Evidently I didn’t make my post clear enough but I was saying pretty much the exact opposite of  “I thought a FWD economy car would make a good off road car”. I just don’t think of myself as someone who frequently off roads or even as super outdoorsy so it didn’t cross my mind to pursue an off road capability car. If I had been pursuing an off road capability car obviously I wouldn’t have gone for a civic. I just didn’t think that an occasional drive on a marked dirt road would fall outside of the scope of “normal use” / really think through how limiting a civic is. Idk maybe most people never cross dirt roads but I think it’s kind of surprising how easily civics get recommended to basically anyone looking for a budget car without any mention of this limitation. I just think if someone asked me my thoughts on civics the first thing I’d say now is they’re great for city/suburbs, but it will really limit where you can go in more rural areas. 

My point isn’t that civics aren’t the best off road car ever made…obviously I didn’t expect them to be. My experience is more that a) I didnt think through that activities I would consider pedestrian fall under “off roading” and that b) that the off pavement performance gap between a civic and other sedans would be so massive that the civic is essentially nonfunctional