Goliath

The Civic Si. 197 hp, on paper the speed is very similar to a 4.0L mustang, but it has numbers on the skidpad that are akin to the corvette (.9g on the skidpad!) Now we all know how common place civics are, so I'm assuming we'll start to see lots of these things. So for the casual street racer, this could be a good thing. basically, dollar for dollar, the Si and Mustang are very similar for performance. Do you think the aftermarket will be as kind to the civic si as it has to the 4.0L mustang? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trolling and definitely love my mustang, I'm just keeping an eye on the competition. Anyone had any experience with these so far?

Maija

I was watching a special on the new Civic on SpeedTV. What Honda did was release the Civic to the Aftermarket product developers before it was officially released to the public. This gave the aftermarket guys time to make products before the first car was sold on the lot.

Zodiac

Yeah that's not really an uncommon practice... They're going to get a leg up in the aftermarket.. we've had our cars over a year and its just starting to wake up for us, and we're largely neglected because of the GT as well. Pound for pound, I think we'll squeeze more out of our engines with basic bolt ons than they will. We've sure got the displacement for it.

197hp will yield approx. 167 rwhp on a manual at 15% calced drivetrain loss. Itll be interesting to see how well rated these cars were from the factory.

Weren't there new standards applied this year in rating factory vehicles? If I remember correctly under the standards we were judged at they'd probably be looking at 187hp. I THINK. I really dont know on this issue.

Zodiac

Comming from Edmunds.com some things to consider:


Base Engine Size: 2 liters
Base Engine Type: Inline 4
Horsepower: 197 hp
Max Horsepower: 7800 rpm
Torque: 139 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 6100 rpm

Drive Type: FWD

Curb Weight: 2877 lbs

Its making max HP at nearly 8K RPM and max torque at 6K rpm..

And 139 ft/lbs torque? Hey, I have 100 more ft/lbs torque they do, at half the rpms. True our car weighs about 400lbs more, but I dont think Im too worried.


You can use Edmunds.com to straight up compare the two vehicles... and though Ive tried to link to it, there's a faulty code somewhere in this forum thats preventing it from comming through correctly.. probably due to length. Sorry, no direct link =(

DrumStyxs10

Civics have always had a huge share of aftermarket parts and I dont't think that it with change with this model. One other thing that is an advatage for them is usually their parts are alot more afordable, I even once saw a CAI for a civic at WalMart for 59.99 I mean it probably is not the best but the more you can afford the faster you can be.

Happy Holidays
Tyler

nynvolt

The new civic SI's HP rating was lowered due to the "new" regulations, which are actually less stringent than what GM and Ford have been using for years to rate their HP. I think a few of GM's cars including the Vette increased in HP numbers using the new system but like Ford have decided not to add the phantom HP for existing cars.

The Civic has a HUGE aftermarket, these cars are affordable and fun. Honda makes great motors, efficient and sturdy. I imagine kids will be saving there lunch money for turbos and N02 kits.

I like the new design, they still lack a front end, it's really short but the car looks pretty cool and for 19-21k it's a pretty good deal, Hondas are known for their reliability and holding resale value.

The new civic should respond well to aftermarket parts if it's anything like previous generation Honda motors and the handling is already there. This version has the LSD which the RSX type S lacks and the RSX-S is already a fantastic handling car.

My guess is straight line would belong to the V6 Mustang but for autoX the civic should hold it off pretty easily.

The Civic has gotten a pretty bad reputation due to kids with intellectual disfuctions trying to pretend they are mario adretti on the autobaughn just because they bought a huge aluminum wing but they are great cars.

As far as aftermarket parts go, I'd say the SI will have a better selection but I doubt parts will be much cheaper at first. The Mustang should respond better to forced induction, it has twice the displacement and lower compression. I bet that 2ltr is pushing 11:1 and I know it will require premium gasoline.