[GalaxyGrayMark]

To commemorate my car braking 1000 miles I give you some thoughts, opinions, and comments about my experiences to date. But before we begin, some facts:

Car: Civic 2 Door EX Manual Transmission
Color: Galaxy Gray Metallic
Add-ons (at purchase): Mud flaps, Trunk mat, Wheel locks (The infamous “protection” package)
Climate: Midwest (purchased 2nd week in November)
My Demographic: 35+, M, 5’6”
Previous cars: 90 Acura RS, 94 Acura GSX, 99 BMW 328i Sedan, 00 Audi S4, and 97 Acura CL 3.0
Current other car: 03 BMW M3
Future Mods: Short-shifter

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: First and foremost let me say that I absolutely love driving this car. It has the perfect mix of style, comfort and drive. Sure, there are a few bugs here and there, but the positives (build quality, gas mileage, interior, suspension) outweigh them significantly.

POSITIVES:
- Style
- Exterior and Interior Quality Build
- Driving comfort
- Suspension feel

NEGATIVES:
- Slow Rear Defroster
- Thick A Pillars
- Notchy Shifter
- No inside grip to close the trunk

You can stop reading right here if you don’t want to get bored as I’m going to get into a quite a bit of detail about the car starting with the Exterior. So sit back, grab a cup of java, relax, and enjoy…….

Exterior:

Style/Paint/Build: I’ve come to believe that the new Civic style is rather polarizing – either you like it or you don’t. Obviously, I really like the new style and there are not many exterior angles where the car looks odd. The paint job is well done and I have not run into any chipping; a very good sign given the amount of salt that is dumped on our streets nowadays. The metallic flakes really come out when the car is clean, however, I’ve come to believe that Galaxy Gray doesn’t really hide the dirt as much as I would have thought. This car is very easy to wash and I can’t wait until next year to try some different waxes on it.

The exterior build quality is excellent. The front of the car is built well and doesn’t seem busy. It does bother me that Honda did not have provide fog lights on the EX. The placeholders in the bumper really beg for you to get the fogs to complete the look. The door handles of the car are excellent and can be found on cars much more expensive. They have a great solid feel to them. Some people may have an issue with the trunk style, but I think it’s well done and really makes the car stand out from previous models. One thing about the trunk is that there is no grip on the inside to close it. I don’t mind that there’s no lining, but a grip would have been a nice detail. The spoiler on the trunk is very discreet and low-key – I like it. Even the chrome tailpipe adds a little “panache” to the car and fits right in.

Panel gaps are small and consistent (meaning that one side of the car doesn’t have 1mm gaps and the other 5 mm), and “cut lines” flow well with the overall shape of the car. Small details such as the windshield “set in” the frame of the car mean that when you use the sprayers to wash the windshield no drips will come down on the driver’s or passenger’s windows – nice touch. I would recommend mud flaps to protect your investment. They’re cheap, easy to install, and add another style element to the car.

Wheels/Brakes:

This is an area that people will definitely change first. I, for one, am very happy with the current style of the wheel and have no intentions of changing them. Sure, they could have come with 17” wheels like the tC does, but Honda probably decided that the overall “ride” was more important. I’ve got the all-season Bridgestone tires.

The gap between the top of the tire and the body of the car is about right. Not too high (e.g. Eclipse) and not too low. The brake caliper color seemed a little too silver for me, but nothing out-of-place. The offset of all the wheels is aligned very well with the car. Even my M3’s front wheels had a bad stock offset for the front wheels and really irritated me.

Interior:

Dashboard/Steering Wheel:

Absolutely awesome. I really like the direction they took with the dash in allowing it to be more ergonomically friendly and forward thinking. The white on blue digital speedometer looks great and does not feel like an add-on. The center stack is slightly tilted to the driver and reminds me of how the e36 BMW interiors are set up (yes!!). All buttons are easy to reach and illuminated properly. At night the dash looks the best and it’s only during the day where the tachometer area can look cheap because of the plastic that is used (check it out….you’ll know what I mean). The hazard lights have it’s own separate button; I like this detail.

Sight lines are great due to the large windshield although the A pillars probably could have been a tad thinner. Contrary to other reports on the glove box, I feel that it does not feel cheap and opens/closes with ease.

The steering wheel has a great feel and shape. Thicker areas can be found at the 10 and 2 O’clock areas of the wheel for added grip. The radio control and cruise control rocker buttons have a nice feel and do not get in the way of normal driving. The spokes look like cheap plastic, but they’re actually quite sturdy. In the middle of the bottom spoke lies a metal “mesh” patch which is a small, but, poignant touch.

Radio/Stereo:

The radio sounds average to me (I’m an audiophile) and definitely needs more highs and a better sense of imaging. I would imagine that for 90% of the individuals who buy the car the radio will be fine. I may change out the front midranges and tweeter in the next year.

I definitely like the huge (and I mean huge) wheel/buttons that control the on/off, volume, and tuning folder. It would have been a very nice touch to add some rubber or grippy material around the wheels to give it an over-the-top quality feel. I’m not saying that they feel bad now. It’s just that I look into a lot of small things that could add to a better tactile sense to it. The designation of “Premium Audio System” looks odd and it could have been left off.

Climate Control:

The buttons have a wonderful quality feel to them – very Harmon Kardon-ish if you will. It’s been very cold here lately and it does take some time for the car to warm up. I do miss the seat warmers! Once the car does get warm, however, it gets hot fast! You’ll definitely need to do some tweaking during your commute. I’m a little disappointed in how slow the rear defroster works. My CL had one that heated much faster.

Parking Brake/Shifter:

The parking brake is in a good location for my body size. I have heard that it rubs up on larger individuals and I can see why. The shifter looks like it’s far away, but it actually falls into your hand quite nicely. The shifts, though, are quite “notchy” and long and definitely could use an upgrade.

Doors/Seats/Other:

The doors close with a quality feel to them – no slamming sounds. However, I do feel that the plastic that they used for the grips to close the door as well as the interior door handles will wear/crack over time and may need to be replaced. This is just my opinion of course and others may not agree. Auto/up and down on the drivers side works as expected except when it was freezing outside and the window would not go down.

Seats are very comfortable and have limited adjustability. They are supportive for those of you who choose to do more spirited driving, but probably not enough for consistent auto-crossing. I’ve got the gray cloth and on the doors the cloth almost feels very “suede-ish”. Headrests are stylish and comfortable.

Cup holders are easily the best I have ever had in a car. They hold any shape of cup, bottle, mug, etc. I even like the way that you can slide a cover over them so the interior looks “clean”. Smaller cup holders can be found for rear passengers, but they wouldn’t hold anything larger than your normal bottled drink (no Big Gulps here please).

Storage areas are plentiful and adequate in space. The armrest storage area is quite large and you can fit a lot of CD cases in there if you so choose. You can adjust the armrest by sliding it forward or backward which makes it nice for those of us who have shorter arms.

Engine:

The engine feels lot stronger than the hp/torque numbers show. Since the car is relatively light any high revving will definitely make the car feel quick and nimble. I noticed that at speeds above 70 the engine will start to feel like it’s really working, but that is to be expected with this powerplant. The engine bay has everything laid out in a manner that will bring out the mechanic in you. Easy access and everything of major importance is color-coded.

I’ve averaged about 28 miles per gallon on a total of 3 tanks. I drive approximately 75% in the city so I expected my mpg to be a tad lower than what is advertised. The car has gone through a lot of very cold starts over the past few weeks.

Suspension:

The car definitely drives “sporty”. By that I mean don’t expect a soft ride – even for a Civic. The EX feels great coming out of cloverleafs into and out of highways. There are some out there that will get coilovers and such, but for daily driving the suspension feels good.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS

As you have read, I definitely feel overwhelmingly positive about the car. I look for a lot of details when I make my purchases and Honda has met my expectations. I hope this review has been helpful for those of you who are on the fence. The best thing to do is take the car for a spin……you won’t be disappointed!