Best balanced car ever?

No, I'm not talking about wheel balance. Just a little post about my EX-L sedan.

Is my car the fastest car out there? No. Is it the best handling car? Absolutely not. The sharpest look car ever? No? The best gas mileage vehicle? Nope.

But I'll tell you what my car is. It's an amazing combination of power, economy, good looks and top notch features at a good price.

The EX-L offers the one feature from the Touring that mattered to me. Powered leather seats. I'm Ktuner tuned and it totally transformed the car's driveability. For what I paid, what other car gives you that kind of power and still is easily capable of 40 MPG's? A few small tweaks here and there like a front sway bar, Si rear bar and better tires gives all the handling I'll need considering that most of my driving is in city stop and go and highways.

For the money, this is about as balanced a car as you can get. It's comfortable, economical and pretty fast too.

Agreed. It’s a great car.

not rly. That title belongs to the E46 330i.

Gunther said:

not rly. That title belongs to the E46 330i.

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That deserves the title of shitbox

Prometheon said:

That deserves the title of shitbox

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Don't recall seeing any @ Hertz?

Gunther said:

Don't recall seeing any @ Hertz?

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Maybe they can't hold up to rental use.

Gunther said:

not rly. That title belongs to the E46 330i.

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Believe it or not I just sold my ‘05 E46 330ci to buy the ‘19 Civic Sedan and the Civic is the better car in every way.

My son’s are thrilled to be done with old tech, unexpected repairs, creaks, breakdowns, and expensive fuel ups. The Civic has 90% of the acceleration and 95% of the steering and that’s more than adequate on local roads and highways. E46 had its day but just makes no sense in 2019.

My ‘95 Acura Legend Coupe was the better balanced car FYI, and the Civic feels extremely close to it. It’s like a trip down memory lane.

I’ve always said my Si is a Goldilocks car

BriteBlue said:

Maybe they can't hold up to rental use.

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They can as long as they overhaul the cooling system with every oil change.

civilian said:

Believe it or not I just sold my ‘05 E46 330ci to buy the ‘19 Civic Sedan and the Civic is the better car in every way.

My son’s are thrilled to be done with old tech, unexpected repairs, creaks, breakdowns, and expensive fuel ups. The Civic has 90% of the acceleration and 95% of the steering and that’s more than adequate on local roads and highways. E46 had its day but just makes no sense in 2019.

My ‘95 Acura Legend Coupe was the better balanced car FYI, and the Civic feels extremely close to it. It’s like a trip down memory lane.

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I'm with you but we must be different drivers... no way the dynamics of the bog standard sedan even approach that of a well-sorted RWD sedan. The fundamental architecture simply isn't there.

That said, I am willing to sacrifice some performance to rid myself of over-engineered pointless German bullshit.

Gunther said:

They can as long as they overhaul the cooling system with every oil change.


I'm with you but we must be different drivers... no way the dynamics of the bog standard sedan even approach that of a well-sorted RWD sedan. The fundamental architecture simply isn't there.

That said, I am willing to sacrifice some performance to rid myself of over-engineered pointless German bullshit.

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#192 on the list: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23319884/lightning-lap-times-historical-data/

Take a look at what other cars churn similar lap times and what cars are slower. Pretty good for a bog standard economy sedan.

herox said:

#192 on the list: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23319884/lightning-lap-times-historical-data/

Take a look at what other cars churn similar lap times and what cars are slower. Pretty good for a bog standard economy sedan.

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The Si is standard??

Gunther said:

The Si is standard??

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More 'standard' than a lot of the other cars on that list in the 180-210 range

Gunther said:

I'm with you but we must be different drivers... no way the dynamics of the bog standard sedan even approach that of a well-sorted RWD sedan. The fundamental architecture simply isn't there.

That said, I am willing to sacrifice some performance to rid myself of over-engineered pointless German bullshit.

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My son's and I don't track our cars and we don't drive like maniacs either. So for routine trips to the mall or the occasional spirited Sunday drive down a local twisty road in the woods, I can tell you with authority that our '19 Civic Touring handles and steers within a hair of our '05 330ci. We are just as suprised to hear that as you are, trust me.

For years we thought the E46 and its pixie dust would be hard to replace and that no matter what modern car we'd buy we'd be disappointed. Not true. I can highly recommend a Civic Sedan as a nice E46 replacement. Does it have that pop from 0-60? No way. But steering and handling and body roll? I'm telling you, very little difference. We are very pleased.

My bog standard tuned EX-L puts out about 220hp/tq and propels my 2900lb. bog standard car pretty damn well. And considering the near 40mpg I get, and the fact the 10th gen chassis is a solid handler (for a bog standard sedan), on balance, it's a helluva car for the money (for a bog standard sedan).

I agree, except mine is the Si sedan, but all of your points seem spot on. I can't believe the combination of features, sportiness, comfort, looks, and fuel mileage this car has for just under $25k. I made a comparison spreadsheet of all the cars I've driven enough to be familiar with in the last few years. These are my opinions only