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ABS controls a big part of the car and these systems are a direct output of motor sports. If you follow F1, you will hear them talking about 'brake by wire' and how it has an effect on the car. I expect this technology to trickle into the real world cars within a few years and will make brake systems even better.
Auto-x on Sunday was great! Our instructors from the Starting Line school were also on site and continued to ride along with us. The Civic shined in the H Street class and my co-driver and I managed to place #1 and #2 out of 8 entries, by several seconds ahead of the competition.
Originally Posted by junkyard racer
I had a 8 time SCCA National Champion auto-x'er drive my car during the school and he was very pleased with it. One thing he did mention is that although traction control is turned off, he doesn't feel its 100% off. Something is still 'helping' the car. Does anyone know if there is a way to fully turn off the traction control system? I know with the BRZ there is a procedure to completely turn it off...is there such a thing for the 9th gen Si?
We have come to the conclusion that the 'brake assist' is dragging the front brakes and this is what is being felt.
The brake assist holds the brakes for about 1-2 seconds after you let off the brakes. To feel it for yourself, on a hill with the back of the car facing the down side of the hill, have the car in neutral and release the brake. The car will stay put for 1-2 seconds and then you can feel the brake release, allowing the car to roll. It's even more prominent with a more aggressive pad.
Honda Performance Development should be at work tomorrow for the beginning of One Lap of America so I will be chatting with this about this. Also, I have some vids from the SCCA Starting Line school and I will post those soon.
Speaking of more aggressive pad....I FINALLY have Hawk producing their street/race pad for the 12+ Si! The front pad number is HB393R.665 via Hawk. High Performance Street Race | Hawk Performance
Here are a couple of videos from Sunday's auto-x at the Tire Rack test facility/track. The instructor with me is from the SCCA Starting Line school. Again, I can't say enough good things about the school. Doing school like this will knock off years of 'learning by mistake' and will execrate your skills.
Car is still doing great. This little thing called work is getting in the way of me enjoying the evening at Gingerman, the local road course, this afternoon. :<
I was not able to chat with HPD. I went to the meet/greet and was unable to find them, and then was not able to attend the final event due to listing my house for sale. I'm investigating though.
By the way, Hawk Street/Race pads are due in just after Memorial Day.
The odometer ticked to 10,000 miles on my way to work this morning, so it's time for an update!
First, let me remind you why I bought the car. It's my daily driver that I also enjoy some moderate track use with. By track, I mean I auto-x it (in H Street/SCCA) and I try to get to the local road course a few times a year. I also enjoy an off ramp or two from time to time. ...ok, in reality, I attack it every chance I get. Living in Northern Indiana, just off of Lake Michigan, I also have to drive this car in the snow.
This car is a boat load of fun to drive, especially when it comes to the corners. I enjoy it every time I drive it and I feel as though the car is always begging for more. The car is also very easy to drive at the limit, in true Honda form. The engine and transmission have been nothing short of fantastic. I run the crap out of it and it just loves to play in the upper RPM band. I have done -0- modifications to the engine, not even an air filter change.
Speaking of modifications, lets discuss those a bit.
As mentioned, the car is driven in the winter of N. Indiana. Typically, we see around 80" of snow, lots of ice and cold weather and sometimes, this can span 5 months out of the year. I installed a 16" winter wheel and tire package from Tire Rack, which included Bridgestone Blizzak tires and Sparco rally wheels and it turned the car into a tank. Never once did I ever think I couldn't drive in the winter with my car. I wrote about them a few pages back, if you wish to check it out.
This spring, I modified the car almost to the full extent of which SCCA allows for the Street (stock) class. I wrapped my factory wheels with Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec tires in factory size, 225/45/18, and they have performed very well. I can't say enough good things about these tires. If you go back to earlier in the conversation, you can see that the factory wheels are manufactured by Enkei, using their MAT processing and this creates a very strong wheel, which is great. I do wish they were a little lighter in weight, however.
Within the SCCA rules, you can modify 1 sway bar and I opted to install a Eibach rear sway bar. Together, with the tires, the car has almost changed 100%. It's amazing how much different the car is. It turns when you want it to turn, the tires stick like glue, the braking is fantastic, the feedback is great....I can't say enough good things about this set up.
Brakes were upgraded. Because of the larger brakes found on the 2012+ Si, brake pad options have been very limited. Just to get out of the factory pad, I installed Hawk HPS pads on the front. They weren't much better than factory, but did take some abuse that I do not think the factory pad would have handled. In fact, the factory pads didn't handle the abuse of the road course...I practically lost brakes all together while on the track. If you read back a few pages, I have been working with Hawk to get them to offer their Street/Race pad for the new Civic, and they have honored my request. I have the pads in hand, just haven't installed them yet. They also advised I install the Hawk HPS pad in the rear, which I will do. Fluid has also been changed to Stoptech high temp fluid. Tire Rack now has the Street/Race pad in stock.
The alignment was modified to the most aggressive settings that the Honda service department could do, to comply with the SCCA. It wasn't much, but was better than what was given to me from the factory. I have the measurements posted a page or two back. After the alignment, the steering felt much better, but I think the alignment could still be better with some more aggressive camber.
So, for the most part, that is it for modifications. It's still relatively stock. Now that I have turned 10k miles, I may change the air filter element just because I believe its a serviceable item at 10k miles (not sure though). I didn't want to spend a bunch of time and money modifying the car, I was more interested in driving the car in relative factory form. In H Street, the car is very competitive. In the first event for the year, I placed 2nd, and my co-driver placed first and we were close in time, but seconds ahead of 3rd place. Yeah, yeah, yeah....he beat me in my own car.
So let's discuss some things that I have been not do thrilled about. First, the seats and the material of the seats. The seating position at its lowest setting is way to high for me. Now, in Honda's defense, I am 6'3", so I don't fit in many vehicles that great....but even my short wife seems to think the seating position is too high. And yes, I have the seat set to its lowest setting. The material on the seats SUCK. If you get ANYTHING on them, its a pain to clean. Its to the point where I only drink water in my car. There is also the 'popping' sound in the center of the seat. I think there is a spring or something that keeps popping, when sitting on it just right. Also, when auto-x'n, the seats are pretty poor at keeping me in place. On the road course, I didn't seem to have that big of an issue with them.
The paint on the car is great and when clean, delivers a great shine and metallic look. However, where any of the pieces of the car come together, it appears there is little paint. Someone mentioned that this is how cars are these days....not my wife's '13 Jetta. I would hate to see my car in 10 years with Indiana winters as I expect it to be full of rust. I could be wrong, but this is something that concerns me.
The hill assist continues to be a bad situation and I don't think it can be fully disabled. A few weeks ago, I discussed how the hill assist keeps the brakes locked when on an incline. Well, in auto-x, if you come into a corner hard and are on the brakes with the clutch and the brakes depressed, as soon as you come off the brakes, the brakes continue to hold unless you either flatten the car out or come off the clutch. This is hill assist. Its great on a hill, not so great when driving the car for its intended purpose.
The tune on the car also seems to bug me a bit. It sometimes stumbles through the RPMS, unless you are driving it hard. I think with a Hondata reflash, this could be cleaned up...but to comply with SCCA, I can't do that. If I wasn't worried about keeping the SCCA happy....I would without a doubt at least have the ECU flashed.
So what's the future for me and the car...I'm not too sure. The R is very appealing, but I really enjoy this car, overall. Maybe in due time, I will put more thought into putting big brakes, a coilover system and possibly a turbo on the car. Who knows.
By the way, I continue to have a great relationship with my local dealer, Basney Honda in South Bend, In. Yes, I actually use the dealer.
I hope everyone is enjoying the read...I have a lot of time involved with writing it. lol. Honda corporate also has a link to this thread.
Yeah, I have mentioned this before about the stumble. Try lower speeds in 5th or 6th gear - the car bucks. It is VERY annoying to say the least especially from a factory tune that should be smooth as silk. Definitely more than one reason why I sold mine off. It's cool you still like yours, I could only stand 15,000 miles of mine.
For me it was more like almost like on the gas then off the gas at part throttle acceleration; a mild surging of power if you will. At low RPM high gear the car would actually buck pretty bad. I tune my own cars and easily can tune out 5th gear bucking even a,t ~1,500 RPM on OBD-1 cars... with the new technology I don't understand why they couldn't. My suggestion to you is go and take one for a test drive and experience it for yourself and see if it is something you can live with (or notice for that matter). However, I wholeheartedly believe that surging could be cured with a tune.
The other issue is it idles rather ruff, especially the hotter the engine temperature and IAT gets. In my opinion the factory tune is pure ****. Given, mine was WAY worse after my top end failure at 5,500 miles. They kept telling me that no valves were bent but my tests showed otherwise. I feel bad for whoever got that POS, LOL!!!
For me it was more like almost like on the gas then off the gas at part throttle acceleration; a mild surging of power if you will. At low RPM high gear the car would actually buck pretty bad. I tune my own cars and easily can tune out 5th gear bucking even a,t ~1,500 RPM on OBD-1 cars... with the new technology I don't understand why they couldn't. My suggestion to you is go and take one for a test drive and experience it for yourself and see if it is something you can live with (or notice for that matter). However, I wholeheartedly believe that surging could be cured with a tune.
I agree with this 100%. He described it much better than I could. If I am at part throttle, just cruising along or going through the gears, at several different RPM points, it bucks and acts all pissed off that I'm not raping it like a $10 *****. Hondata offers a reflash for $295 that would be WELL worth it, IMO. As I mentioned, this car wants to be driven hard. I can only imagine what the new R is like...as I'm sure its going to be this car on steroids. Honda calls it a track car for the street...
My sister has a 13 SI great car but it eats a set of tires every 18k, crazy time for a new brand the michelins suck.
You seem to enjoy the car rock on dude. Wish I had the ***** too buy a new SI but I'm still rocking my old 06 Ex...
This car is a great car. I think it needs some minor tweaks, but every car does from the factory. The current model cars are leaps and bounds over 2006 models. You would enjoy it.
The factory Pilot HX MXM4 tires are probably Michelins worst tire they have ever produced. As a tire geek, I am rarely a fan of factory tires. I could rattle off several replacement all-season tires that would be great for the Si. The Continental Extreme Contact DWS, the BF Goodrich G-Force Sport Comp 2, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3....all fantastic tires that probably cost less money and would double the life she is getting. If you hop on Tire Rack, the DWS shines, and I agree with the surveys.
And to cap off my day of hitting 10,000 miles in my 2014 Si....I went to our local 'First Friday' downtown community event and I parked in the parking garage, where I always do. --The top deck where no one else parks, so I don't get my doors dinged up. I got back to my car to find someone tried to take my blue bastard. The driver window is super jacked up, the passenger side window trim is all messed up, and the glass has several deep scratches.
I had nothing in my car and my windows aren't tinted. My car is kept spotless, and nothing in it except my daughters car seat and a towel to keep under the seat. Seriously, they didn't go through all of that work to check to see if I had change in my car. They wanted my car.
I would post pics but the IB app on my phone doesn't want to cooperate tonight.
I thought the days of stealing Honda's were a thing of the past. I guess not.
For me it was more like almost like on the gas then off the gas at part throttle acceleration; a mild surging of power if you will. At low RPM high gear the car would actually buck pretty bad. I tune my own cars and easily can tune out 5th gear bucking even a,t ~1,500 RPM on OBD-1 cars... with the new technology I don't understand why they couldn't. My suggestion to you is go and take one for a test drive and experience it for yourself and see if it is something you can live with (or notice for that matter). However, I wholeheartedly believe that surging could be cured with a tune.
The other issue is it idles rather ruff, especially the hotter the engine temperature and IAT gets. In my opinion the factory tune is pure ****. Given, mine was WAY worse after my top end failure at 5,500 miles. They kept telling me that no valves were bent but my tests showed otherwise. I feel bad for whoever got that POS, LOL!!!
Originally Posted by junkyard racer
I agree with this 100%. He described it much better than I could. If I am at part throttle, just cruising along or going through the gears, at several different RPM points, it bucks and acts all pissed off that I'm not raping it like a $10 *****. Hondata offers a reflash for $295 that would be WELL worth it, IMO. As I mentioned, this car wants to be driven hard. I can only imagine what the new R is like...as I'm sure its going to be this car on steroids. Honda calls it a track car for the street...
This is 100% valid. I have the same thing. Its even WORSE with AC on. I thought it was the AC clutch turning on and off, but it seems more than that. Its really weird, almost a surge of power then it lets off. Its REALLY annoying.
I've had my '15 Si for exactly 1 month and 1600 miles. I really love driving it hard, it begs to be driven. I love that its always in "go fast" mode. I dont have to change anything to make it fun. My wife seems to like the car as well. She thinks its comfortable and smooth. The engine is actually very smooth. Sometimes I accidentally let it rev out a bit because I dont think I need to shift.
I have a few gripes though:
1.The car is SEVERELY underpowered with the AC on. Living in Vegas where we use AC 6 months out of the year it really stinks.
2. The seat feels like its leaning right, but the bolster is pushing me left so my back gets a little annoyed.
3. The revv hang...UGH
Last edited by 95greenlude; 06-06-2015 at 02:34 PM.
Wow, that sucks junkyard racer! I hate, hate, HATE thieves!!! To me it sounds like some stupid kids screwing around. With the immobilizer / chipped key & design I would think if someone actually knew how to take it they would have, if you get what I am saying. Like most areas near us, it just keeps getting worse and worse with the BS as it spreads Eastward.
95greenlude - Yes, I forgot all about your #2 point. Attempting long car rides would totally mess up my back. I just thought it was because I am a bigger guy (6'6" & 300lbs) in a car made for small people.
For me it was more like almost like on the gas then off the gas at part throttle acceleration; a mild surging of power if you will. At low RPM high gear the car would actually buck pretty bad. I tune my own cars and easily can tune out 5th gear bucking even a,t ~1,500 RPM on OBD-1 cars... with the new technology I don't understand why they couldn't. My suggestion to you is go and take one for a test drive and experience it for yourself and see if it is something you can live with (or notice for that matter). However, I wholeheartedly believe that surging could be cured with a tune.
The other issue is it idles rather ruff, especially the hotter the engine temperature and IAT gets. In my opinion the factory tune is pure ****. Given, mine was WAY worse after my top end failure at 5,500 miles. They kept telling me that no valves were bent but my tests showed otherwise. I feel bad for whoever got that POS, LOL!!!
Originally Posted by junkyard racer
I agree with this 100%. He described it much better than I could. If I am at part throttle, just cruising along or going through the gears, at several different RPM points, it bucks and acts all pissed off that I'm not raping it like a $10 *****. Hondata offers a reflash for $295 that would be WELL worth it, IMO. As I mentioned, this car wants to be driven hard. I can only imagine what the new R is like...as I'm sure its going to be this car on steroids. Honda calls it a track car for the street...
Just quoting two replies to ask this question. There is nothing "wrong" with that correct? Is it a defect? It's just how the engine is tuned? Does this bucking cause anything to "fail?" Like ant of my Hondas, I imagine it being a 200,000 car (even thou I never kept it that long).
Let me slide in another question too since you Si owners are here. Is there a 'premium" on insurance for a 9th Gen Si? The easy answer is yes. It's a Si. Enough to make one think twice about a car?
Let me ask the question this way. If I was to get 2015 Honda Accord Sport 6M, the insurance rate is actually cheaper than the Accord EX with CVT. There is really no "sport" in Sport.
My 2002 Nissan Sentra Spec-V probably worth $2500 cost more to insure than my $46K Odyssey Touring Elite. If it was the Sentra 1.8LE, it would only cost peanuts because it's not worth that much.
It may cause a wear issue since you are unloading and reloading the rotating assembly and potentially drivetrain. I definitely wouldn't put my money on them being reliable as the days of Honda in the past. Speaking of Accords, they have valve body failures and need the ECU flashed. Why won't Honda come out with a factory reflash for their "sporty" Civic?
As far as insurance is concerned I didn't pay a premium, at least I don't feel like I did. My '99 GMC Suburban was definitely more expensive for the same deductible and my '98 CRV was on par.
I also do not pay a premium on my Si. I think the fact that it is a 4 door helps. I'm also 32 years old and have a clean record, knock on wood.
OneBadTurboCRV, yes, thieves suck. I went to the dealer on Sat AM to see about replacement parts and the service service manager told me a few things about the car that sorta made me think that these guys were novice at best. But now I feel like someone is watching me and my car. It's on someone's radar, I'm sure.
After a trip to the local auto glass place, the car has new glass for $165-
The 'clip' that on older cars was literally a clip that clipped the window to the regulator was a replaceable part. If it broke, you just replaced the clip. Well, the a-holes that tried to break into my car broke that clip when attempting to break in. In true, new car form, the clip is now attached to the glass via glue and the clip can't be replaced. You have to replace the entire piece of glass. Majestic Honda wanted something like $140 delivered for a new piece of glass, the local Honda dealer (where I bought my car) wanted $320 for the same thing, plus labor to even figure out what parts are needed. The local glass place....$165 installed for a non-OE piece of glass. Bingo.
On a better note....since the car turned 10k miles, I figured I needed to get the car a present. I replaced the factory air filter with a K&N drop in filter (to keep SCCA happy) and installed it last evening. I know it may all be in my head, but the engine has a much better feel to it. Is there a noticeable increase in power...I wouldn't go that far. But I will say the engine feels more smooth. The little hick-up at certain RPM's has even smoothed out a bit. I wish I would have changed it sooner.
I don't get it, why do thieves bother with a stock, newer car? lol
A mildly modded EG is literally worth more in parts at this point. Nobody needs doors from a 2014 Civic or **** like that.
Sorry to hear about that, this is the only reason I'd want a dash cam. Keep it on when I'm not around the car only. Then I'd hire someone to bash some skulls.
I just realized that this thread has a little over 22,000 views. Wow.
Without going into too many details, I sold the Si shortly after I fixed the pieces the thieves broke. I drove my VW TDI until the recent buyback began and I let VW take the car back. My replacement....another Si. I can't stay away.
I had to do a little hunting as I wanted an 8th gen that was clean and 100% dealer maintained. Basically, I was looking for a 'grandma's car' and I think I found it.
04-30-2015, 12:39 PM
Re: 2014 Honda Civic Si review
