[RoadTripRob]

I drive a fair amount for work, about 30,000km/year all in city.

I have daily driven a 2006 smart fortwo CDI and achieved amazing fuel economy(3.5L/100km or 67mpg wasn,t hard). The problem I had was near the end it was painfully unreliable and any money I saved in fuel, I spent in parts and repair time.

So I bought a 2006 2 door civic SI. That was super reliable but it only used premium gas(expensive) and it wasnt super efficient(about 9L/100km), after 2 years with that i sold it and started daily driving a 2001 corvette. Again premium gas. I figured the corvette would use a hair more gas than the civic si but it is a significantly more powerful and cool car. It turned out to use around 50% more gas so I sold it. To replace it I bought another 2 door civic, this time I went with a non si with an auto trans.

It has a reliable 1.8L engine that runs on regular gas. The 5 speed auto is actually better than the manual. The auto can lock the gears or have them open through the torque converter, essentially making it a 10 speed. On top of that it has much longer gears than the manual so its a more relaxing drive on the highway. I can keep the rpm super low with gentle driving without risking lugging the engine and causing bearing damage. The reliability of the auto is excellent too.

I will finish this tomorrow. I have done some basic mods to make the car much better.