Is the EX-T fun to drive?

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spike021

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Well guys I'm a little disappointed.

I went to a dealer here in the South Bay today (near SF) to test drive the car for the first time myself. I figured what the hell even though the sedan and coupe are pretty much the same car I'll try both. The guy on the lot who got assigned to me complained about how they're both the exact same, etc. etc. and pretty much would only begrudgingly let do it, so I ended up only trying the sedan.

I did really enjoy the sedan but it wasn't really a super long test, plus it was with the guy in the passenger seat (and only 17 miles on the car!) so I didn't really want to go too crazy, though he did let me drive it a few exits on the freeway back and forth, which was cool.

I know the coupe and sedan are nearly identical but I wanted to get a feel for the coupe's shape since it's definitely a bit different, maybe not necessarily so much in how it drives but how it feels. :banghead:

I'm a lot closer to getting it, even though it's not going to be an actual sporty car. It sounds like a fun car to drive but one that's also super reliable for at least a few years.
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spike021

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I had a 2016 Civic EX-T sedan rental for several days and took it on some very windy roads for a long way. We have GREAT backroads on the SF Bay area peninsula (actually all over). The steering feel / feedback is very good and it handles really well. Power is certainly adequate, but let's face it, it's not a high powered 'sports car' or out and out 'fun to drve' car like I guess a Subaru STI or something like that. But neither of those average 39.x MPG like I got over 3 days.

Beyond that, what brought the fun or joy down a bit for me was the seat comfort / driving position. I'm 6'2" tall, long legs and the cushion tilt was a little flat, cushion itself a bit short and narrow.
The 8-way power seat would improve the situation cause I could tilt the cushion up more for leg support and just have more flexibility with it. But, no mistake, Civic doesn't seat a driver like an Accord and I don't expect it to.
Yeah I'm in the Bay Area too actually. I'm thinking of taking drives out like in the Santa Cruz mountains (highway 17 and around there) and stuff like that. Very curvy roads all around here.

I think people misunderstood my OP :( I never meant like a high-powered car or legit sportscar. Just a ride that can be fun to drive out like on weekends on nice backroads and stuff like that but still at the same time be a reliable commuter/daily driver during the week.

Any recommendations on backroads you went on? :D
 

Troy Jollimore

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The Civic's got nothing but glowing reviews, but one of my favourites was Matt Farrah's from The Smoking Tire. This is a guy that is used to driving some pretty high-powered machinery, and he loved driving the Civic. Found it pretty spirited...

My Touring will get up and move when you want it to, and as others have said, most of it's hesitation with high speed cornering can be cured with a better set of tires.
 

carlson03

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Well guys I'm a little disappointed.

I went to a dealer here in the South Bay today (near SF) to test drive the car for the first time myself. I figured what the hell even though the sedan and coupe are pretty much the same car I'll try both. The guy on the lot who got assigned to me complained about how they're both the exact same, etc. etc. and pretty much would only begrudgingly let do it, so I ended up only trying the sedan.

I did really enjoy the sedan but it wasn't really a super long test, plus it was with the guy in the passenger seat (and only 17 miles on the car!) so I didn't really want to go too crazy, though he did let me drive it a few exits on the freeway back and forth, which was cool.

I know the coupe and sedan are nearly identical but I wanted to get a feel for the coupe's shape since it's definitely a bit different, maybe not necessarily so much in how it drives but how it feels. :banghead:

I'm a lot closer to getting it, even though it's not going to be an actual sporty car. It sounds like a fun car to drive but one that's also super reliable for at least a few years.
Ha, dealer I went to when I test drove it first time, it was raining like crazy, salesman let me and my buddy go alone (guess it helped few months prior, I just bought the CRV)....that was the real test of the car...did great on the highway in the rain. Personally, even if the salesman was with me, I would still drive it fast, giving him warning tho! :)
 
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spike021

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Ha, dealer I went to when I test drove it first time, it was raining like crazy, salesman let me and my buddy go alone (guess it helped few months prior, I just bought the CRV)....that was the real test of the car...did great on the highway in the rain. Personally, even if the salesman was with me, I would still drive it fast, giving him warning tho! :)
Haha nice. I was thinking about it but wasn't sure if I should :p
 


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Yeah I'm in the Bay Area too actually. I'm thinking of taking drives out like in the Santa Cruz mountains (highway 17 and around there) and stuff like that. Very curvy roads all around here.

I think people misunderstood my OP :( I never meant like a high-powered car or legit sportscar. Just a ride that can be fun to drive out like on weekends on nice backroads and stuff like that but still at the same time be a reliable commuter/daily driver during the week.

Any recommendations on backroads you went on? :D
Spike, have you ever gone on Hecker Pass between Gilroy and Watsonville? It has so many twists and turns that it makes it a blast to drive. I recently took that route on a trip to Monterey and loved every inch of that road. Sadly I drove a rental Sentra but I saw quite a few 10th Gen. Civics, Miatas, Minis, etc. so I know driving enthusiasts enjoy this route too!

I know it's a bit out of the way but it's worth it.
 
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spike021

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Spike, have you ever gone on Hecker Pass between Gilroy and Watsonville? It has so many twists and turns that it makes it a blast to drive. I recently took that route on a trip to Monterey and loved every inch of that road. Sadly I drove a rental Sentra but I saw quite a few 10th Gen. Civics, Miatas, Minis, etc. so I know driving enthusiasts enjoy this route too!

I know it's a bit out of the way but it's worth it.
I actually never have. This would be my first car and the people I know aren't really into driving roads like that. I'll have to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!

Edit: Oh wait I do haha. I just know it as Hwy 152 haha. But I've never driven it myself, just gone through as a passenger.
 
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losjackal

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To be honest, I was originally planning to buy a twin (FRS/BRZ) because I wanted a somewhat inexpensive sporty car. I don't need tons of power and I'd heard the twins are great in curvy roads, stuff like that.
I haven't read the other replies, but I just turned in 10-series FR-S off a 3-year lease. That was a fun little car to drive. Backend very slippy, made good vroom-vroom noises. But, the tight suspension got old feeling every bump in the road, and the car isn't very practical for daily use especially needing to pick up my son and his high school friends once in a while.

On the other hand, the Civic Touring really caught my eye, with the design overall and the similar accents. I bought a Silver Touring, which really looks like a 4-door version of my FR-S! All of the Sensing electronics and CarPlay integration make this car fun too. And, there is the Turbo performance, and lastly, I'll say the car is nimble and doesn't feel like a boring sedan to me. As nice as the Accord is, I didn't want a full-size luxury sedan, I wanted something sporty and responsive. The Civic is satisfying that for me, so much so that I bought this car and plan to drive it for much longer than 3 years.

Honda Civic 10th gen Is the EX-T fun to drive? IMG_2292
 

Troy Jollimore

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The Accord drives pretty much the same as the Civic, oddly enough...

I went through one of those canyon roads last November. My wife and father in law freaked when I tried to even go a 'little' fast, but I still made it fun. That was in a rental Nissan Versa...
 

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My two cents based on having owned an EX-T for about six months. I thought it felt sporty for a front wheel drive car. It felt light and agile when turning and some of this is due to Honda's electric assists applying the brake to the inside wheels on turn in. The turbo engine pulls well but some people may not like the sound. Its torque should make the Civic a lot more usable on the street than the BRZ/FRS that have to be wound up to higher revs to keep up with traffic. The CVT worked great but lacked the ability to shift manually which I missed coming from a previous car that had that feature. The shift lever seemed to be in the perfect position for a manual and I was often frustrated that I didn't wait for that option.
If you don't mind my asking, why did you get rid of it?
 


tcl

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If you don't mind my asking, why did you get rid of it?
The primary reason was that I found the EX-T seats to be very uncomfortable for me on the first long trip I took. The discomfort kicked in between the 60-90 minute mark. I didn't sit in it long enough on the test drive to discover this. I think the adjustable seat bottom on the EX-L and Touring models might have been more comfortable.

My secondary reasons were that I missed the sound of the V6 engines I was accustomed to and missed the lack of a manual sequential shift capability on the CVT. I'm staying on this forum a bit longer because I'm curious about what sort of issues I might have run into had I kept the car and to offer some advice based on my six months of ownership. I'll probably drop off the forum at the end of the year.
 

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The primary reason was that I found the EX-T seats to be very uncomfortable for me on the first long trip I took. The discomfort kicked in between the 60-90 minute mark. I didn't sit in it long enough on the test drive to discover this. I think the adjustable seat bottom on the EX-L and Touring models might have been more comfortable.

My secondary reasons were that I missed the sound of the V6 engines I was accustomed to and missed the lack of a manual sequential shift capability on the CVT. I'm staying on this forum a bit longer because I'm curious about what sort of issues I might have run into had I kept the car and to offer some advice based on my six months of ownership. I'll probably drop off the forum at the end of the year.
Luckily for me, my car isn't primarily for our family trips, and generally speaking I don't take long trips solo. I have taken this car on a 4 hour round trip once already even though I've only owned it for a week. I wanted to test this out even though it's not our primary family mover (we have a 2015 Kia Sedona minivan for that). I can definitely vouch for the seats being a little less supportive than I'd like. Lumbar support could have been better. But my back has never agreed with Honda seats ever on long trips (used to drive back and forth from PA to SC for college - 600 miles - and owned an Acura Integra and Honda CRV during that time - both sucked).

I also prefer a v6, but the fuel economy for me is tough to beat. Plus coming from a coupe (http://imgur.com/a/aGrq4) having 4 doors was welcome for me.

I've owned CVTs in the past and this one is much better than the ones I've owned (2007 Altima/2015 Rogue)...

I have not really pushed my car yet at all. Just under 500 miles and I don't think I've let her get above 3000 RPMs. I am sure I will find lots I don't like, but I believe I will own it for a long time.
 

Civics4Ever

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The primary reason was that I found the EX-T seats to be very uncomfortable for me on the first long trip I took. The discomfort kicked in between the 60-90 minute mark. I didn't sit in it long enough on the test drive to discover this. I think the adjustable seat bottom on the EX-L and Touring models might have been more comfortable.

My secondary reasons were that I missed the sound of the V6 engines I was accustomed to and missed the lack of a manual sequential shift capability on the CVT. I'm staying on this forum a bit longer because I'm curious about what sort of issues I might have run into had I kept the car and to offer some advice based on my six months of ownership. I'll probably drop off the forum at the end of the year.
I just drove back by myself from Fort Worth to Southern Illinois total of 884 miles and 13 and a half hours is what it took. I started feeling fairly fatigued after about the 8 hour mark. And although the seats could probably be more comfortable and have more adjustability it was way more comfortable than my 99 or 97 Civic. And I'm 57 and I have back issues too so I think while the seats could be more comfortable they are pretty adequate for me for a long trip.
 

tcl

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I just drove back by myself from Fort Worth to Southern Illinois total of 884 miles and 13 and a half hours is what it took. I started feeling fairly fatigued after about the 8 hour mark. And although the seats could probably be more comfortable and have more adjustability it was way more comfortable than my 99 or 97 Civic. And I'm 57 and I have back issues too so I think while the seats could be more comfortable they are pretty adequate for me for a long trip.
Judging by the posts I've seen on this forum I'm in the minority when it comes to experiencing seat discomfort with the cloth seats. I have to bend my long legs quite a bit in order to comfortably grip the steering wheel even when it's extended to the max. I think that may be part of the reason for my discomfort since less of my legs are resting on the seat bottom to distribute my weight. That's why I later thought that the tilting seat bottom on the leather seats would have worked better for me.
 

Civics4Ever

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Judging by the posts I've seen on this forum I'm in the minority when it comes to experiencing seat discomfort with the cloth seats. I have to bend my long legs quite a bit in order to comfortably grip the steering wheel even when it's extended to the max. I think that may be part of the reason for my discomfort since less of my legs are resting on the seat bottom to distribute my weight. That's why I later thought that the tilting seat bottom on the leather seats would have worked better for me.
I forgot to mention, I'm 6 ft tall.
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