Purchasing a new car and immediately driving it across the country.

I recently purchased a new car after I did hours upon hours of extensive research, test drives, pros/cons lists, and watching YouTube reviews/comparisons. 

I immediately drove the Si Sedan from Coast to Coast clocking 3400 miles on the ride. I started the journey in Orlando, FL and ended it in Manhattan Beach, CA just outside of Los Angeles. I made stops in Gainesville (had to hit some of my old stomping grounds), New Orleans, Dallas, Colorado Springs, Moab, and Zion before ending in LA. 7 days, 6 nights, company paid for all expenses, now I just have to reside here for a few months. 

The 2020 Civic Si has a few upgrades over the earlier versions of the same car. Mechanically, the final drive is closer to what the 8th generation Si had. Aesthetically it received LED headlights, black wheels, and updated bumper inserts front and rear. 

Overall I'm pretty impressed with the car. It received 36MPGs average on the trip. The seats were a little uncomfortable at times and the lack of an adjustable headrest was annoying (yea that's something I knew purchasing the car). It gobbled up mile after mile seamlessly and I was very impressed with the ride quality. The shifter is still standard buttery smooth Honda! The power delivery is something I'm not used to in a Honda. I was very impressed with the low end torque and smooth power throughout the whole powerband. It does take away some of the visceral feel that older generation Civics had (I've now owned 4 different generation Civic Si). 

Creature comforts are aplenty and theres no need to go over all that stuff. Dual zon climate control and heated seats are a nice touch from previous gens but something I don't think a car like this needs (that's very upmarket). 

Long story short, after this whole trip and a week of DDing the car, it's leaving me desiring more. It's a great all around car but it just doesn't have that excitement previous generations of Civic Si had. I don't know if it's the lack of real VTEC, the more refined interior, or the fake engine noises pumped in; but, I'm regretting not buying a Veloster N w/ performance package. I should have spent the extra money on something that I was looking for. I love my Honda's; but, this just feels so....numb? 

This is also my second coast to coast trip in the last 9 months. In June I did Norfolk, VA -> Los Angeles, CA -> Tacoma, WA in 4 days in my 2001 Sequoia. Have a very similar picture to the last one above. 

Congrats. Beautiful pics. 
 

whst did you really want? I have bought new cars and regretted them. My 16 WRX lasted me 900 miles and 27 days of ownership. 
 

I too factory ordered my Elise. Took delivery Greenwich CT. Drove 3800 miles cross country , post delivery. Trip was epic, with some 19 hour days in my Elise. 

mr2s2000elise said:

Congrats. Beautiful pics. 
 

whst did you really want? I have bought new cars and regretted them. My 16 WRX lasted me 900 miles and 27 days of ownership. 
 

I too factory ordered my Elise. Took delivery Greenwich CT. Drove 3800 miles cross country , post delivery. Trip was epic, with some 19 hour days in my Elise. 

So just out of curiosity,  what did you dislike about the WRX so much that you had to get rid of it so soon??

The Civic has matured, your taste in cars hasn't. You win. Seriously, you still want something a little raw, a little raucous, something emotional. May you never lose that my friend.

mr2s2000elise said:

Congrats. Beautiful pics. 
 

whst did you really want? I have bought new cars and regretted them. My 16 WRX lasted me 900 miles and 27 days of ownership. 
 

I too factory ordered my Elise. Took delivery Greenwich CT. Drove 3800 miles cross country , post delivery. Trip was epic, with some 19 hour days in my Elise. 

My heart truly desired a Civic Type R. Dealer markups are still a thing on those 3+ years later and I just didn't see one being worth $15k more than an Si. An Accord Sport 2.0T was an step down from that in the Honda world and it's a pretty refined car so it was at the bottom of my list. Then I test drove a Veloster N. It checked all of my boxes. A back door, a hatchback, a spooly boi turbo, LSD, raw feel, subdued interior, and all kinds of awesome. I let the one sensible part of my brain override in my decision for a new car and went with the safe bet on the Si becaue it was cheaper and a Honda. I'm currently scouting out Ns in the area but it seems as if SoCal has dealer markups on those so I may have to extend my search to Vegas or Central Cal. 

pinchvalve said:

The Civic has matured, your taste in cars hasn't. You win. Seriously, you still want something a little raw, a little raucous, something emotional. May you never lose that my friend.

You know after splitting daily duties between an S2000, E36 M3, and the Sequoia pictured above, I thought I wanted something a bit more refined. That was not the case whatsoever. In reality I just wanted a better cupholder with the same raw characteristics as those cars. I don't know how I ended up with vehicles that have some of the worst cupholder designs ever; but, I did. 

Also I can totally relate to the WRX scenario above. It's a car I want to love and on paper it sounds so cool but there is just something so off about it that I've never kept one for all that long. 

I found Satan... err, I mean "Waldo". 

I would plunk down my monies on a CTR, but I'm not playing dealer markup BS. I'm also annoyed that the Si only comes in sedan form. Good work Honda. I'll be keeping my 8th gen Si because you can't pull your head out of your ass.

DirtyBird222 said:

In reality I just wanted a better cupholder with the same raw characteristics as those cars. I don't know how I ended up with vehicles that have some of the worst cupholder designs ever; but, I did.

How does this always happen?! I've only even owned one car with cupholders, but the damn things only fit metric drinks(E36).

clutchsmoke said:

I would plunk down my monies on a CTR, but I'm not playing dealer markup BS. I'm also annoyed that the Si only comes in sedan form. Good work Honda. I'll be keeping my 8th gen Si because you can't pull your head out of your ass.

Honda shows a coupe.  
 

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Woops I should have been clearer. You cannot get an Si with a hatchback. That's my real gripe. 

clutchsmoke said:

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Woops I should have been clearer. You cannot get an Si with a hatchback. That's my real gripe. 

I imagine it would be a hot seller on the market and knowing Honda they don't make an Si in that form because they would be worried it would detract sales from the CTR. 

I do love that some dealers that have multiple Type Rs on the showroom floor, that have been sitting there for months, are still trying to charge a dealer fee/market adjustment on them. I went to one dealer that had 6 Type Rs. $8k markup on all of them. 

_ said:

I found Satan... err, I mean "Waldo". 

I was thinking "Kevin" from Sin City. 

Nice writeup!

I admit, I kinda feel the same way about my '17 Elantra Sport.  I recently got to drive a Veloster N with the performance pack and love how much more raw it is, yet you can switch it back to comfort mode and it feels about as daily driver friendly as the Elantra does.  The Elantra is fine...but it's a warmed over economy car instead of a hot hatch.

I'm probably going to wait a couple more years, but I think a Veloster N will be my next purchase.  That nagging "you only live once" thought seems to come on really strong once a month and makes me re-evaluate finances every time.

Tactical Penguin said:

Nice writeup!

I admit, I kinda feel the same way about my '17 Elantra Sport.  I recently got to drive a Veloster N with the performance pack and love how much more raw it is, yet you can switch it back to comfort mode and it feels about as daily driver friendly as the Elantra does.  The Elantra is fine...but it's a warmed over economy car instead of a hot hatch.

I'm probably going to wait a couple more years, but I think a Veloster N will be my next purchase.  That nagging "you only live once" thought seems to come on really strong once a month and makes me re-evaluate finances every time.

Those same words enter my head every time I enter this office building that is a safe/secure/sound career for the future. The other half of me is like "pay off your short term debts, start your own business, be happy with what you're doing in life." Same thing for my daily driver LOL

I've found that a bit more visceral noise makes the difference, maybe change the intake or exhaust up a bit.  Being able to hear the car is part of being able to feel it as well.  You could also take a look at the alignment.  I'd see what it feels like as a daily driver and see if that helps as well.

LifeIsStout said:

I've found that a bit more visceral noise makes the difference, maybe change the intake or exhaust up a bit.  Being able to hear the car is part of being able to feel it as well.  You could also take a look at the alignment.  I'd see what it feels like as a daily driver and see if that helps as well.

I can agree that exhaust can help with that. It made my 2016 WRX much more enjoyable to drive, especially with the pops/bangs noises you got if you shifted at 5500rpm (end of the power band anyways). It also wasn't like the popular tune kids love these days were they change the ignition timing on decel to produce that effect. Just a nice turbo brap during the shift transition. 

That being said, Honda decided that for 2020 the Si and CTR needed pumped in engine noises when certain driving modes are selected. I can't even tell what kind of engine its trying to replicate. It's like a super muffled CBR1000 or a 10k RPM B16 but not really. All I know is that I unhooked the device that enables that and it's made it slightly better. TBH the new Civic Si is just that refined. It's what an Accord used to be in both size and smoothness. It's not really a complaint, it's more of a "I just miss when I could hear VTEC screaming."

With all that being said I am not minding the gas mileage I'm getting on my daily commute. With LA gas prices being astronomical it's nice only having to fill up once every 3 weeks. Meaning I've only been to the gas station once since trekking out here.