2008 Honda Civic

Ever wake up in the morning and just wanna drive? Ever been in a relationship that got better and better every single day? Welcome to life with a Honda Civic (LX, manual).

A little about the tester (me): I drive 150 miles per day as a Field Engineer for an Optics company. I spend two weeks per month driving rental cars across the Western USA. I know how to drive aggressively, but I also appreciate value above all else. I used to own a sporty Ford Probe GT and then owned a Chevrolet Aveo, reviewed at http://www1.epinions.com/content_219828752004.

Ladies and Gentlemen, none of these cars, or even any car out on the road today comes close to the Civic in terms of overall smoothness, styling, safety, efficiency, value, and quality.

NEW FRAME: When you sell cars in every country in the world, you have the resources to invest the R&D into a design that is a "next generation" design. The engineers at Honda certainly hit their mark with this Civic. Rigidity, quietness, spaciousness, and a gorgeous exterior come standard.

SAFETY: Have you looked at the crash test videos at the iihs.org site? The Civic video is a thing of beauty. The car absorbs all the impact with.... elegance. The dummies look like they are falling into a bed full of pillows. Of all the features of this Civic, the knowledge that should something horrible happen, I am surrounded by Honda's safety engineering is by far the best feature. Take a look at the Aveo's video to see why I sold my car.

ENGINE: They added a new path for the air to enter the piston which is somehow more efficient, giving you 15 extra horsepower and keeping the legendary fuel economy. I get 34 mpg highway. There is an electronic throttle which smooths out daily driving and adds to responsiveness when you need it. Finally, the engine sounds like a shuttlecraft from Star Trek. It's beautiful, smooth power all throughout the powerband.

INTERIOR: Again, straight out of Star Trek. Once you go to the digital speedometer, there's no going back. Analog speedometers on other cars just seem... simple and inaccurate. The placement makes it almost like a Heads Up Display. You can use your peripheral vision to see how fast you are going. The dials, textures of the materials... it's just perfect except for two minor details:

1) The emergency brake lever. When cruising on the highway, your right leg leans against the e-brake, which jabs into your knee. In my opinion the entire e brake and shifter should be placed closer to the passenger. Honda's engineers placed them closer to the wheel so that there is less of a distance your hands have to travel from the wheel to the gear when driving through windy roads. It's a preference, really.

2) The steering wheel. It's an amazingly comfortable steering wheel except for the bottom part of the horizontal portion in the center, which is pointy. When turning the wheel with one thumb, it cuts into the thumb.

Other than that, it's a spacious interior with a great view outside. There's no hump on the floor of the back seat which makes it comfortable for the third person in the back seat too. Great sounding standard sound system. Very comfortable. Very quiet.

BRAKES: I drove this car for two hours in a windy mountainous road and the brakes experienced brake fade. To be fair, I was driving like a maniac. It was only a matter of time. I still would like to see an improvement, perhaps an air vent to cool the brakes as you drive.

Price: $16,000 new, plus taxes and registration.

People, this car is amazing. If you look at my cons, you'll see that they are so insignificant compared to the other cars out there. Hondas are simply at another level of engineering. And I can see why. I had two quality surveys from Honda after buying the car. One was for the dealer and the other was for the car itself. They listen to consumers and improve their designs every year. You just can't go wrong with this car!