6th gen Civic Si: worthy of redemption from 5th gen Si?

[vinnym86]

1st gen 1986: The Si is born with the power of a CRX
2nd gen 1989: 108 horses
3rd gen 1992: 125 horses, VTEC
4th gen 1999: 1.6-liter VTEC turned out 160 horses and was famed for its power and aggressiveness
5th gen 2002: though 2.0L DOHC, could not live up to the legacy...

So, here we are at the arrival of the next generation Si.

more hp, torque, displacement, nicer compression ratio, and a hell of a lot more attractive then the 5th gen. (still think the 3rd and 4th looked best)

Any thoughts?

[Zachp911]

I'm not crazy about it, I guess its nicer than the previous gen civics. Its only got a 197hp so its really not much to brag about.

[blakscorpion21]

theyre pretty nice i think. definitley an improvment over the hatch si's.

[vinnym86]

Originally Posted by ludespeed501

I'm not crazy about it, I guess its nicer than the previous gen civics. Its only got a 197hp so its really not much to brag about.

true, but afterall, they're also cheap. i'm not putting it up against the ropes with the likes of an M3 or something, but there are a lot of civic enthusiasts who were dissappointed by the 02 hatchbacks. i'm just interested on what they think the Si line is coming to. Arguably, the civic Si's used to be the hottest things on the street to trick out and show-off. Their intrigue has gone down, for the most part.

[Zachp911]

I think the '99-'00 Civic Si's that arent riced out, look nice.

[Schister66]

I really like the EM1's, but the new Si is pretty nice...at least they ditched the ugly hatchback. And as far as the 197hp, isn't there a new way of measuring power now so all cars have less, but its more accurate.....i read that on one of the RSX threads....

[blakscorpion21]

197hp is pretty good for a car thats origionally an economy car. the high hp if for the s2000s and stuff .the civic is more economical and cheaper than them.

[flatlander757]

Originally Posted by Schister66

And as far as the 197hp, isn't there a new way of measuring power now so all cars have less, but its more accurate.....i read that on one of the RSX threads....

Heh, only the imports have really gone down, I believe the Corvette, grand prix(not sure which models) and a few others actually went up

On topic again: I don't like the new civics, I like the 2004ish style ones and wouldn't mind owning as a daily driver.

[mason_RsX]

I never liked the last gen Si, I thought it was unimpressive in every way

The new Si looks pertty nice, good interior for an economy car, and the K20 engine...I think its a pretty good deal

[4blogger 96]

The '99-'01 Civic Si was the best Si of all years, '92-'95 Si in 2nd, '89 through '91 Si in 3rd, and the '02-'05 Si in a very very far back 4th. I think that Honda didn't put enough thought or effort into the 6th gen Civ', and because of it the Civic Si is slowly going to go down the shitter until the only civic they will make non Si sedans, coupes and hatches. Here are some of the things that would have boosted Civic Si sales tremendously:

Options, options, options. Most of the Civic crowd is obsessed with customization. Scion used this strategy to sell the Shitbox Xb and look how that turned out. People still bought those things like crazy since the first day they were introduced. Not aftermarket parts like body kits, exausts, air-intakes, or any motor mod for that matter, short-shifters, etc. Usually if a Civic owners wants those parts they want to buy it from an aftermarket company. But a broader band of optional colors straight from the factory would be good: wild greens, reds, yellows, and blues, 2-tone paints, even caramel (I see a lot of Si owners roll with that paint). And have the regulars there too: silver, white, black. Whatever the owner is in to. Optional Si trims would have been nice too, in other words you could choose from an Si coupe, hatch, sedan, or maybe Honda could try some new body style ideas like fastback, convertible whateva. Optional engines and turbos would boost sales like crazy. You could be able to choose from B16s, B17s (hell yeah bring back the B17 !!!!!!) B18's, B20s, H22s, and have all of the K-series engines avaible for all you hardkore Honda enthusiasts. Not only would re-marketing all of these engines up sales among older-generation Civic gearheads, but it would make the Civic available to many different buyers with different budgets "Oh, I don't have enough money for the expensive K20 equipped Si, but I can afford the one with a B16". As for the Turbos it would interest the buyer with boost in mind, i.e an optional Stage 1, Stg 2, Stg 3 or however many stages Honda made Turbo upgrades would be koo. Think SRT-4.

Anyways thsi will never happened because Honda would be afraid that they would spend all of that money and time just to have the sales suck like the 5th gen Si, and come out with less funds than they started with. But i am convinced that with options like this that Civics would sell like crazy. I do not think that, even with the upped horsepower and all the refinemets, this Civic will sell and Honda heads will forget completely about "the new Si", and just stick to the older generations.

R.I.P Si

[honda_racing101]

The new Si looks great to me. A 197 hp K20 with an lsd, 6-speed isnt a bad combo. If only it wasnt so heavy.

[CivicSpoon]

Seems like they are trying to make the car more appealing to the American buyer. With new sport compact cars out there, like the srt-4, cobalt, new mitsu eclipse, ION, etc; Honda knew they had to step up the hp for sure. To me it looks like Honda either worked with or stole some looks from Saturn. The original concept/test version of the new Civic looked even more like a Saturn, when I first saw the pics I thought it was a Saturn. (BTW where the f*** is the damn hatchback that I saw pics of?!) Personally I don't like the new Si all that much, but I think the up'd power is a step in the right direction for their future.


But I disagree with pretty much everyone in this thread. When I first saw the 5th gen Si, I thought it was ugly and just looked weird. But after looking at it for a while, it grew on me and I think it's the best Si. It's all about the body lines with that car. And back in '92-'95, 125hp wasn't bad for an sporty economical car.

[Altimas]

Originally Posted by flatlander757

Heh, only the imports have really gone down, I believe the Corvette, grand prix(not sure which models) and a few others actually went up

On topic again: I don't like the new civics, I like the 2004ish style ones and wouldn't mind owning as a daily driver.

ya, the 06 viper went up to 505HP and 535 torque, from 500HP and 525 torque
I think the civic looks ugly and I want to know who designed it and what he/she was on
I dont think the civic SI turning out a respectable HP number is amazing for an econ box since SI has been about speed, the base version still only makes 140HP, improved, but still both civics are torqueless wonders and FWD
So those who hate FWD and like torque (me) still won't like it

[Schister66]

99-00's are still the best by far........there is no comparison in looks or power/handling. The new Si, might be able to get close w/ that k20 and 6sp, but an EM1 w/ the same equipment would be hella cooler!

[Altimas]

stop saying hella cartman...