[Misfit_Zero]

Well, after my recent trouble witht the scort I have decided that in the coming year or so I am going to look into getting a second car that I can use as a "daily driver" and I am thinking of getting a Civic Si. However, As many of you probably know the only year SI that I have ever seen in a coupe body style is the 2000. Well as a broke college student I can't really front 12K to buy even the cheapest of 2000 Si's... but I think I might do it anyway. My two major options are to either buy the Si or to buy a 92-94 BMW 325is (my personal preference) which are amazingly only worth about 5-6K due to their status as "old."

So I'm looking for suggestions. I want the one that is going to give me the most enjoyable drive with the least possibility of having any major problems like the scort. Secondly I am NOT selling the GT. I am hoping to keep it at my parent's house while I continue to make it into a fun little car to take to the track. (I know it would make more sense probably to make the Civic or BMW into the racer, but I like the fact that the Scort is soooo much harder to get stuff for, it makes it that much more of a challenge.)

So which one, I know the difference in prices is a big one, but I estimate that at the most I can have about 6-7K saved up for a car in the next year to 16 months. I am mainly wondering if anyone knows much about the reliability of the E36 series BMW's... would a 94 325is that has been cared for still run well? I know repair costs for the BMW would be ungodly due to the class of car it is, but is it feasible to find one tha tmight not need any major repairs for a good long time?

Thanks for any help, and James, if you have any tips on how to get the best deal for a Civic Si, short of stealing it, I would love to hear where I might look for "problems" that I could use to talk the dealership/owner down. Also, I would love it if you could send me an E-mail or PM with the specs of the 2000 Si, and any mods that I can do for relatively cheap, I know that it will probably resemble the list of EGT things to do for under $50 but I would love to see it anyway. Thanks again folks!

And let me know what oyu think of this Si, I could prolly talk it down for the mileage but how much do you think that body kit/wheels cost? I know that I'll have to account for a bit of that cost as it is obviously not a stock Si as far as the exterior goes.

 

[Steve]

The thing that would scare me the most about buying a car with "bolt on performance" mods or anything for that matter aftermarket would be the history. It just makes me wonder if the previous owner dogged the crap out of the car moreso, than a very plain looking clean car. I guess I'll learn more though as I get older. Good luck finding a new vehicle though.

 

[Misfit_Zero]

I used to fear any and all cars that already had any form of modification on them until I owned the scort. I have only had the car for about three years now, but I have learned that by getting to talk to the driver/owner of the car you can get a feeling for the way they treat their car. Personally I love my car to death, so if I ever had to give it up, I'm sure it would show. I mean look at the pics from when I first got it to the pics of it's current state. The car is in better condition than it was when I first got it.

But I understand the fear of cars with bolt-on performance, but just keep in mind, I'm not going to be racing out the second car... not yet at least... maybe way down the line I'll make it into a decent 12-13 second car, but I have no desire to own only cars that hit the sub 10 category, one is fine for now.

Edit: Although after reviewing the red Si, I noticed that it only has the exterior gear, unlike this redone, there is a Black one also nearby my home that has a bit more aftermarket gear as far as under teh hood, but it has the OEM ground effects, which look fine in my opinion, not that the red one looks crappy. I just like Blackcars a bit more, plus if it stays on the market for a whileI could buy it outright, though I doubt it will go unsold.

 

[siragan]

My vote goes for the BMW. I've seen civic SI's in autocross and even with suspension mods, a FWD car just really can't match a RWD car. Even though parts for those cars are expensive, if you do the work yourself it really shouldn't be bad. Most of the things that go on those cars are eaisly replaced, like alternators and stuff. The reason why people run into high cost repairs is because the people who own them are usually wealthy upper middle class people who get all their work done in a shop.
Which brings me to my next point, the people who generally own BMWs are people who lease them, which is why you generally only see BMWs that are of the last 5 years or so on the road. Which means that usually those kind of people who own them also don't really have the time or willpower to take care of them, because they're on a lease. So be careful about that if you're shopping.
But if you want reliability and low cost... you can't go wrong with a civic.

 

[James92Scort]

I'm so glad I'm appreciated around here. hehe

If you want an Si in the coupe form, you do actually have a choice of years, 1999 or 2000. I chose the 2000, because well its all I had to go with at the time. They come in 1 of 3 colors: Milano Red, Flamenco Black Pearl or Electron Blue Pearl. (blue is the best, but i got black)

If you want it cheap, it really depends on where you're from. I paid too much for my car for it being 4 yrs old, but...I also went through a dealer. If you want a good price then I'd try to find a private seller, they should go for anywhere from 8-11k. The target mileage they should have is around 50-60k miles on it (I have 51,520 right now). Even high mileage cars should be fairly inexpensive and I still doubt any problems would arise.

As far as problems I've had... Nothing major really, my passenger door lock actuator stopped working and my outter antenna wouldn't relay the signal to the radio. That's pretty much it, and both problems were fixed under warrenty. In the 9 months and I haven't spent anything on it, as opposed to spending well over 1000 on the Scorty in the first 4 months I had it.

Cheap bolt ons... that depends on your idea of cheap. The best thing you can do really is just an intake. I bought an Injen intake on sale for 190 bucks shipped, and when VTEC hits... you KNOW it hits. Even over my music. 8O I'm eventually planning a Skunk2 Intake manifold, (300ish dollars) and a JDM ITR 4-1 header with skidplate. (340+50 for the skid plate)
Right now I noticed one of my tires has a little bubble in it so I'm going to try to get some Falken Azenis 195 or 205/15s. I'm also trying to save up for my Ground Control Coilovers and some Koni Yellow shocks so I can rid mah car of that ugly fender gap.

One of the only downsides to this car is you HAVE to use premium, the CR is just insane, but the car does have anti knock capabilities.

Specs? you want specs??? A'IGHHHT...

Motor Code: B16A2
Displacement in CC: 1595
[email protected]: [email protected]
[email protected]: [email protected]
Comp. Ratio: 10.4:1
BoreXStroke: 81x77.4
Valvetrain: dohc
VTEC Equipped?: yes
OBD: 2 (I believe it's 2a)
Year/make/model of car: 1999-2000 Civic Si

A 2000 Si is the last year of the EK coupes, 6th generation Civics, the specific 99-00 Si coupe Chassis is called the EM1 chassis.

The 99-00 Si coupe came standard with a 4.4 final drive 5 speed manual, and a 1.6L b16a2 motor producing 100 hp/L which is able to propel the car from 0-60 anywhere from 7.1-7.5 seconds and does the 1/4 mile in 15.5-15.9 seconds. I absolutely love my gauges, very beautiful orange needles on a black background which glows orange at night. The car comes with an upper strut tower brace and 15x6 inch 7 spoke Si rims with Michellin sports tires. I have crappy Yokohama YK420s on there now...but soon i'll have something better.

I also have a factory optioned Civic Spoiler with "CIVIC" stamped on the underside, a Factory front lip and sideskirts exterior package with integrated fog lamps.

Some pics of my car:

Pic of my only engine modification thus far:

Exterior wise there's about 3 or four ways to tell the difference between an Si and EX/DX/LX, and they're all changable.

1. Obviously, is the wheels.
2. the DOHC VTEC Stickers on the side
3. The badges on the rear.
4. Si taillamps, red on top, clear on the bottom.
5. The color of the car itself.

if you can't tell from the outside, sit down in the driver seat...if it has a tach that says 8000 rpm at redline then it is an Si.

I hope this helps. I think you should get the Si for insurance purposes over the BMW. My ins is still rather high though because well, State farm Sucks.

 

[TitoElSpicco]

I would never buy a modified Honda. Ever.

Slipstreams are junk.

That rear bumper makes me want to vomit.

I'm with Siragan for once - get a BMW. Test drive an SI, then test drive a BMW, and you'll laugh at yourself for even THINKING about an SI.

No hard feelings, James.

 

[James92Scort]

I was wondering that myself... they got the sideskirts and front bumper kitted, but the rear wasn't. You also have cost of ownership at play here. how much will the Beemer cost you to drive or even slightly modify over the Si? (ask beav about that) The honda aftermarket is HUGE, and inexpensive. The cars themselves are cheap and will get great mileage.

 

[siragan]

Cars like civics and focuses and SRT-4s are trying to sell themselves with high horsepower, which is great, but racing experience will show you that all the power that the engines in those cars spin out doesn't even come close to the world of control that rear wheel drive opens up to you.

If you're lucky like I was, you can go to an autocross meet and ask one of the guys to let you take a spin in his car during a fun-run or something. When driven agressively, you'll see exactly why I'm such an advocate of rear wheel drive over FWD. It's all about the throttle steering.

If I were you, I'd get a camaro or something. A guy in my town just got a gunmetal C5 corvette a month ago. Hella sweet.

Whatever you do though, make sure you get a RWD car with some balls. Nothing like a miata. The whole great thing about RWD is that you can throw out the back end in turns and float it in slaloms and stuff. If you get a litlte crap kicker like the miata with no torque, you're just going to get a really expensive escort GT. Unless you get a mazdaspeed MX-5 or drop in a V6 or something.

 

[TitoElSpicco]

You've got $12k to blow on a car?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c ... ardist=502

Done. Pick her up next week.

 

[Misfit_Zero]

Tito, If I had $12K to blow on a car, I would have bought a BMW already, I am just looking ahead because in the next year I am looking to pick up a car. I estimate that by next spring I can have between 6-7K saved up if I limit my cash expenditures (which I know I can because I am doing it right now.) although if I have to I'll get a loan and get a nicer car. But personally I want a 3 series, I love the body style of the 92-98 325's. Thanks for all of the input, and Siragan, the only FWD car that I am thinking about getting is the Civic because it has good gas mileage, otherwise I don't want another FWD, I don't really need the "stability" that it provides on the street because I don't drive my city streets like a race track, thay have too many potholes now. plus, I'd love to be able to pull onto my buddies street kicking the rear-end of my car out just to piss him off. Thanks again! and keep the opinions/help coming.

 

[siragan]

Here:

this will get you all the women - GUARANTEED

click

 

[Misfit_Zero]

HAHAHAHA!!! Hellz yeah! I'd be getting the honey's left and right... Right across my face that is! *imagines trying to pick up chicks in that car*

What about This? Not that i could afford the insurance on that... Oh and can't really afford an american RWD like a camaro or mustang, they just drink way too much for my budget. But talking to my buddy who srives a 2001 BMW 325 it seems that they are more manageable on the gas bill.

Edit: as far as the insurance goes, this car will actually be listed as my secondary car, with the Escort as my primary still, add in the fact that my family has been with State Farm since my parents got married (26 years or so) and that we have EVERYTHING insured through them and it drops my rates a tiny bit.

 

[James92Scort]

civics ...........................................sell themselves with high horsepower,

haaaaahahahahHHhahahahahahahhaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAahaha!!!!!111!1111!!!0n3

I read that and I couldn't go any further. thats the funniest thing 3V4R!!11!

 

[TitoElSpicco]

What about This? Not that i could afford the insurance on that... Oh and can't really afford an american RWD like a camaro or mustang, they just drink way too much for my budget. But talking to my buddy who srives a 2001 BMW 325 it seems that they are more manageable on the gas bill.

Insurance will be cheap as dirt on ANY car over 10 years old.

Insurance on a BMW 3-series would be about the same as any other car worth the same amount. Mustangs/Camaros/Firebirds aren't really that bad either. I'm beginning to think high insurance costs for those cars is an old-wives tale, I have yet to find anyone that actually pays considerably more for a sports car than they would for say - an SUV.