Do the automatic transmission Civics lock you out of overdrive untill the engine is up to normal operating temp or the the tranny itself warms up? I've owned an auto chevy and currently own an auto honda passport and they both had/have this feature/problem.
I'm about to buy a Civic and the choice of manual trans. civics are slim so I might have to settle for an automatic, but if there is any interferance from the computer on these automatics then forget it. I'll just wait till I find a manual trans car someday.

 

Probably not on a civic. The passport is built by Isuzu heavily involved with gm so thy both probably have this feature.

 

If I'm not mistaken, I believe some won't allow the torque-converter lock-up to function until up to a certain temp, which some might describe as being locked out of O/D.

None will actually prevent it from upshifting to 4th or 5th though, to my knowledge.