OT: car advice

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by Kobe

Sat in the Kia Niro at the Philly Auto Show, plenty of room for me at 6'6". Kia has come a long ways and has an outstanding warranty. Plus 52 mpg in the city.

http://www.caranddriver.com/kia/niro

Now that looks interesting/promising.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by Kobe

Sat in the Kia Niro at the Philly Auto Show, plenty of room for me at 6'6". Kia has come a long ways and has an outstanding warranty. Plus 52 mpg in the city.

The RAV4 Hybrid owned this segment. Not anymore.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by martl

Small correction: From an engineering point of view, a turbo is better suited for a diesel engine, where it will enhance efficiency, than for an Otto engine (= in cars, gasoline), where it primarily boosts performance at the cost of low efficiency at rev ranges where the turbo does not yet work = added fuel consumption.
Efficiency for turbo-loaded Otto-engines is bad as the compression has to be reduced. This has only been somewhat compensated quite recently by pulling all kind of sophisticated mechanical and electronical tricks, so that the reduced inner friction of the smaller engine overcomes the Turbo disadvantage.

My current F150 (2.7L V6 turbo) has pretty good amount of usable torque down low. Peaks at 4k, but still has gobs available at 2k.



Where gas turbos fall short of diesel is heat.

[shovelhd]

I went from a VW turbo diesel to a VW turbo gasser. The gasser has plenty of torque down low. When I'm easy on the go pedal the DSG shifts at 1500rpm. Where it totally outshines the diesel is power. Not even close. Mileage is lower but I knew that. Last tank was 31.4mpg calculated.

[Seramount]

Originally Posted by Louis

I see you've left out the greatest hatchback EVER: the Acura Integra / RSX!

More seriously, I really liked my '97 and got 265k miles from it with few significant mechanical issues. I would have gladly bought the exact same car (but new) in '14 when I finally sold it, but Acura went upscale and no longer made anything like it. (So I bought the Subie Impreza.)

totally agree...went from a '94 Integra to a 2006 RSX Type-S (last year made)...

both were / are great cars. the rear seat stays in permanent 'down' mode for hauling bikes, dive gear, groceries, etc.

love the styling, mileage, handling...the Integra was a decent performer, but the Type-S 8200 rpm VTEC can get you down the road in a hurry.

Acura should bring the RSX back, I'd buy a new one in a heartbeat.

[Mikej]

Originally Posted by Seramount

totally agree...went from a '94 Integra to a 2006 RSX Type-S (last year made)...

both were / are great cars. the rear seat stays in permanent 'down' mode for hauling bikes, dive gear, groceries, etc.

love the styling, mileage, handling...the Integra was a decent performer, but the Type-S 8200 rpm VTEC can get you down the road in a hurry.

Acura should bring the RSX back, I'd buy a new one in a heartbeat.

They did, except now its called an ILX comes only in sedan and no hatch. Id look into the new civic sedan hatch. Pretty close to the RSX, may have to get the SI version for the HP tho.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

Now that looks interesting/promising.

So what was the final winner in this thread? Curious.....

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by tctyres

So what was the final winner in this thread? Curious.....

The final winner is...

Drum roll...

Suspense...





I'm waiting a few more weeks to worry about it. Probably a month. Leaning heavily civic hatchback.

[jlyon]

I bought a 2017 Civic Hatchback LX no options for my daughter.

I love driving that thing it is so fun and fast and had enough room to get a smallish cabinet from Pier One in the back the other day. That would not have fit inside my accord.

I have not thrown my bike in the back but since they are 61CM bikes I think I would at least have to take off the front wheel still like in my accord trunk.

I would trade my Accord sport straight up for another one for me. Even my wife loves to drive it and she is has to a Lexus GS300.

It is black so you don't really notice the fake plastic bits because they too are black.

The only gripe I have about the LX is how small the screen is for the backup camera but that is only used for a few seconds each day.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

The final winner is...

Drum roll...

Suspense...

The winner is..........MAC!...no wait...DELL!...no wait....wrong thread!

[cmbicycles]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

The final winner is...

Drum roll...

Suspense...

If this going to be like Weisan's, "guess what my new bike is?"...I don't know if I can handle that much suspense

[Aaron O]

I park in Philadelphia! I don't need no stinking camera...that's what the bumper "kiss" is for!

So far my old Ford Focus in getting me through the season!

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by jlyon

I bought a 2017 Civic Hatchback LX no options for my daughter.

I love driving that thing it is so fun and fast and had enough room to get a smallish cabinet from Pier One in the back the other day. That would not have fit inside my accord.

I have not thrown my bike in the back but since they are 61CM bikes I think I would at least have to take off the front wheel still like in my accord trunk.

I would trade my Accord sport straight up for another one for me. Even my wife loves to drive it and she is has to a Lexus GS300.

It is black so you don't really notice the fake plastic bits because they too are black.

The only gripe I have about the LX is how small the screen is for the backup camera but that is only used for a few seconds each day.

I'm making a final choice...

It's between the Civic hatchback EX and the 4 door sedan EX. I prefer hatchbacks and I love how the hatchback drove, but I'm very worried about turbo reliability. My mechanic is definitely not a fan of turbo.

Also liked the focus, especially for the money, but the ride wasn't quite as plush as the Civic. Not as crazy about most others I tried.

[carpediemracing]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

I'm making a final choice...

It's between the Civic hatchback EX and the 4 door sedan EX. I prefer hatchbacks and I love how the hatchback drove, but I'm very worried about turbo reliability. My mechanic is definitely not a fan of turbo.

Also liked the focus, especially for the money, but the ride wasn't quite as plush as the Civic. Not as crazy about most others I tried.

I can't speak for turbo reliability. They do generate more heat in the engine compartment and specifically heat up the oil and coolant more than a non-turbo engine. I'll poll the guys at work to see what they think for daily drivers, long term (I work in a car place).

Not sure if I posted this here but we got the 4 door Civic EX, 2017, mid Feb. The Missus's requirements: 1.5 turbo, 6 spd, heated seats, available only in the EX-Touring sedan. If we could have gotten the hatch with those options we would have, but not available so we didn't. I've only driven it twice, we only have about 800 miles on it, but so far so good. I'll be driving it tomorrow to put on its summer shoes. So far so good. The Missus will take it on about a 900 mile road trip this weekend, I think we'll see how it really is at that point.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

I'm making a final choice...

It's between the Civic hatchback EX and the 4 door sedan EX. I prefer hatchbacks and I love how the hatchback drove, but I'm very worried about turbo reliability. My mechanic is definitely not a fan of turbo.

Also liked the focus, especially for the money, but the ride wasn't quite as plush as the Civic. Not as crazy about most others I tried.

I don't know if Honda would take the risk in ruining their reputation for reliability for a few more HP. I personally wouldn't worry about reliability, when it comes to the Civic, and if I were buying today, would most definitely go for the hatchback (6sp, Sport, please). I get a bit of nostalgia when I see one of these, which reminds me of the good ol'days of Honda (90's) and the Integra's and Civics I loved. Never got that with the prior gen Civics (post-2001).