Quote:
Originally Posted by thorns
I will also add that I'm 27 years old and have a 2 year old daughter, so I'm a safety conscious driver.. Just got that license a bit late (due to different reasons). Not a 18-yr old hotshot. I just want something comfortable, safe and enjoyable/fun to drive, with good looks and good capacity. I especially enjoy driving at night and the civic's night panel looks badass. I would imagine the civic is actually safer than our current golf as well (bigger tires, much better brakes).
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OK, with the extra detail, your decision making process makes more sense now! Sorry, I wasn't trying to cast doubt on your attitude to safety, it's just, well, good safety is good for everyone, and it's good to debate because you end up getting to the heart of the matter. It's clear from what you've said that you're not going to go round racing
A final thought on safety: you should make a distinction between technical driving skills (like the kind you learn for your test - the Swedish test, I'm sure, is better than the British one!) and situational awareness skills. The former can clearly be taught, the latter can only really be gained by experience and driving miles; both are important, so go easy until you get lots of miles under your belt.
Back to the car... Yes, the civic will be a much safer option than the golf you are driving: car safety really has improved significantly over the past 10-15 years. As long as you approach it carefully, I'm sure you'll get on fine with the civic's 1.8l engine. It's a really great car otherwise, I don't want to put you off it because I'm sure you'll love it, like everyone here! The mazda is also a very nice car, I really liked it when I test drove it (and I also took an MP3 CD with me and it worked, but that was on a higher spec Sport model, not sure if that's the same down the range). In many ways, it might be the more sensible choice: I think it's probably easier to drive than the civic (the visibility out of the cabin is really excellent), the engine is lower powered, it's a bit more comfort oriented. But it doesn't excite in quite the same way... guess it's your call at the end of the day!
Let us know how you get on,
Courant