City, Civic and CRV

[eggman]

City of course..Maganda sya at practical sya..In 1.5E A/T please!!

[Type 100]

The City gets a lot of things right and it's my favorite of the bunch. Comfortable, deceptively roomy, easy to drive and see out of, very peppy and cheap to run - there's very little not to like about it. Don't knock it for being basic, too; it means you can focus on your driving and not on other things that can cause you to crash. As much as I like the City, however, it's just not at its best mated to an automatic. Regardless of engine, the overly wimpy transmission just saps and hides the potential of the car, which is a shame.

The Civic's R18A1 engine is a far better match for the automatic transmission it carries and how it's programmed (in a lot of ways, it feels the City and Civic share the same smooth-shifting auto gearbox). However the car itself has grown too "big" and unwieldy, and is pretty hard to drive in tight confines - and by that I mean 90% of Manila traffic. Visibility and consequently close-quarters maneuverability are not its strong points. It feels it would rather be cruising on a highway where it could avoid having to rub fenders with other cars.

The CR-V is merely okay compared to the two others. I've never been fully convinced about the virtues of the CR-V as a Honda, and this third-generation model doesn't do anything to change my mind. The best thing I can say about it is it's the most car-like of the compact SUVs so far, but that also means it's neither fish nor fowl and it has to defer to its smaller brothers. Get it only if you really need the load-lugging capacity.

[littletwinstars]

Thanks everyone for your inputs!

I have decided (finally!) on getting the 1.5E AT City instead. I've put reservation already and might be able to get it this weekend if the color is available.

Thanks thanks!