Makes me feel young again!
After driving my 2006 Accord 147,000 miles I decided I needed a new car. The Accord had served me well, and, except for oil, battery and tire changes it had not visited the shop. But I could feel it getting old and knew a major repair was not far off.
I wanted a similar car and I liked the 2018 Camry with its new platform. Seemed more powerful and fun than the older one, but body looked a little floppy. Then I saw the 2018 Accord and liked that too. Reviews said it was more refined and more fun than the Camry. But I did not like the way the rear looked. I also wanted a manual shift. About 40 years ago I had learnt to drive stick shift in India and driven stick till 2003, when I came to the US. Then the automatic seduced me with its easy driving and convenience. But my soul missed the sound of a revving engine and the satisfation of the gear clicking into its place.
I then looked at the lease deals Honda was offering and saw the Civic Si at only $229/month. All online reviews were glowing. Far more striking was the passion and the number of superlatives the reviewers used compared to reviews of Golf, Focus or Miata. I was middle aged, married with adult children and belonging to the higher middle class. Would it look good if I drove a teenager's car costing $25,000? And it was manual, which was taking a step backwards, while other car manufacturers were threatning to unleash self driving cars.
I test drove the Si and the Honda Sport manual. The Sport was a little more docile and a little more me. In the end, I decided not to be me and signed up for a black Si. And after a couple of months now, I am glad I did.
My old Accord had decent handling compared to my Enclave and Versa. But the Si was a world apart. I climbed upto Lick Observatory a couple of weeks back. 18 miles, 4000 feet and around 360 hair pin bends of pure bliss! I drove down to Big Sur last weekend and even at reckless speeds along Route 1, I never felt the car go out of control in any of the turns. It always seemed eager to head into the next one like a young puppy on leash. On 101, the steering was rock steady and a small press of the accelerator was enough to surge. I had not felt so alive and young for a long time. The car seemed to read my mind and become a part of me. My only fear was that I would be pulled up for speeding.
But I do have some small complaints which I hope Honda will fix in future
1. The normal mode is not comfortable enough and the Sport mode is not sporty enough. There should be a greater difference between the two modes.
2. My daily commute along 880 is certainly more fun than in my Accord but the constant stop and go can be a little wearing, especially in the evening when one is tired after a day of work. I wish Honda would change the first two gear shifts to automatic and then go back to manual for the next three.
3. I love the engine noise but the road noise can be a irritating. Ideally, the cabin noise should be near silent in the normal mode and noisy only in the Sport mode. And separate out the road noise from the engine noise using the audio system. I am sure outside noise can be picked up using a microphone and can be filtered and fed into the speakers. I wonder why no car manufacturer has considered this.
I love my Civic Si. And did I tell you I get 40 mpg?
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