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The first car I bought for myself without any help from anyone and all on my own was a salvaged 1995 Acura Integra. It was a red sports car with 170 hp. As a 19 year-old, I absolutely loved it and added all kinds of stuff to make it go faster. It would be rare to see me doing anything below 80 in the left lane. I had the sunroof open and all the windows down. It didn't matter if it was hot or cold, I had the AC and heater blasting in my face. I loved the exhilaration of wind in my hair. I weaved around traffic like I just didn't care braking hard often so that I could squeeze myself into the next lane.
As a 21 year-old, I thought the car made an incredible racket even at a sane speed of 60 mph where the engine was screaming at 3000 rpm. My 25 mpg meant I had to fill up once a week and sometimes twice with premium which got annoying fast. My left leg got sore in rush hour traffic because the tightly spaced ratio manual meant a constant 1-2 and 2-1 shift where an economical manual I could leave it in 1st or 2nd and creep along (My friend's Mazda 3 for example, I could just leave in 1.) I secretly made plans to get rid of her when an elderly gentleman did me the favor. He rear-ended me ending the life of the Acura.
I now drive an economical plain jane Honda Civic. I prefer a manual but the automatic had higher highway EPA due to a taller overdrive I believe. My commute is 90% highway so it was the sensible choice. Kudos to you for making the change. I hope you join me in the right lane hypermiling.
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