Need Advice for Sporty, Comfortable Car for Commuting

Yes, if you maintain it by the book.

Considering a Honda Civic Si - nice car, performance, looks, value but not sure about ride quality
The Camaro is rough on certain roads, heavy, but handles really well and has power … averaging about 26 in combined driving

but never thought a convertible would be my daily commuter.

Why? If the car you enjoy is a convertible, why would you not want one to commute in? If you’re going to spend a few hours every day commuting, why not spend it in a car you enjoy? Life is short. If you can enjoy more of it, why not?

The new Mustang is now, independently sprung in the back. The reviews on ride on Utube are much better and have always been better then the Camero. Most cars now have better seats. Op is coming out of a Camaro for a reason and not using it for a commuter. A friend “commutes” with his girl friend, all over NE to different events with a 2013 v8. It has the live rear axle. It rode fine for me, especially compared to my trucks. Will it ever be a limo, no. But compared to a Miata as suggested, it certainly has to be much more comfy then the 2011 I drove last summer.

These cars have good reliability and owners like them according to CR. There is a reason why Ford sells so many…which is the big draw back. You are no longer exclusive. Don’t expect to put anything in the back with legs. But, folded down, you can travel then with luggage galor. I would take my friends v8 in a heart beat; it’s a screamer and fairly comfy and gets high twenties on the highway if you drive sanely…which is another draw back cause, it’s very hard to do !!! It t begs to leave everyone at a light and it’s fun to watch cars disappear quicky in the RVM. …if it just had 10 inches of ground clearance and came with 4 wd I would be bragging about it now.

I am a big Toyota fan…but they make nothing (and neither does anyone else) that comes close to these cars for what they were intended…inexpensive, effortless highway and winding road cruising on any tarred road and a real fun drive while doing it, with one only, friend. Compared to a Miata, a Mustang for commuting ? Yep !. The new one is stunning looking. All previous comments are highly subjective.

The Civic Si will out-turn that Camaro by a wide margin, but you will pay for that handling upgrade with a somewhat harsh ride exacerbated by the super short-sidewall tires everyone’s in love with these days. That said, I’d have no problem doing long drives in a Civic of any flavor. If you’re looking for performance, you might want to hold off – it’s looking like the Civic Type R will finally be coming to the USA somewhere around the end of next year, and that is going to be one hell of a car.

The Accord and Civic will probably offer harsher rides than others mentioned. Will probably be noisier, too. The Civic I had for several years often felt like it was riding on the ground, especially with heavy snowfall. And the noise inside the car could get pretty loud, especially when traveling on the chip’n’seal parts of the roads around here.
I mentioned the Mazda 6 in another thread, but you might also look into a sporty crossover. The higher seating position might be more comfortable than a sedan. If a wagon tickles your fancy, the Speed3 is definitely worth a look.

You own the Camaro. Stick with it for a while and see how it works out. There is no harm in planning for a replacement, but you might want to delay test drives for a while.

go with the mazda 6. you will be satisfied.

The debate about handling is long and tough to decide between a rwd car like a Camaro or Mustang and an agile fwd like Civic SI. A small light car designed with good handling does very well when coasting into a corner at high speeds, regardless of it’s drive train. But, add power, in the corner, start\off from a stop sign and merge with a left of right turn, corner while on an incline or passing on two lane highways while accelerating and turning…doing all of this and the difference between FWD and rwd suddenly becomes obvious. The fwd makes a sudden change to under steer as soon as you push the accelerator while a rwd begins to over steer gradually and under control. So, one drive train is preferred by cops, race car drivers, real sports car drivers and emergency vehicle operators and the other is preferred if you want a cheap car that out handles every other fwd car out there.

We are talking about a car for a fairly lengthy commute!!! Forget any sports car, and concentrate on comfortable seats and good handling as well as decent gas mileage My choice would be a Mazda6 or Mazda CX-5, with a Camry as a runner up.

The Camry is a lumbering ox compared to all other mid-size cars unless it is the sport model, and then it has the V6.

This OP had several posts that gave contradicting questions and has left the building I suspect.