Ok so the bottom line is I have finally had enough of my gas sucking rattle trap Oldsmobile Bravada and I am ready to move onto something new...ish. I have pretty much zero'd my focus down to getting an 8th generation Honda Civic Sedan. I have been looking for a while and most of the ones that come up are for sale by dealers and are just too far out of my price range. However I have been able to find 2 cars which are currently for sale by owner that pretty much meet every requirement that I have.
The main difference is one is an EX with an automatic and the other is an Si with a 6 speed manual.
Now I am just going to throw this out there up front, I am not looking for world beating fuel efficiency from a new car (otherwise I would just get a hybrid) I just want something that is going to be very reliable overall and considerably more fuel efficient then my Bravada. Which honestly for me initially ruled out the Si model Civics for as when I looked up their EPA rated average fuel efficiency it was only like 23 mpg. But after stumbling onto a thread on
another forum the vast majority of Civic Si drivers in real world use seem to be getting around 27~28 mpg on average. Not to mention almost a hundred people reported averaging over 37 mpg! The first thing I thought was that maybe it was a statistical fluke but this was a poll of over 3,500 Civic Si owners so those results seem fairly realistic.
But honestly the truth is I really want a manual transmission car, mainly because they are more fun, and to me they are just much more reliable in the long run. Not to mention I know it will be much easier to squeeze out better fuel efficiency with one in general. I mean honestly if I could just find an EX with a manual transmission in my price range I would probably jump all over it but those seem to be quite few and far between. So assuming everything else is the same between the two cars (aside from the price) with the choice between an automatic equipped EX or a Manual Si all I want to know is does it sound unreasonable to assume if I did get the Si that I should probably be able pull down efficiency numbers close to the automatic EX (28~30mpg) by just using some common sense driving techniques and a little hypermiling? For what it's worth this is not an insignificant question, lowering my monthly fuel cost is a significant factor in whether or not I will actually be able to afford a new car.
Oh and I am sure some of you probably saw the price comment and are thinking just get the cheaper EX model because you will never get the same return from a car that costs more
and is less fuel efficent in general... But the Si is actually the one that is less expensive, by over $1000 which is the main reason that I am wrestling with this decision. But any comments or suggestions that anyone has would be welcome, especially from anyone who has owned either car. I am planning to look at both cars in person this weekend and I am really hoping to go ahead and make a purchase by next week.
Thanks in advance guys!
