My Dream Car!

We were going to Germany and the Czech Republic. We were going to be renting a car, but we had no idea which kind. Hopefully something good on gas and that had enough power to get around on the Autobahn. Our prayers were answered when we got the 2006 Honda Civic from Dollar Rental in Frankfurt.

I was used to driving a stick, but every vehicle has it’s quirks. On this particular vehicle, there was a red “start” button on the left side of the dash. The rental guy came out to the vehicle with us. He informed me to put my foot on the clutch and brake so it wouldn’t lurch forward when it was started. Either that or put the stick in neutral. At any rate, starting up went fine.

This particular car was a diesel. We asked if it would be difficult to find diesel in Europe. We were told we had the best of both worlds, since it was a stick and diesel. Diesel is the lowest cost fuel in Germany and the Czech Republic. It is plentiful at the petrol stations.

I stepped on the gas, and this baby had POWER! I’m not a speed freak, generally wanting to keep the RPMs under 2000. I don’t abuse the power, but like to know it is there. We had 6 forward gears and one reverse. The reverse could be a bit difficult to get into. Not because there was anything wrong, but they probably didn’t want you accidentally shifting into reverse at speeds in excess of 140 kpm!

There was plenty of power on this baby, even in 5th gear, to be able to accelerate at a moment’s notice. If I was in the slow lane on the Autobahn, and there was a car 1/4 mile in back of me, gently gaining on me, I felt comfortable getting in the left lane and passing the car ahead. Even with the “fast laners,” I could at least get out in front of them until I had passed the cars in front, and swing back into the curb lane.

There was an adjustable cup holder between the front bucket seats. The console had a slider that slid front to back. We ended up putting 1 liter soda bottles and such in there. There was also a moon roof. It rained a fair amount in the afternoons and evenings, and I saw no leaks in the car.

The rear view mirrors on the door were “breakaway,” mirrors. One jerk got too close to us on a very narrow street. We touched mirrors and ours pushed off the base slightly. Hubby got outside and put it back. There was a tiny bit of paint transfer that rubbed off. WHEW! I didn’t want to give the rental agency even more money for something that wasn’t our fault.

What I didn’t like about this car was the bar across the back window of the vehicle. I believe it helps to defrost the back window. Why they came up with such a horrible design, I never know.

Another thing I didn’t like about this vehicle was when you put down the sun visor, it covered ½ the mirror! The designers don’t like to make it easy to look in back of you.

We got about 35 MPG, if we calculated correctly from liters and kilometers. The dash had a converter that told you how much mileage (unsure how this is stated in countries with kilometers) you had left. This varied, depending if you were going up hill, down hill, going 85 or 150 KM, etc.

I thought the car handled well, and did everything I asked of it. The steering was great (with the exception of too broad U turns). Braking was very adequate, as long as I didn't mistake the clutch for the brake pedal. (oops!) With a fast car, you need good brakes.

There was a great radio with wonderful sound. It had an LED readout. I'm unsure just what it was trying to tell me. It seemed that sometimes it read the region I was traveling through, sometimes the nickname of the station, and other times the group singing. The dash was full of gauges, rather than just idiot lights. The foot feed was chrome, and there was a chrome foot rest to the left of the clutch pedal. ABS brakes are standard on the 2006 Honda Civic.

Speaking of lights, I was unsure how to use the feature, "auto headlights." We drove through the Czech Republic. Folks would flash their lights at us. I figured I was going the wrong way, since I assumed our lights were on. Wrong. The owner's manual was in German, so that was no help.

When turning Uies (u turns) I thought the turning radius was more like that of our F150. I frequently had to back up to make a u turn, where I could have easily made one with my Explorer.