Motorcycles Can Save the World

CNN had this article this morning on three cars that cut your gas bill in half.  No one will be surprised to see the Prius there, but interesting to see the mention of a (bluetec, yay!) diesel, as the diesel thing hasn’t taken off over here as it has on the other side of the pond.  They also mention the Smart car, which I still don’t get.  For the space trade-off, and the price, I feel you’re better off buying a Civic.  Some people have told me you’re missing the point, it opens up more parking for you if you live in a city and don’t need to commute or leave the city for your recreational activities.  For those people I always make the same suggestion – take the bus and invest your $20k+.

After 3 or 4 (lost count) straight weeks of motorcycle driving been borrowing one of the new Civics from someone.  Interior build quality is very un-Honda like, meaning it actually doesn’t seem like cheap plastic and crappy fabric.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not approaching a VW for interior quality, but it’s a HUGE step above the prior-gen Civic.  Peppy as well, the LX model went from 117 hp to 140 and still pushing out fuel efficiency above 30mpg – amazing what an aerodynamic redesign can do.  The car still has that Honda ’shudder’ as the AC cycles on, especially noticable when sitting at a stoplight, but overall for an affordable, fuel efficient model with enough space to hold gear for an extended car camping trip or other activity, not bad at all – and this is coming from a disgruntled Honda Element owner that will never purchase another Honda, be it bike or car.

I’ll be back to the motorcycle commute tomorrow though as my loaner Civic will be returned to it’s owner this evening.