Test drove a 2014 Mirage DE manual transmission today - ordered one (U.S.)

[fifteenwindow]

I test drove a 2014 DE manual transmission today. I thought it was a light, pleasant, quiet driving car, and it has more power than my 94 civic vx (with 230,000 miles) does.

I was impressed with the car except for 2 things. I didn't like the headrest. With the driver's seat set to where I am comfortable (I'm 5'8", 140 pounds for reference), my head often brushed/bumped the headrest cushion no matter how high/low I set the headrest. The cushion is quite thick and leans a little forward. My solution was to flip it around so it leans backward, which proved to be more comfortable for me.

The second issue I had was a slight crunch when shifting into reverse from gears other than first, but not every time. The salesman replicated the crunch, but the consensus around the dealership (between 1 manager, 1 mechanic and 2 salesmen) is that this is a normal sound, and it does not crunch when the shift into reverse is gentle. I have no problem with this, as my civic does the same thing unless I shift into first gear before going into reverse.

Bottom line is that I liked it a lot, so I made arrangements to pick it up on tuesday.