All this talk of old Hondas makes me pine for my 86 Civic, and two 89 Preludes. My last Prelude had the AT but had four wheel steering. Miss all of those cars.

I know back when Honda was..... well Honda. With almost Mercedes/BMW type suspensions and build quality with Japanese reliability and cost. Prelude was a good example, an elegant looking, high quality car along the line of a Mercedes SL.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Thanks jhe, I actually like the styling overall.

The back hatch actually looks like an older Mazda 3, which I think was a good looking car.
Nice ride.

That's a nice little ride.

I have a 2006 Corolla that I cant seem to part ways with. It is the most comfortable and reliable vehicle I've ever owned.

I would like to test drive the hatchback with the manual.

How are the headlights, that would be my only complaint with mine?


.

The XSE is a looker, but would be a tough sell over the more fun to drive Mazda3.

quote:

Originally posted by maxxpower:
That's a nice little ride.

I have a 2006 Corolla that I cant seem to part ways with. It is the most comfortable and reliable vehicle I've ever owned.

I would like to test drive the hatchback with the manual.

How are the headlights, that would be my only complaint with mine?

The car is VERY comfortable and the headlights are awesome, full LED running, low, and high beam. (This just applies to the redesigned 2019+ HB and 2020+ sedans.)

quote:

The XSE is a looker, but would be a tough sell over the more fun to drive Mazda3.

Not so sure it's be more fun to drive at all, sadly as far as I can determine Mazda3 is no longer available with a manual transmission. I went with my sister who bought a new Mazda 3 HB maybe 4 years back and at that time a specific version was available with a manual. She opted for the base engine automatic which, while she liked it, I felt was gutless and uninspiring to drive. Mazda 3 Hatch was on my list until I discovered there's no manual plus it was well above the $20K I was hoping to be at.

I'll see your Toyota and raise you with one Ford Fiesta ST. Sadly 2019 was the last year for the Fiesta in the States but it still rolls on in Europe.



2700 lbs. curb weight, 197 HP under the hood with a 6 speed manual. Wheels mounted are 16x7 with 205 R50x16 all seasons (cost me a grand with the TPMS and new tires.).

As for Fun, the Fiesta ST is top of it's class for SCCA Autocross.

IIRC there's a single [upper] trim on the 3 still available with a 6MT, FWD only.

That said, the msrp on the 6MT 3 is a jump over even the XSE Hatch.

A Focus ST with the Recaros would he nice, but I imagine finding a new one is quite a challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
I'll see your Toyota and raise you with one Ford Fiesta ST. Sadly 2019 was the last year for the Fiesta in the States but it still rolls on in Europe....

That's a great little car, Scooter and certainly better than a Corolla. Toyota does market a high performance Yaris Hatchback (essentially a tricked out Mazda 2 in other markets) with over 200 hp. Naturally the U.S. doesn't get it.

I have a friend who owns a Ford dealership and my first stop was there to look at Focus and Fiesta ST's. Sadly I was a year too late, Ford no longer offers any of them. After that is when I started researching on-line and discovered what few cars that met at least most of my criteria were actually available. And there aren't many now. With mandatory collision avoidance braking being mandated for all cars in the next couple years I question if manual transmissions will even be offered at all much longer?

Nice looking car. One thing about plastic, it doesn't rust.

Corolla hatchback. A buddy of mine had an early one back when they were rear wheel drive and it was a hoot to drive. A good entry level car then and now.

First car was a Corolla. Great car. I have that tablet screen in my RAV4. Didn’t like it at first but then once I figured out Apple Play I love it. The screen never goes out of date because Apple Play keeps updating itself. Apple Play and android play will make the in car stuff seem archaic.

I certainly agree that Apple CarPlay as well as the screen *function* well, and while I was initially put off by it's high positioning in all honesty I had gotten used to it........ well until it was pointed out here.
Probably allows Toyota to more easily change it whenever the next display comes out w/o having to completely retool making the dash too.

I LOVE my Corolla HB. The 6 speed is nice and the rev matching feature is my favorite part. My big clumsy feet would never allow me to learn that technique myself. Mine is the XSE, which includes heated seats and the blind spot monitoring system which is nice on the highway. I work for Toyota so it was a fun process to pick it out. Another dealer had my car with exact options i wanted and I got paid to go pick it up myself. Only had 4 miles on it when I got to it.

Good to hear you like yours so much as well Jus228! Yeah the rev matching really works well and I wasn't even aware it existed, wonder what other cars utilize it? Heck I wish it could be made to be the default setting so I don't have to select it every time I start the car.

I made it part of my “start up” procedure haha...get in, push in clutch and brake, start it up, release parking brake and hit rev match button and away I go. I don’t even have to think about it anymore. I do agree though it should default to where you last set it, just like the lane departure and other systems like auto high beams (which I don’t like)