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Sedans Honda Civic Economy Sedans (~$16k-$20k)
1205 messages, Last post on Jul 16, 2009 at 4:31 PM
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Replying to: backy (Nov 12, 2008 7:22 pm)  As far as which version of the cars; I drove the models that offered the best mix of fuel economy (my 25,000 annual commute miles were looming large in my mind when I started doing my test drives, and that was when fuel was still north of $3.00 a gallon), extra goodies, and a stick shift. So, to run through the list, I drove: 2009 Mazda Mazda3 i Touring Value edition (2.0 liter & 5-Speed) 2008 VW Rabbit 2-Door (2.5 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Chevy Cobalt 1LT-XFE Sedan (2.2 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Ford Focus SE Sedan (2.0 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Honda Civic LX Sedan (1.8 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Hyundai Elantra SE (2.0 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Toyota Corolla S (1.8 liter & 5-Speed) 2009 Nissan Sentra S (2.0 liter & 6-Speed) Best regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Nov 13, 2008 9:58 am)
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Replying to: backy (Nov 13, 2008 10:02 am) Best regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Nov 13, 2008 9:58 am)
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Replying to: micweb (Nov 13, 2008 3:35 pm) Focus SE - 68 Corolla (base) - 69 Elantra SE - 69 Sentra 2.0S - 70 Mazda3s - 71 Civic LX - 72 Rabbit - 70 or 72 (they haven't tested a "normal" Cobalt recently) Note that the numbers are from two different tests. In one, the Rabbit got 72; in the more recent one, it got 70. Not sure why since both cars were similar, but maybe the road conditions were different in the two tests. All the tested cars had sticks. Reviewing these tests reminded me that the Astra is a pretty nice car in this group, and is available at a pretty good price now.
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Replying to: micweb (Nov 13, 2008 3:35 pm) Hmmm, oddly enough, I would say that the Focus felt as fast or maybe a tad faster and handled a bit worse. Why? Well, as far as the acceleration goes, I'm thinking that due to the extra 368 pounds the Cobalt is toting around combined with what feels like extra tall gearing (I suspect that they changed the gearing a bit for the XFE package), has erased what should look like an acceleration advantage on paper. As for the handling, I think Focus models from a couple of years back handle much better. However, when Ford decided to "Americanize" the suspension of the Focus, they ruined the crisp handling and knocked it down to a lesser handling car than the Cobalt. FWIW, my nephew has a 2006 Focus and it handles MUCH better than the new one. As far as noise goes, I don't mind some engine and road noise, however, I absolutely hate wind noise, and the sedan version of the three different Cobalt sedans that I've driven (two rentals plus the XFE test drive car) have had significant wind noise emanating from the rear doors and/or windows. The Focus suffered from no such wind noise. Best regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: backy (Nov 13, 2008 4:26 pm) Make sure to get the 08. The 09 version just went up in price for a car that is not really selling 
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Replying to: joe97 (Nov 13, 2008 9:38 pm) 
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Replying to: backy (Nov 14, 2008 8:34 am)
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Replying to: lhanson (Nov 14, 2008 8:52 am)
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