AudioQuest

There is a good chance that I may be getting out of my 2008 CRV lease this month and back into a Civic sedan (2010 Canadian Sport model (LX)). It depends on whether I can get the pricing I want and what the ramifications of the lease agreement are. I've been driving a small AWD suv since 2003, so getting back into a smaller sedan will be a bit of culture shock I'm sure. A few questions:

- How's the current Civic in the winter? I will be buying snow tires for it.
- How's the 4-speaker stereo system? Is it "good enough" - I'm not a real stereo nut, don't need crazy power or bass.
- My last Civic (03) was a pain in the a$$ to change the oil, have they improved the location of the oil filter?
- How's the auto transmission? Nice shifting or clunky?
- Power of the 1.8: decent? I always found the D17 to be a little underpowered.

Thanks!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i test drove one a while back and they have made some improvements. any civic should be fine with snow tires, but you still gotta be careful braking. stereo isnt bad at all for normal listening. i always thought the older civic was pretty easy to change oil, and i havent done the newer ones. i know they use a completely different engine tho (R18). the auto trans shifts much smoother which i actually didnt like, i want to know when the car shifts. otherwise most people are happier with it. power isnt great, i think it only got a 10hp bump and you can hardly notice. my car with boltons felt faster. just make sure you can sit in the car and drive comfortably. its completely different feeling compared to 7thgen.

Devani

iTrader: (2)

well, my wife drives 08 CR-V EX-L and I have 09 SI sedan.
size wise it's not that much smaller than CR-V...stereo is pretty much the same (crap on both)...

I did test drive R18 and I bought SI instead....power is decent for R18 and I used to have 01 civic EX coupe 5Sp for 113K miles....

i am regular sized 5-10 and 180lb