thielepr

Here is my situation. My S is a weekend driver, my wife have a SUV and my daily beater is an altima se-r six speed. This is my second altima se-r. The car runs perfect. The title is salvage and it needs a rear door replacement. So it's not in perfect shape but it does the work. I had drove 15,000 trouble free miles in the past 8 months. But somehow I haven't bond with the car. I'm having a baby soon but I only drive the altima to work and back and my wife SUV will carry the baby 90% of the time

Now I'm looking for something newer and I got to the point that my choices are the Fiat 500 Abarth or a new civic si. I had a 8th gen Si and did love it. I did critize the 9gen civic when the came out but the 2013 interior it much nicer.

I already now that the civic is faster and it got more space. But for 24K the civic is fully loaded and the Abarth is almost plain. An Abarth with the same equipment of the civic will cost 27-28K.

I don't like turbo cars but I really like the Abarth. The looks, the red seats, the sound and it's very unique car compare to a civic.

I guess in the end I will decide on the numbers and the civic is winning in that department.

So, please give me some feedback here.

Syn

You're going to get a ton of pro-Civic responses; the Honda bias on this forum is quite staggering. That said, I am not a Honda fanboy and I'll still say the Civic is clearly the better choice. It's bigger, more practical, more powerful...just more of everything. And a big bonus is it doesn't look like a Fiat 500.

The Fiat may seem like a more unique choice now, but I am already seeing them all over the place and I can't say they ever strike me as a good looking car. I feel like they will go the way of the PT Cruiser: the first time you see one it's got that "different-ness" to it, but then you start seeing them everywhere.

S2020

I have the similar dilemma 3 months ago. I have a fun sports car that can't be used to drive to work. My schedule is often pretty crazy. Final contestants were: Civic Si, Fiat 500, Mini Cooper S, and Prius C.
Wife has SUV.
Then I realized that I simply CANNOT have the car break down b/c it would cost me time to take it in and fix it. A beater car needs to be reliable first and foremost. Prius C was too slow when I test drove it.
This left the Civic.
I have been happy with the Civic since.

coolberg

The 2013 Accord is a wonderful car too. I picked one up for my daily driver and rarely miss my gas guzzling SUV.

s.hasan546

IMHO i wouldn't drive a civic if i had any choice/say in the matter lol. It's a pos to me.

On the other hand i love the new accord. Drives gr8 (i had my doubts on the CVT but honda proved me wrong).

But id go mini cooper S. it's a gr8 DD. Surprising amount of room with the hatch. AMAZING Gas mileage. Just don't own it past the warranty tho.

trep

I really don't like both cars. The Civic Si has lost it's prestige I think. I wouldn't mind the FIAT but I see this woman almost every morning in my block, Louis Vuiton's handbag and driving her FIAT and it just makes me thing that it's a women car no matter what they will do with it. It seems like you want something not too old but I'd consider a RSX-S.

TheDonEffect

As I said before, the Fiat 500 Abarth is the car I want my gf to own.
The civic si to me these days is just irrelevant. Ok, if you're on a tight budget and this will be your only car and it has to fill some of your enthusiast jollies then it's a great car. But if you got an s2k in the garage, why get it? The suspension is not comfortable, it's not that spacious, and it isn't that great on gas, speaking of which it takes premium gas. If you're considering an abarth, I'm assuming you're considering a civic coupe, at which case I'd say get an frs. If you're lookign for an si sedan, and have an s2k already, I dont see whats the point in getting the SI. As mentioned above, I'd get the new accord or something, the type of car that will absolutely fill any other voids you have while owning an S. It's more spacious, more comfortable, more practical, and these days gets better gas. Want more oomph? Get the V6 with a stick if you must.

thielepr

A v6 fwd is what I have now. so, the accord is not even in question. The BRZ/FRS would be a perfect choice but I will never be able to put a car seat in the back for my 10% of baby duties

WolfpackS2k

What about a MazdaSpeed 3? They're about the same cost as a Civic Si and are much roomier and faster.

deepbluejh

Does the car have to be absolutely new? If not, then a budget of $24k opens up some really nice lightly used cars.

I personally went on the search for a good daily driver and come down to either the Acura TSX or Acura TL. I chose the TL mainly because I don't do a ton of driving so the lower gas mileage doesn't matter too much. For you a lightly used TSX might be right up your alley. It's clearly more biased towards comfortable luxury than the Civic Si is, but it has more space and is a much nicer car. It also doesn't carry the "civic stigma" that we all know.

Another option if you're leaning new and want something that gets great gas mileage is the upcoming 2014 Mazda 3. It should have the same lines as the Mazda 6 (gorgeous), yet get probably 35mpg in mixed driving. It's not going to beat a civic Si in a drag race, but it's all a tradeoff as I'm sure you know.