My wife has an 07 Civic Automatic and at 80 it's pulling 2500-2600 rpm. We get 35mpg consistently at that speed on road trips. I'd feel cheated if we'd opted for a stick and were pulling more that a 1000 extra rpm.
Don't kid yourself
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=7103
The SS is simply a faster car all around, but whatever the quality of the MS3 is much better.
Hey everyone, prospective 2009 MS3 buyer. I recently went on an extended test drive of an 09 Black MS3 and and while we were on the drive I noticed that I was pulling about 3000 rpm while doing 80. This seems ridiculously high. I'd imagine at that speed you'd burn gas like crazy.
My real...