With the price of gas on a steady rise, a fuel efficient car is a must. My last DD was a 2007 Civic Si. This was my 4th civic and by far the most powerful and best handling Honda I ever owned. That being said, it ran on prepmium and the low end and mid range were lackluster. It also was the heaviest Civic ever at 3,000 lbs. I thought of installing a turbo or SC but fuel consumption would increase dramatically. I tested the 2.0T powered products from VW and Audi (EOS, GTi and Jetta) and was quite impressed with the performance but fuel consumption was even higher than the Si. German cars are built on the heavier side for their "solid" ride. This weekend I drove a mini Cooper turbo. The 1.8L, 2500 lb. car ran really good. Midrange was superb with great handling to go along. The stiff skateboard ride might be due to run flat tires as it has no spare. @ 24.5K$s it seemed reasonable. Heated vynil seats (only choice is black/grey), electrically operated folding mirrors (like JDM Zs) and rain sensing wipers are some of the options for this price. Wheels are 16s. A "john cooper" brake kit and 17's will run an additional 3.5K$s.
