Sporty, reliable, and cheap?

[LancerZero]

Alright, here's the deal: I'm parting ways with my pretty baby 'Bu, which has been a joy to drive but a pain in the ass to keep maintained. Stuff just keeps breaking, and now that it's almost at 78k miles, I want to sell it before something major goes kablooey and makes my car worthless.

I want to replace it with something that's fun in the twisties and around town, but has enough power for the highway because I enjoy road trips into nearby mountains. It should have bulletproof reliability, and be as economical as possible. I don't like spending $100 a month on gas for my GM V6. And I'm a 22-year old college student, so I don't want for it to be too terribly butt-ass-fugly.

I test-drove an Echo (aka Yaris and Vitz), and it would serve well but for the fact that here in America I'm surrounded by 3-ton SUVs and trucks. Not fun in a 1-ton car.

I know the Civic isn't much heavier, but it seems more stable at high speed, and is supposed to be pretty safe for a compact. Thing is, most of them in my price range (which is only $5k-$8.5k) are stick-shift, and I've never driven a stick. As much time as I spend behind the wheel, I'd have to learn quick. How hard is a typical Civic 5-speed to use, compared to others? How long did it take you guys to get comfy with a 5-speed? Seriously, no "I WUZ BORN WIF A SHIFTER IN MY HANDZ, MAN" stuff.

I've also been considering the Aveo, what with GM offering their employee discount & stuff, but I've been trying to stay away from GM.

Also, I don't have a lot of spare time to find rare stuff (ie, well-maintained sports cars), so it also has to be fairly common. Anyone else have any suggestions, or comments on the cars I've mentioned already?

[BlackGT2000]

Civics are one of the easiest manual cars to drive. If you can't learn on that you can't learn. I have confidence that you won't have any trouble learning on a civic. Defintely go with a manual though.

[k3smostwanted]

out of that list...civic is the best bet.

the civic is an economy car...but the Aveo and Echo take economy to an extreme. i dont know why it seems that car manufacturers think they must make a car ugly for it to be inexpensive to purchase. does it really cost more money to throw a half way decent looking body on a car?

and i doubt the echo and aveo have enough power to have much fun in the mountians or on the highway.

the best performing car out of this group is probably the one you already own...though the civic may handle a little better.

[kman10587]

Go with a Civic EX or a Corolla S, with a five-speed-manual. They are both incredibly easy to learn stickshift on, and stickshift will make the car a lot more fun to drive, not to mention cheaper to buy and better on gas. One of my friends who has never driven manual before was bought a brand new '05 Civic LX coupe by his parents, with a manual transmission, and within a week, he was driving it almost perfectly, so I don't think you'll have too much trouble.

[illegal_eagle187]

yeah the civic would be ur best bet, and manual is so easy, all u gotta do is master the clutch, and you'll be a pro by the end of the week

[VAD0R]

If you want something with economy and performance why not consider some offerings from the sorts of Suzuki, Hyundai or even now subsidiary Kia?

The Hyundai Accent would be a good alternative to the Aveo and soon to be canceled Echo with a more robust engine with more tuning potential then the Aveo, not to mention the coming in a sedan size which is a bit larger than the competition for about the same price. And as for the Elantra what else can I say other than it is a cheap alternative to the Civic, Sentra and dare I say base Corolla, also the hatch version has more trunk space with hardly any expense of being any bulkier.

Then there is Hyundai's subsidiary Kia. Which I first thought would be Hyundia sporty arm, with a sportier take on virtually every model. That is until I heard rumors about Hyundai's new Tiburon, another higher end sports car and the probability of them creating a sport/luxury brand. But aside from that what got me started on thinking about it was the Spectra5. Now don't get me wrong the Kia Spectra is a good buy providing it has a selection of engines which have more hp, not to mention better trims but of course it comes at a price of around thousands more then the Hyundai equivalent, which probably makes it more inline with the base Civic, Sentra and ect. The Spectra takes a decent sedan, turns it into a hatch, adds a cheapish but still sporty interior with a good shifting and a suspension setup that some may say is too good for it, all at a price that is still a bit cheaper then the Mazda3.



For the Suzuki brand line-up they are offering three models that vary ever so slightly on what is an economy automobile, but these variations do indeed make a difference. First, there is the much commercialized Foreza. With its basic package with a 2l 120hp I4 and luxuries that climb mildly in so it can compete with the likes of the Accent up to the base Civic, it also comes as a wagon as well. And the Suzuki Reno is a slightly more up scaled, but still economy wagon, with sportier looks that is meant to run with if not surpass the base Golf. Then there is the Suzuki Aerio, not many people know let alone care about this lowly sedan or hatchback/van thing (depending on how you look at it), but that doesn't mean it should be ruled out. Sure, it comes at a starting price which is a bit higher then the other economy models, but for some pretty good reasons. One major thing is the standard plus larger rev happy 2.3l I4 that puts out 155hp, which makes it fly past its baseline competitors and almost perches it up against the Mazda3 as well as the Civic Si. You also have to consider the interior which comes with many standards not found in other baseline alternatives with pretty comfy but firm seats, nice audio, power windows and mirrors among other things standard. Sure its quality can fall into question at times when you have issues such as side mirrors that may spin in the wind. But aside from a couple of panel problems some people have, mechanically it seems pretty sound. So all in all I consider this a good economy car for those who look still look to them as cheap platforms as which to tune, considering the Aerio's aftermarket is still blooming so to speak. And for those who take practicality a step ahead of sportiness as well as not minding an automatic transmission, but still want the same mid-range power can opp for the AWD Aerio SX hatch, which btw is the cheapest AWD car in the US.

Other to consider as well is the Sentra (no matter how many people question its quality these days), Saturn ION (which has a solid engine but flexible panels to resist denting) and Ford Focus which I guess you can say is tried and true in practicality not to mention plenty of time to iron out its reliability.

[LancerZero]

Thanks for all the help - let's see . . .

Civic - Fun to drive, easy to learn 5spd, easy to find low-mileage - but tend to be older vehicles (1997-1998)

Rio - Not new, nor used if I can avoid it. Makes a Civic DX seem like a hotrod with a 0-60 time (with 5spd) of 11.3s.

Accent - No faster than the Rio, I still wouldn't mind this car too much were it not for those weeny 13-inch tires. Not made for enjoyable cornering, from what I've heard.

Escort ZX2 - supposed to be fun to drive and pretty reliable. I'll keep an eye out.

Elantra - Probably my favorite offering from Hyundai, used models can be had at a more than reasonable price - and it's supposed to be enjoyable to drive, too.

Lancer - these depreciate like mad, enabling me to actually potentially afford a recent model. Safe, and reportedly fun to drive through the bends, though it's somewhat lacking in the power department.

Aerio - Holy crap, how could I have forgotten about this car? It was one of my sister's top picks, though she ended up buying a Lancer ES based on looks. I'd be willing to drive a good, long way for a decent Aerio - like this one. Partly due to my love of trips, I'd really like cruise control, which is standard on all Aerios except for the base model. Also standard is a six-speaker CD stereo - important because I happen to be something of a music nut, and a crappy-sounding stereo would probably drive me bonkers. I also like the 145hp and the gas mileage, which is on par with my dad's 2002 Cavalier. Yes, I know, a cavalier. We've had our share of problems with it . . . but anyway, the Aerio also earned a "best pick" safety rating from I-forget-which-crash-tesing organization. I like. I would drive 200 miles to get that car - which is good, because most of them are at least 75 miles away. I'll have to widen my search for Civics, Proteges, Sentras, Elantras, and other such cars. My search will probably narrow a bit once I get my final loan information.

[beef_bourito]

if you want something that's cheap on gas and fun to drive and good in the twisties, get a motorbike, unless you want usefullness. as for learning manual, it's really easy, my dad took me out in his mazda truck and by the third run i had pretty much mastered it, my next run was in the city of ottawa and i only stalled once (if at all) and it wasn't in a busy place so i was fine. it's really just learning where the clutch starts to get friction (or where it starts to bite) and when to give it gas. at first, let out the slutch very slowly untill you hear and feel it start to bite, then give it some gas but not too much althought too much is better than too little unless you drive your revs through the roof. dont worry about manual, get a car, practice with someone who knows how to drive stick and you should have it within a week.