I had the long-term Civic GX for the past week, or at least its keys. I got to see how it performed in a variety of driving conditions, taking it on different errands -- daily commute, trip to Universal City for a press event, taking me to an excellent Editors concert at the Wiltern, and an airport venture that included four days parked while I was in Toronto. Here are some of the things I learned over this period of time.
1) It took too long to fill up the NG equivalent of 3.477 gallons of gasoline. If you don't have a Phill unit, you'd get sick of visiting the natural gas station.
2) I've now watched the NG station video three times. I really need to remember the pass number, but at least I now know not to smoke around a gas pump. So that's why I kept exploding.
3) The Civic GX doesn't do steep hills. I had it floored going up the very steep Hotel Drive in Universal City, but the Civic just couldn't crack 21. It was like going up the opening hill of a roller coaster without the clackety-clack.
4) The trunk can only hold two standard-sized roller bags. That's it. (see photo above)
5) Don't buy a car in Canada. The American and Canadian dollars are now even, but car prices sure aren't. A review of a VW Passat 3.6 Wagon in the Toronto Star listed an as-tested price of $52,820 -- before tax. That car is too expensive here (fully loaded around $40K), but Jiminy Christmas.
6) Speaking of expensive, the Civic GX is the most expensive Civic model, yet has fewer standard features than an LX (no aux jack for instance).
7) The Civic GX isn't sold in Canada. That's a good thing, it would probably cost $38,000. You'd also need a pack of huskies to get it up a snowy hill.
8) After standing for four hours in a cramped Wiltern Theatre, you'll find that the Civic GX has the world's most comfortable seats.
9) If you hold up your digital camera and/or cell phone during a sizeable portion of a rock concert, you're both a tool and an idiot. Congratulations, you've just watched a concert going on right in front of you through a 2-inch screen. Your friends really don't care, the photo quality will be lousy, and the video will sound like Marlee Matlin was operating the sound board.
10) Despite being slower than maple syrup, the GX is still a Civic and it's pretty fun to drive around town.
James Riswick, Associate Editor @ 3,111 miles
SubyTrojan says:
02:21 PM, 09/25/07
Nice "Top 10" list, James! =Þ
It brought back memories of your first classic!
http://66.160.188.111/roadtests/1242
desmolicious says:
03:57 PM, 09/25/07
James
I feel ashamed that I laughed at your Marlee Matlin comment...
sellis16 says:
05:35 PM, 09/25/07
Your friends really don't care, the photo quality will be lousy [comma here] and the video will sound like Marlee Matlin was operating the sound board.
sabastian says:
05:35 PM, 09/25/07
The closest I would ever come to one of these would be an Si Sedan...and I'm even more sure of that now.
Awesome top 10 list though...
prndlol says:
06:18 PM, 09/25/07
What a shame. Before our Canadian dollar began its hike we had some of the most affordable cars on the planet. It was one of the few exceptions to the "everything costs more here" mantra. Now car prices are a rip, however when i look at just how much Aussies and Brits pay for their autos i don't feel so bad anymore.
1$ CAN in January 2002 (record low) = 59 cents US
1$ CAN in September 2007 = 1.01 US
Holy smokes.
briancam says:
09:45 PM, 09/25/07
Betcha stuck an Editors CD in the player after the concert and CRANNNNKED it UP! How did it sound, does the GX have two or four speakers, I forget?
Insight and Civic GX = people who care about the environment don't care about sound quality.
crashtestdingo says:
11:38 PM, 09/25/07
prndlol wrote, "Before our Canadian dollar began its hike we had some of the most affordable cars on the planet."
Shouldn't it be the case that cars in Canada increased in price as the Canadian dollar fell in value, not as it subsequently increased? (I'm assuming that even cars assembled in Canada have a high percentage of imported parts.)
SubyTrojan says:
11:49 PM, 09/25/07
LOL @ Brian's comment!
jriz says:
09:15 AM, 09/26/07
Brian, any crannnnking would be an exercise in futility, as the GX has only two speakers. That should be No. 11. I can forgive two speakers in a 1991 Miata, but in a $25,000 sedan?
P.S. You can get an AUX jack as a dealer-installed accessory. Honda lists it as a $70 option not including installation. It goes inside the bin forward of shifter, and not where the factory unit goes (nearby under the power output).
ateixeira says:
10:42 AM, 09/26/07
Funny to her some real-world comments about living with one of those. Most owners do get Phill, don't they?
estreka says:
12:54 PM, 09/26/07
Hey I like the Editors.
prndlol says:
03:24 PM, 09/26/07
crashtestdingo- the problem with Canadian car prices mirrors the same practice at the fuel pump. Oh so slow to come down when conditions warrant. As the Canuck buck increased in value many consumer prices for imported goods dropped accordingly. However the auto manufacturers, tired of a hyper-competitive market here, chose not to adjust downward the amount of Canadian funds they required for their models.
ragtopp1 says:
06:47 AM, 09/27/07
prndlol - Not content to fleece canadian dealerships and costumers, the automakers also prohibit selling to canadians to US dealers close to the border.
Hey, do you think this could be construed as racism? Just kidding!
prndlol says:
08:19 AM, 09/27/07
Lawsuit! ROFL
http://www.leftlanenews.com/automakers-to-face-canadian-class-action-lawsuit.html
rst says:
07:03 PM, 01/ 5/08
We are now on our 4th gx. Every time we get one, one of our employees practically begs us to sell it to them. The 2005 has become a commuter carpool lane car for the wife of one. The 2006 has become the daily commuter for our Maintenance director. In the GX he saves 35+ minutes per day and his gas bill has gone from $125 per week to $35 per week. My partner just purchased our latest GX, a 2008. I have a 2006 GX (currently sought after by one of our supervisors). We both have the Phill units and live in Santa Monica. I have to tell you that we think these are wonderful cars. This past shopping season my wife kept "stealing" my car for the free parking convenience, leaving her 430 sc in the garage. My partner and I have a 400h and unless we are going way out of town or taking out clients we would rather use the GX's. That is the honest truth. We know it may not pencil out for us to gas at home (once in a while we go over to Stewart Street to gas), but oh the convenience of waking up to a full fuel tank. In three years neither one of us have had a fueling issue. One of the complaints I read about was the hill climbing performance of the GX. I frequently go to Van Nuys from WLA on the 405 and never have a problem keeping up. When the road is clear I am usually the leader. This car may not work for everybody, but we think it is the best kept secret around. And, check that tailpipe after 20k miles. It looks like it just came out of the factory!
Scott Tucker
stucker@rstrents.com
kscng says:
10:22 AM, 01/ 9/08
Thanks for the great comments from realistic users who support cng. The Edmunds article has MAJOR mistakes as it says only CA & NY sell the GX which is untrue, as dealers in AZ, WI, OK, CO, others, and recently even KS sell the terrific greenest car on the planet!! Please get your facts straight when writing about cng, the last thing we need is inaccurate information.
In Utah with cng per gge at $0.64 the cost per mile is less than 3 cents, actually closer to 2 cents as normal driving yields 30 mpg or greater. To get similar fuel mileage using normal $3.00 per gallon gasoline, you'd have to have a car that got 140 mpg !!! Even in 15 years, I doubt ANY carmaker will reach 140 mpg for around $20,000 which is the net price (after $4K tax credit) for the GX.
Only thing left to do is:
(A) force US automakers to sell in US the cng cars they already are selling in Asia & Europe (Ford has Focus cng, GM has Opel Zafira cng, & VW has various cng models) . . come on!! Also force ALL carmakers selling more than 250,000 cars in USA to have at least 10% of their models to be either dedicated cng or bi-fuel cng.
(B) force monopoly gas companies to help install strategic public cng refueling sites along major highways and cities/towns to build infrastructure where public cng pump was as least every 150 miles or less
(C) force any Federal (ie post offices) or municipal private cng refueling sites to also become public cng sites where only a credit card is needed to purchase cng
(D) strongly encourage other private cng refueling sites to also become public - - prime example is old Ford proving grounds in Yucca, AZ which apparently is being sold or closed . . COME ON!! That is strategic location on I-40 between CA & AZ which should be a PUBLIC cng refueling site!!! A municipality should take that over to become a public cng refueling site . . and NOT by all means let it go to Clean Energy!!
(E) enact legislation to put CAP on cng prices to prevent price gouging (UT can sell for $0.64 then surely rest of country can sell for $1.50 maximum, maybe $2 in very remote area) EXAMPLE: I've observed price gouging & monopoly practices by Clean Energy Fuels(ie $2.49 in NY and only can get cng with CE "Fuel Card" which is glorified data gathering access card that delays actual credit card processing by a day - - yep it's true - - AND CE forces user to pay $100 deposit that doesn't earn any interest ; further CE "Fuel Cards" are regional so NY card only works in NY, CO card only works in CO, etc. - - cng community does NOT need a bandit company like CE - - avoid where all possible!!)
(F) force EPA to remove barriers that Pres Bush administration has put on cng converters with ridiculous "per engine model, per year" certification rules; Argentina quickly grew to over 1.5M cars by converting existing gasoline cars to bi-fuel at rate of up to 18,000 cars a month!! USA only has total of 147,000 cng cars in entire USA . . Come On!!! EPA is a Joke, disband it and start over with real people who are trying to help the environment, not Washington lobbyists working for Bush & Big Oil!!
(G) bring in competition to Fuelmaker from companies in England & Netherlands so home cng refueling could be affordable
(H) force landfills, wastewater plants, cattleyards, etc. to capture bio-methane and clean/compress into cng to fuel the very vehicles in those industries . . biggest polluters like trash trucks that are equivalent pollution to 300 cars!!
(I) force school buses & city buses to become predominantly cng over a 5 to 10 year period with conversions to cng
(J) enact legislation to force any new mega gas station to offer ALL fuels including public cng, E85, clean diesel, etc. - - also force 3-yr plan where existing gas stations/truck stops with over 6 pumps have to also offer ALL fuels
That would be a good start!! USA is miserable #7 worldwide in cng implementation with virtually no growth while rest of world (especially Asia & Europe) is growing 25% to 30% per year!! Set 2-year goal to break 1M cng vehicles in USA by 2010, and 5M cng vehicles by 2015.
CNG by far IS THE ANSWER that USA needs to break stranglehold on dependence on foreign oil. Let's start the TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION necessary to get cng going; boycott any carmaker that doesn't make progress quickly to cng!!
Go cng!!
cng_across_usa@yahoo.com