First:
As I sat in the driver’s seat with the height adjuster as far down as possible, my cranium made constant contact with the headliner, leaving me only one way I could drive this car. It wasn’t pretty.
Gangsta lean, engage!
Uncomfortable, and in a slightly bad mood about it, this week was not my favourite. If there’s one thing that drives me crazy, it’s being forced into a position that feels unnatural while driving. However, it does give an explanation as to why so many young male Civic drivers choose this pose.
I see you've been learning from Mr. Black - or you, too, have a good sense of humour. Either way, I must commend you on excellent writing, Mark! It's things like ^^^ that are informative and keep we, the readers, entertained and yearning for more. I arrive at work 45 mins early so I can read up on my daily autos.ca (and to cut my commute in half due to less traffic), and I appreciate when there's some good comedy. Thanks!
Second:
I, too, consistently root for the Civic. It really checks a lot of the right boxes. Still, I couldn't bring myself to buy one, opting instead for the Corolla (in 2010, at least). I agree that there's a lot to like (especially size, which I think is perfect), but I'm sure the Sedan has more headroom than the coupe. The Civic seems to have stood still while others have surpassed it in so many ways - and the funny thing is that Honda has made update (2012) after update (2013), and then added a CVT for efficiency (2014), yet we're still not satisfied. One has to ask why the best-selling compact garners only 2.5 stars (when the Corolla, of all cars, garnered 4 stars from Simon
http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2014-toyota-corolla-s-2/3/).
It's becoming readily apparent that not only does styling matter, but no longer is it acceptable to be...acceptable/resting on laurels, etc. Honda has the potential to be a great manufacturer - look at how the Acura brand has been revived from falling so far behind. The Civic has become too quirky for its own good, but I don't think it'd take much to make it a best seller again.
Positive attributes:
1) Value - it's priced VERY well.
2) Packaging - very fair.
3) Size - it's actually a compact, yet has decent legroom in the rear and decent cargo space (sedan, at least).
4) Perceived reliability (despite being built in Ontario).
But it needs:
1) An updated engine (especially if using a CVT, a low-torque engine isn't helping Honda's case)
2) Some sort of 'wow'. Corolla has those LEDs that draw in so many, for e.g., Mazda has the 'zoom zoom', Elantra has...I dunno, I never understood why that car sold so well, etc.
Really good job by Honda, but almost seems a little lazy. I had a professor in university that often said:
"If you do the minimum, you will get the minimum." Very good words to live by.
