Hey all, I just ordered an 06 Honda civic LX auto.. Im 17 years old and I really wanted the manual, but when my parents gave me the decision between the two, they guilted me into the auto since no one else would be able to drive it (and since they were putting 12 thousand towards it, kind of hard to argue), I got the auto. I ultimately decided that being a 17 y/o teen, Im a little to irresponsible to be driving a manual. So I do have a few questions on it...

Is the auto slow? The dealer told me to take it easy when I test drove since it was being broken in, so I never really went above 30mph on the frontage road, and I had a really light foot..

Are manual cars going to completely destroy it? Im not looking to drag race here, but in my town there are a lot of guys who drive around junker manuals (lots of Low 90s Galants here) that like to rev you at a stoplight and then burn out and cut in front of you. Am I gonna be subject to this in the civic?

And most importantly.. is upgrading performance worth it on an auto? I wasnt planning on doing much, basically just intake, headers, exhaust and maybe some interior mods, but is it wasted on an auto? Is the performance going to be wasted since its not a manual? What about a turbo? I most likely wouldnt of done these because I dont have the know-how to build up the engine to be able to handle boost, but I figured I would ask anyway..

So basically, just wanting to know how bad an auto is going to suck. Other than the performance since I really couldnt test it out, I cant WAIT for my civic to get in. Nicest car Ive ever been in besides my dads caddy CTS (Well maybe not nicest, but for a 17 year old, I feel like Im driving a super-luxury car.)

Thanks all for the time to answer.

 

im 17 with a manual LX coupe.

really once you learn stick its a second nature.

actually now when i drive an AT car i always reach down to shift, but when i find nothing i remember that im in an AT.

and about those early 90's beaters you just gotta be the bigger man and look away.

honestly if i had an auto i wouldnt worry about performance, i might tint it and get some rims and some springs and call it a day but its up to you.

GL

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I know how to drive a stick though, its my mom and my sisters who cant, my dad and I can.. I just couldnt complain though, because how many 17 year olds have parents who take them down to the dealership and hand over a check for 19+ thousand dollars, and tell you to pay them back as you get the money and feel comfortable to. Not many!

About being the bigger man.. Sometimes I just have the urge to wipe the smug look off their face when they try and smoke me. I guess that goes hand in hand with being a teenager sometimes.

 

I'm in the same situation, couldn't get the SI and even the manual EX so i got the auto EX and let me tell you, it's 1.8 i-vtec SOHC. Break in time was 700 miles for me and after that i went 80- 90 on the highway, pushing hard to pass and cut people. After a few days, i could feel the power, the computer chip regconized my driving style. All cars are like that , i mean the civic isn't the fastest or will help u beat a manual car but it sure picks up a lot faster than the old civic. By the way, don't drive too agressive for the first 600 miles, after that, push the gas hard !!

 

I hear ya.. Its just I read that the new auto was a lot more advanced than previous, and someone even mentioned it had the upper hand in performance over the manual, so I just had to make sure he was full of crap before beleiving it. Guess it is the truth.

 

My parents tried to guilt me into getting a Ford Fusion... PFFT. "But the fusion is FULLY LOADED" they said... and i said "And the SI comes with all that **** STANDARD"

In the end, it came down to my money, my car, my choice.

For you it was a little diff, 12k is a lot of money to factor in influence.

As for mods, you could always find a person who wants to swap trannies later on down the line... by that time you should be the only one driving the car anyways...

 

My first civic was automatic,
the downpayment on it was a Xmas gift from my dad.

Decent power, nothing crazy, great gas mileage and hell... it was new

Personaly for a "new car" i'd accept it auto or manual.

I would however not put a PENNY into it performance wise, just get the HFP kit and rims if anything and call it a day.

Save the rest of the $ for when your NEXT car comes...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MakeMyExistence &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I hear ya.. Its just I read that the new auto was a lot more advanced than previous, and someone even mentioned it had the upper hand in performance over the manual, so I just had to make sure he was full of crap before beleiving it. Guess it is the truth.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well the new civic is a 5spd auto
where as the older ones were 4 spd ( i believe )

so the shifts are a little smoother... anyone knows that a "variable " auto tranny in a civic is crazy. When you come to a light and your moving and need to start due to the light changing , you sometimes get auto crunch ... which is the tranny figuring out what gear to go out

which i NEVER got in EITHER of my ex gf's 2 06' civic ex's both which were manual

so to honda fixing the crunch