I wrote a lot and if you'd rather skip to my questions scroll to the bottom (sorry).
In the next 2-3 years I'm probably going to be in the market for a new car (depending on what direction my career goes). I've owned an assortment of compact cars and compact pickups and I'd like the next car to be something kind of sporty while being very comfortable/somewhat luxurious. I know there's a lot of options, but much fewer if I want to keep it under $30k:
The VW GTI and Audi A3 tick all the right boxes, but I don't think my apprehensiveness towards VAG reliability is ever going to go away, plus I'd rather stay NA. The V6 Mustang Premium seems good too, but manual transmission seems prone to failure and I don't really want a car that I can only drive half the year (I've driven RWD in snow, but it seems to me with RWD and FWD both set up with snow tires FWD will fare better). Acura TSX is too heavy for the K24 to feel sporty (I've driven the 1st gen 6mt, only aspect of the car I wasn't impressed with). WRX Limited could be nice, but gets poor fuel economy. I like Honda products, my wife has a 2001 Honda Accord EX-L and it's great in all respects except that I wish it had more power.
I think I'd like the 2012 Civic Si more than the 2011 because I had a car with a high revving motor (Toyota's 2ZZGE) and I hated that I had to rev the snot of it to get any power out of it. Granted, Honda's K20 is a much better engine than Toyota's 2ZZGE (it's much more fun to run hard), but I really appreciate engines that have punch from 2500rpm onwards. So, the 2012 Civic Si seems perfect to me except that I have no idea how comfortable it is on long drives (I prefer driving over flying).
My main complaints about my current car (2006 Ford Focus) are: my lower back starts to kill me after 4 hours of driving and I really wish the engine had more torque; I hate needing to shift to 3rd to maintain 75mph up steep hills simply because the engine sounds very buzzy at almost 5000rpm. Ideally, with my next car I'd only have to drop to 4th (with a 5 or 6 speed), and considering the 2012 Si weighs about the same, provides 40 more ft/lb of torque and 70 more hp I think it can satisfy my power desires (being able to do 0-60 in 7 seconds or less would be great too).
So here's my questions:
2012 Civic Si Owners: How comfortable is your car on long drives? (8+ hours)
8th + 9th gen Civic Si Owners: Has anybody had Katzkin or other leather seats put in their Civic? Does it add anything to comfort, or is it just a different seat fabric?
In the next 2-3 years I'm probably going to be in the market for a new car (depending on what direction my career goes). I've owned an assortment of compact cars and compact pickups and I'd like the next car to be something kind of sporty while being very comfortable/somewhat luxurious. I know there's a lot of options, but much fewer if I want to keep it under $30k:
The VW GTI and Audi A3 tick all the right boxes, but I don't think my apprehensiveness towards VAG reliability is ever going to go away, plus I'd rather stay NA. The V6 Mustang Premium seems good too, but manual transmission seems prone to failure and I don't really want a car that I can only drive half the year (I've driven RWD in snow, but it seems to me with RWD and FWD both set up with snow tires FWD will fare better). Acura TSX is too heavy for the K24 to feel sporty (I've driven the 1st gen 6mt, only aspect of the car I wasn't impressed with). WRX Limited could be nice, but gets poor fuel economy. I like Honda products, my wife has a 2001 Honda Accord EX-L and it's great in all respects except that I wish it had more power.
I think I'd like the 2012 Civic Si more than the 2011 because I had a car with a high revving motor (Toyota's 2ZZGE) and I hated that I had to rev the snot of it to get any power out of it. Granted, Honda's K20 is a much better engine than Toyota's 2ZZGE (it's much more fun to run hard), but I really appreciate engines that have punch from 2500rpm onwards. So, the 2012 Civic Si seems perfect to me except that I have no idea how comfortable it is on long drives (I prefer driving over flying).
My main complaints about my current car (2006 Ford Focus) are: my lower back starts to kill me after 4 hours of driving and I really wish the engine had more torque; I hate needing to shift to 3rd to maintain 75mph up steep hills simply because the engine sounds very buzzy at almost 5000rpm. Ideally, with my next car I'd only have to drop to 4th (with a 5 or 6 speed), and considering the 2012 Si weighs about the same, provides 40 more ft/lb of torque and 70 more hp I think it can satisfy my power desires (being able to do 0-60 in 7 seconds or less would be great too).
So here's my questions:
2012 Civic Si Owners: How comfortable is your car on long drives? (8+ hours)
8th + 9th gen Civic Si Owners: Has anybody had Katzkin or other leather seats put in their Civic? Does it add anything to comfort, or is it just a different seat fabric?
