as their
older wishbone brethren or the wishbone accords. they drive well
enough, but if you want handling, the accord is superior.

 

The Fit is supposed to be great fun to drive as well as fuel
efficient.

 

Value for the money wise the 4 cylinder Accord is going to be best as it
is a well tested model in plentiful supply and is being sold at
aggressive discounts.

If fuel economy is your top priority, however, the Civic does a little
better than the Accord. In either case IMO you get better economy if
your are willing to shift for yourself and get a manual transmission.
This also saves on up front costs. The only reason to get an automatic
is if you hate driving a stick or if you plan to trade in soon. Stick
shifts take a hit on resale value. Also, Honda has had some problems in
recent years with it's automatic transmissions. Hopefully these are
resolved, but if not, the manual avoids that problem all together.

Best all around buy is a manual transmission 4 cylinder Accord.

John

 

You may want to look into why the mileage is so low for the wife's car. I
have a 2004 v6 and I get 29 MPG on the highway, and around 21-22 around
town. Not much less in the summer using the AC. I have found some
differences in the trip computer and my calculations. You may want to try
to do it manually for awhile and compare.

The new 4 cyl produces much more HP and torque from the 80's models. My
daughter had a 2002 civic that was quite "peppy" and still got 33 MPG (EX
with automatic).

Though the 4 cyl accord has good acceleration, my preference is the 6 cyl.
It is much easier to pull out onto a CA freeway and merge with 4 or 5 people
in the car (my test drives for both 4 cyl and 6 cyl were with 5 people in
the car), as the traffic moves along at 75MPH+ and the ramps are not very
long. It is also makes it much easier in going through the mountains to get
to Tahoe and Reno.

 

The only time I can rev my I4 is entering a freeway on an uphill ramp,
or otherwise pulling out from a freeway slow lane onto a fast lane for
passing. On city streets, it never gets above 4k, and seldom above 3k
(with an auto trans). For a 2.4 liter engine, it's astonishing! In
my old Alfa, I'd be revving it to 5k+ just to pull away at traffic
lights! Gotta love the new tech. I wonder, on the Accords, with a
stick I'd probably average another 500rpm, the auto is very quick to
kick up, and it does make me a little less aggressive.

J.