First Civic

PistolPete

PistolPete

Well-Known Member
35
26
St Louis
Vehicle Model
Civic SI
Body Style
Coupe
After recommending them to other people for years, I got my own Civic, an SI coupe. I passed a car down to my daughter and needed something I could put a bunch on miles on. The sad part is I sold my Subaru WRX STI to buy it. But I got a great deal both ways so it cost me almost nothing to move into a car that gets 50% better gas mileage and is 6 years newer than my old scooby.

The Civic is a fair bit softer than I expected, even the SI trim I got. The engine is fine for what it is, and even sounds pretty decent for an inline 4. But coming from an STI (and a 350Z before that) it takes a turn like a Buick. I'm fairly disappointed in that aspect. I guess I was hoping for sharper turn-in and for it not to be so wiggly in high-speed sweepers.

I'm ordering a Progress 22mm rear sway bar in hopes that clears it up a bit. I know it'll never accelerate or turn (or brake or jump railroad tracks or burn down a gravel road) like my scooby but I'm hoping for some improvement. I do have a question, are there stiffer springs available that don't drop the car? I like a car that I can bomb around on side streets with and not worry about bottoming out, but some stiffness all around would be awesome. And that throttle hang must go. I read about it before I got the car and I had no idea it would be so pronounced.

Overall it's a very nice car. It's smooth and quiet on the highway and my first tank I averaged over 30mph. The electronics are top notch, I'm really enjoying bluetooth and ipod integration. Now if I could just find Mobil-1 0w20 in the 5 quart jugs I'd be a very happy man! No place around me carries it in anything but single quart bottles which are priced outrageously.
 
:wavey:

I remember having to wait around for the "oil change" deals the local parts store offered to buy oil. Kind of miss it since the car I drive now takes more oil and is more expensive, lol.
 
Welcome to the site :wavey:... you'll have to post some pics of your rides.

The hondata reflash pretty much takes care of most rev hang from users reviews here.
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/hondata-releases-2012-honda-civic-si-ecu-reflash.3804/

as for the oil - see what your dealership charges for the honda 0-20 oil. I've heard stuff between $5-7/qt, but it seems like the pricing is set at each shop.

springs - the least drop with increased stiffness would probably be the HFP kit. MissE has them on hers -

MissE said:
I've got the HFP suspension on mine and I really like it. The handling has improved a lot and while it's a bit stiffer it still isn't a rough ride. It comes with a fairly hefty price tag ($889 Canadian, uninstalled) but for me it was worth it to both improve the feel/drive of the car and still know that there would be zero issues with my warranty.

You probably can't even tell the difference (since it's only about an inch) but here is with stock suspension:
IMG_2476.jpg


And here it is with the HFP suspension:
DSCF3178.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the heads up on the HFP kit. I'll have to see what else comes out for the new gen in the next few months. This site has been very helpful already! I think this weekend I'm going to pull out the resonator. I don't know why companies even put those in performance cars, the first think everybody does is pull it off. It's waste that just ends up in the landfill.

I'll have to get some pics as well. First day I had it I got the windows tinted 20% all around. It looks perfect that way.
 
Welcome! :bighug:

Subies FTW! :excited: You had an '05 or '06 STi? (You said 6 years newer than the Scooby).

<-- Subaru Owner (never owned a Civic :hiding: )
 
bootyluvr said:
Welcome! :bighug:

Subies FTW! :excited: You had an '05 or '06 STi? (You said 6 years newer than the Scooby).

<-- Subaru Owner (never owned a Civic :hiding: )
Click to expand...
It was a 2006. Fantastic car but it was time to let it go. The costs of owning it were about to increase significantly. Math compelled me to sell it!

My brother (who has a newer STI) and I set up an impromptu autocross course in a deserted parking lot last night. I have to say I'm much more impressed with the new Civic SI now that I've driven it aggressively. His best times were in the mid 46 second range and my best times were only 2 seconds off that. Considering it's been 20 years since I drove a FWD car hard, I gave up 100hp to the subaru and he was sporting vastly superior tires for the purpose I was pretty happy with that performance.

The autocross runs told me that with the stock all season tires, the SI is in desperate need of traction. Most of the course was spent at the traction limit- sharp turns, sweepers, braking, the tires just gave up traction way too early. So I think with a new rear sway bar and some decent summer tires the Civic can end up being quite the competitor. I'm much happier with it. I never felt like it needed more power for the traction it had available, I continue to be quite pleased with the engine.
 
PistolPete said:
So I think with a new rear sway bar and some decent summer tires the Civic can end up being quite the competitor. I'm much happier with it. I never felt like it needed more power for the traction it had available, I continue to be quite pleased with the engine.
Click to expand...

Are you going to get a sway and stickier tires?
 
KennyGS said:
Are you going to get a sway and stickier tires?
Click to expand...
I am. Already ordered a 22mm rear sway bar from Cortech. The tires may have to wait a month or two, but I'm certainly going to get some. Maybe some lighter wheels as well, I saw the stock wheels are 23.5 lbs. It shouldn't be hard to find wheels that come in less than that.

The sucky part about a second set of tires is having to pay to have the tpms re-synced each time I change. I'll have to call around and see if somebody local can do it cheap.

This morning I de-snorkled, have to see how that changes the sound. I need my wife to assign me some errands so I have an excuse to drive somewhere. :)
 
Finally took a couple pics of the window tint. It's 20% all around. It's not too dark at all, this was taken on a bright July day.




I was waffling between going 35% and 20% and I'm very glad I went with 20%. It's not legal in my state, they require 30% or less dark, but I don't think I'm going to run into any problems.
 
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