If you know what spring rates gave you an acceptable ride on the Volkswagen, you can translate those to Civic rates by comparing the natural frequency of the suspension. The natural frequency is determined by the spring rate (at the wheel) and the car's weight, and is effectively a measure of how fast the car moves when it hits a bump. This, in turn, determines how uncomfortable you are on that 80-mile commute.
The sprung weight is how much weight is on one corner of the car, minus the weight of the suspension itself. Since you're only using this formula to get a rough idea, it's OK to plug in rough numbers.
Since I don't know your Volkswagen, let's work from my Sentra instead. My Sentra weighs about 2600 pounds and has about a 60/40 weight distribution. That means the sprung weight of one front corner is around 780 pounds (half of the 60 percent of 2600 pounds that sits on the front wheels). Sure, the wheel, tire, hub, brakes, and all should take some weight out of that, but then you'll sit your heavy ass in the car and put some of it back in. Whatever, this is rough.
I was happiest with the ride when the front rode on 300lb/in springs and the rear rode on 225s. Running those numbers through the formula (assuming the Sentra's wheel rate is the same as its spring rate), we get a natural frequency of 1.94Hz in front and 2.05 in the rear.
Now, let's say the Honda weighs 2450 pounds and has a 61/39 weight distribution. That puts roughly 747 pounds on each front wheel. To get the same 1.94Hz front suspension, you'll need a wheel rate of 288lb/in, but with that 0.7:1 Honda motion ratio, the actual spring rate will be 411lb/in., remarkably close to what Progress was suggesting.
Their rear spring rate of 650lb/in, even with the Civic's 0.75:1 motion ratio, still works out to a natural frequency of 3.16Hz (assuming the corner weight numbers I made up are valid). That's painfully stiff for an 80-mile commute.
Don't take my rough numbers as a guide, though. Figure out what the motion ratio is on the rear of your Volkswagen (1:1 should work for the front, and for any strut suspension), and try to remember what spring rates you were comfortable with on that car. Then, using real numbers from your Civic, see what the Progress stuff will be like.
I prefer using the strongest possible rear anti-roll bar to balance the handling on a front-drive car, rather than the extra-high rear spring rate Ed was recommending. For track or autocross, however, the rear bar alone isn't enough to get maximum potential from your car. When we tested our softer Progress-suspended Civic, the rear bar was so big that the inside rear wheel stayed off the ground all the way around the skidpad. At that point, the rear bar is doing everything it can, and the only way to shift more load to the outside rear tire is to increase the rear spring rate. That, undoubtedly, is why Progress has arrived at those high rear spring rates. They probably work great on the track, and maybe California roads, but I wouldn't want to drive 80 miles of East Coast roads with that kind of rear spring rate.
This is the best guide I can give you, but it's still a rough guide. The spring rate is only one aspect of ride quality and road holding. The dampers are absolutely critical, and can have a huge effect on the actual ride frequency. Unfortunately, not only is there no simple calculation to account for the dampers, there isn't even a simple way to describe a damper's strength. They're subtle, complicated beasts and odds are they won't be exactly what you want, no matter who makes them.
Use your experience and that natural frequency formula to get the spring rates close enough, get the biggest rear bar possible (on a front-drive car), make sure the dampers are revalvable and that you have someone willing and able to revalve them based on your feedback. Good luck.