[GlennS]

Hi,

I'd agree that under certain, specific circumstances, the steering in my ‘06 LX (auto) sedan is, how can I describe it?

Squirrelly...yea that's it.

For perspective, I have owned a couple of different BWM 320i's, a '67 GTO, and many other cars, so it's not like I'm a newbe driver. I'm no pro, no not at all, but I like to think I know how cars "should feel."

One time when I accelerated the '06 Civic to a rather fast speed (grandma would say 'too fast' for the road I was on, I freely admit) I noticed going into a favorite corner that the steering felt overly touchy, or sensitive. The car actually felt, to me, as if it was somewhere near the edge of going out of control when I fed in just the slightest amount of steering-wheel correction. Note: I take this same road every day on the way home from work, and on days when there's no other traffic on this short stretch of road, I do sometimes like to gun it and take the gentle corner at a fairly aggressive speed.

Here's the rub: In my recently-traded 1996 Civic hatchback (5-speed manual), I could go into the same corner running near 80 MPH (for just a short time), and I never, ever felt the car was not "with me" all of the way. And that was with 13" wheels (with Michelin tires on them). In the '06 sedan, I feel the car's steering stays "too light" at spirited speeds, and the speed-sensitive steering needs to feel "heavier" and that it just does not feel "slow enough" in such situations.

Granted, my antics described above probably rule out 90% or more of your "average" Civic drivers, as they would not dare to be so, shall we say, "aggressive" as I when I'm having a little fun with my favorite corner during my commute home from work. That I discovered what I can best describe as "instability" in regards to the sensitive-steering "at speed," does cause me concern. (Though the car is plenty of fun at lower speeds, and I enjoy the quick steering at lower speeds.)

One thing's for sure: I know that I won't be trying my favorite cornner at nearly the speeds I used to with my '96 Civic, as I feel the '06 just can't handle the situation. (Which is probably an okay thing for both me, and my insurance company. ;-)

Perhaps this all means that I'm just not used to a higher-performing steering/suspension setup (but I doubt it), or that I simply need to go buy a stiffer-sprung Civic coupe, or the Si, even? (But I shudder at the Si needing 91 octain fuel at todays near-3-dollars-a-gallon prices!)

Final thoughts: That my "lowly" '96 Civic hatch was far more "behaved" (i.e. handled better) in the same situation causes me to wonder about the '06 sedan's handling-related engineering. Perhaps the 2006 Civic sedan is just too "soft," suspension wize, for such antics on my part, which means my first Civic sedan, will also be my last, Civic sedan purchase!

P.S. Yes, on dry roads, at times, with the factory Goodyear tires, I too have felt the ABS kick in when I felt it may not have been 100% necessary. It seemed overly dramatic given the braking situations I was in when ABS fired. But that's not a show stopper for me.

Regards,
Glenn in CT