At first I attributed it to maybe it's just because I'm now a geezer? But then I started thinking about way back in the day when I was young and looking to buy my first car I'd *loved* to have had a little car like this.

So I was interested in a small, practical, but fun to drive car to compliment my other vehicle which is a Honda Ridgeline. With this in mind I sat down with a pencil and jotted down my wants as well as "must haves".

Must haves included:
Manual transmission, this eliminated most of what's out there.
Small, easy to drive on little roads and easy to park.
Good handling but also a compliant ride.
Around $20K
Comfortable and practical. Unfortunately this eliminated cars like the Miata which are a little too low both ground clearance plus just getting in and out of.

Wants:
At least 50 series tires. I live off a dirt road and many of the paved roads around here aren't much smoother so no 18" wheels with 40 series tires. The only reason this is a want rather than a must have is that I could always swap or buy new wheels and tires, but that's not cheap.
4 doors preferring a wagon or hatchback.
LED lights. One of the few things I don't like about my Ridgeline are the poor headlights.

My choices basically came down to Honda Civic, Corolla, or VW Golf. I ended up with a Corolla SE hatchback because it checked all the boxes plus being a 2019 leftover it came in under $20K, actually around $18K. I like that it was made in Japan vs Mexico for the Golf. It's not quite as sporty as a Civic HB but the Civic Sport has 40 series tires and halogen lights. I'm also not a big fan of direct injection and Honda's 1.5 engines have some issue.

Anyway the car drives almost like a little sports car w/o being so low, so it's easy to get in and out of. The all new 2 liter, direct and port inject engine with 13-1 compression develops 168 hp, you do have to rev it to get to that HP but that's part of the fun. It only requires 87 octane and I get over 30 mpg all the time, around 40 when I take it on a trip. The 6 speed manual is *very* easy to drive, if a person that's never driven a manual transmission decided they wanted a manual I think this is the car for them. First it has hill hold which prevents it from coasting back during the time it takes you to move your foot off the brake over to the gas pedal while letting out the clutch. This is probably what worries novices most. The clutch is also very light and soft engaging. Another feature which I thought was maybe a gimmick but I've learned to appreciate is Toyota's "iMT". When you push that button it does two things, it helps prevent you stalling by (only if needed) adding an extra bit of throttle when starting out. Also when down shifting it automatically rev matches. Say if in 4th at 3,500 rpm you push in the clutch selecting 3rd, and as you just start letting the clutch out (but before it engages), rpm will increase to say 3,900 or exactly where it will be in 3rd..... it's very smooth and no jerk whatsoever just like when doing a perfect heel/toe shift (LOL which I get right about 1/3 of the time). As a side benefit it'll probably save clutch wear as well. Also depressing the clutch doesn't shut off cruise control. For instance coming up to a steep hill when cruising in 6th all you have to do is press in the clutch (the engine does not over rev) shift to 5th, engine speed increases to the correct rpm as you let the clutch back out, and cruise brings you right back to the speed it was set on. BTW both 5th and 6th are geared pretty tall which I like.

Things I don't like? Not much really. I didn't care for the "tablet looking" display on the dash but it does work well and is easy to use and see. I wish the exterior "Galactic Aqua Mica" was a little lighter color just so it wouldn't show dust so much. I'm also not a fan of adaptive cruise controls, braking the car when going down hills. I like the free energy by letting it coast faster. Really that's about it for nits.

Awesome. I think there are quite a few entry level cars that can be fun to drive with a manual. Congratulations for avoiding the dreaded CVT.

Its a cool little car. But all the plastic on the front end is off putting for me. Not long ago, I rented a Corolla. It was snowing (its the Yoop) and the snow blocked all the "adaptive" features.
The car went nuts and set off all kinds of alerts and alarms which, in turn drove me nuts. I hope they have fixed that for you.

You chose well.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:
Awesome. I think there are quite a few entry level cars that can be fun to drive with a manual. Congratulations for avoiding the dreaded CVT.

Thanks Russ!

I dunno about quite a few though, at least when I really started searching. For instance Mazda 3 is now only available with a manual in one high level trim which is like $28,000 IIRC. There's maybe a Hyundai or Kia but only in one trim and no dealer around here says they can get one anyway. Ford dropped the Focus line completely. Really in this segment probably Civic and VW offer the most.

Big thumbs up. Love it.

Something like that should be every teenager's first car, particularly the manual.

“There are no boring cars, only boring drivers”—Mario Andretti

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Its a cool little car. But all the plastic on the front end is off putting for me. Not long ago, I rented a Corolla. It was snowing (its the Yoop) and the snow blocked all the "adaptive" features.
The car went nuts and set off all kinds of alerts and alarms which, in turn drove me nuts. I hope they have fixed that for you.

LOL the whole car is mostly plastic, hell most are anymore.

Yeah driving the thing home from Maryland I thought something was wrong with a wheel or tire because I'd get a vibration in the steering wheel, but intermittently. Finally figured out it was the lane keeping assist "feature" that was vibrating the steering wheel when I got close to a lane line on the edge of the road or when crossing the line in the center (unless the turn signal was used). First thing I did after getting home was read the manual and turn that the hell off which is where it's been ever since. The other is the stability control was too sensitive so when say taking a corner briskly and I want to slightly tighten the turn by letting off the throttle, if I let it off too abruptly the car naturally noses down slightly. Well stability control assumes ridewv is out of control and comes into play braking one wheel or the other trying to override what I just did. I don't believe stability control can be switched completely off but in the menu I was able to change it to it's minimum setting which really helped, in fact I haven't noticed it interfering since doing that.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Big thumbs up. Love it.

Something like that should be every teenager's first car, particularly the manual.

Thanks Balze. I agree what a great little fun but practical car for a young driver this would make.

Yes, they are fun little cars!

I'm not getting this new interior styling thing where it looks like they slap an iPad into the top of the dash like that, it just looks out of place and like an afterthought.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

...I'm not getting this new interior styling thing where it looks like they slap an iPad into the top of the dash like that, it just looks out of place and like an afterthought.

Me either, I wish they integrated it better in the dash somehow. Maybe it's a styling thing to appeal to youngsters who are all in to looking at their "devices"?

But as I mentioned at least it works well and Apple CarPlay, audio, menu, etc. is right up there easy to see, opposed to being down low where you have to take your eye off the road to see.

That sounds fun! It's not always about the zillion HP ground-huggers.

I currently have a Cayman and M3. The car I have the most memories of having an absolute blast in on a day-to-day basis? An '86 CRX with 76HP. 0-60 10+ sec, 1/4 mile 17+ sec. If I could bring one forward in time I'd do it today and wear a big grin for the next 5 years!

Well selected and found.

The iPad/tablet on the dash, while maybe appealing to the youngsters, as has been stated, I too prefer the integrated into the dash, nothing sticking out, look at me ...

Here in the PNW, not a lot of call for manual Corolla FWD at this time. All have the 40 series tires.
If in that market, I would have a set of winter tires with 18" wheels, a great combo for the PNW wet and snow (-that we get).

It is harder to find a manual car these days.

Nice ride!

Regarding the dash screen, I really prefer the option to not have all that crap - not because I don't like tech, but I know in 5 years it will be out of date and fugly. I prefer to just use my own phone on the dash.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
That sounds fun! It's not always about the zillion HP ground-huggers.

I currently have a Cayman and M3. The car I have the most memories of having an absolute blast in on a day-to-day basis? An '86 CRX with 76HP. 0-60 10+ sec, 1/4 mile 17+ sec. If I could bring one forward in time I'd do it today and wear a big grin for the next 5 years!

Interesting that you mention this because what I was looking for this car to emulate is the 1988 CRX Si I bought new in late 1987. The idea of buying the CRX was that this little fun, sporty, car would satisfy me after I had decided to be a responsible father by selling my motorcycle. It had 105 HP IIRC, 5-speed manual, 0-60 in under 10 seconds I think 8.8 or 9 seconds, and delivered great mpg. While I LOVED that little car it wasn't a motorcycle and one day in 1989 when I was watching with envy a motorcycle ride by my wife said "you tried but it didn't work, you need to sell you're little car and just go buy a motorcycle" so that's what I did.

Unlike most of my friends back then, and even now, I was never into high HP cars (or motorcycles either for that matter), preferring instead "adequate" power with emphasis on handling, ride, and brakes, that I can have fun utilizing. This little SE Hatchback really brings back memories of my CRX Si which was one of my favorite cars of all that I've had. Only in reality this one is better in almost every way, well other than the tablet looking thing.

You certainly have good taste in cars George, if you could have only one (Cayman or M3) which would you keep?

quote:

Originally posted by cjevans:


...Here in the PNW, not a lot of call for manual Corolla FWD at this time. All have the 40 series tires.
If in that market, I would have a set of winter tires with 18" wheels, a great combo for the PNW wet and snow (-that we get).

It is harder to find a manual car these days.

I believe the Corolla SE Hatchback is the only version with the larger 2.0 motor and 16" 55 series tires. HB SXE and sedan in both SE and SXE all come with 18" 40 series tires which ride rougher and are noisier, and no good in snow. As you mentioned with the 18's you'd have to change to snow tires. These 16" A/S tires actually do well in snow (of course they are new) but that's not really important for me as I have an AWD truck. I simply couldn't tolerate the harsh ride with 40 series tires on many of the roads I have to drive on around here.

It's hard to find manuals around here too. I bought this one from a CarMax Toyota store in MD, at the time they had around 70 Corollas, the 2019 I bought and one 2020 were the only manuals. Neither of the two local Toyota dealers had one. Honda dealer had one Civic with a stick, a $28,000 Sport Touring model.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
...... if you could have only one (Cayman or M3) which would you keep?

Funny you mention that. I have the good and bad luck of being married to someone as enthusiastic as I am about cars. The Cayman is her DD. It's almost an impossible question to answer and part of why we have both. We tend to get things we really like and keep them a really long time.

The M3 is an '08 with the 414HP 4.0 V8. The engine noise in that car is like nothing else we'd had, it revs to 8400 RPM and is incredibly well balanced for the size and comfort it brings. We've declared we're never selling it, but who knows. They just don't make V8s like that anymore.

The Cayman is a '15 and the next to last year of a non-turbo flat six in anything other than their GT cars ($$$). Again this car just makes the hair on your neck stand up. It's a screamer at only 7800 RPM and is as close to the CRX as we've had in terms of fun factor and handling. I don't think I can pry it out of my bride's hands either.

Luckily we plan to retire in AL. This will make it perfectly acceptable to put one or both up on blocks in the yard and let them sit there in perpetuity!

The little hatchback body is cute, too.

Thanks jhe, I actually like the styling overall.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
...... if you could have only one (Cayman or M3) which would you keep?

Funny you mention that. I have the good and bad luck of being married to someone as enthusiastic as I am about cars.....

Whoa that IS both good and bad..... and expensive. But given the choice I'll take a car enthusiast for a wife any day. And those are sure two great cars you each have.
My dream car was always an air cooled 911 but I waited too long and the already high prices kept going up. Next in line is a Cayman which would actually be better in every way. Maybe one day I'll stumble on one.....