diegosan

I'm a Honda newb and am looking to pickup up a stocker that I can slowly mod. Any recommendations which year/model will offer the most flexibility for future mods? For now, the ride will be more for commuting & saving gas$, but I'd like to keep the door open for mods and would like to buy the right base car from the start. Thanks.

SkoundrelUSA

Get a 92-95 Si or Ex so its not super duper **** slow

BlueIntegraBoy

iTrader: (5)

Any Civic EX or Si will give you the most options. The 99-00 Civic Si even goes a step further and gives you a better engine.

diegosan

Thanks for the quick replies...gives me a good starting point for my research.

PhatBoy5015

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueIntegraBoy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any Civic EX or Si will give you the most options. The 99-00 Civic Si even goes a step further and gives you a better engine.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, but a 99-00 Si is heavy as ****. Plus, it comes with a B16A, which is better than a SOHC, but definately not the best motor (no torque). I would go with a EG Si hatch if you like the 92-95s or a 96-00 HX. Cause the HX is lighter than the EX, but still has power windows and locks.


Modified by PhatBoy5015 at 12:58 PM 8/4/2006

EJ1 Freak

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkoundrelUSA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get a 92-95 Si or Ex so its not super duper **** slow</TD></TR></TABLE>

SHG_Beans

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkoundrelUSA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> super duper **** slow</TD></TR></TABLE>

hahaha. I've got one of those super duper **** slow cars.

I'd recommend prettymuch any civic with a clean shell being the thing to look for. Think about what body style you like/suits you best and go with that rather than power from the start. You'll be happier in the long run. You can always throw parts or another motor in it, but paying for/dealing with bodywork can become a real hassle. Plus it'll look good right from the start. That's me though. I'm not worried about power anything right now, just gas mileage, and my super duper **** slow (but super clean) dx gets me 37 mpg with plenty of room for mods. And I've got coilovers so its still a blast to drive. Good luck with whatever choice you make

-Gary-

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkoundrelUSA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get a 92-95 Si or Ex so its not super duper **** slow</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep. Good luck on finding one not super riced/modded over with a bazillion miles on a painted interior.

suspendedHatch

I would say a DX because you'll probably want to swap the engine, brakes, and swaybars anyway. What's an EX/Si w/out the engine, brakes, and swaybars? An overpriced DX with a sunroof! I would get a 92-00 non VX or CX. That way you could choose to swap or just do a mini-me.

alacard

really...any year/model civic will give you tons of options...i dont think there will ever be a lack of options in a civic...so like what was posted before...go with what looks best...dont worry about power...that can ALWAYS be changed later...look for something with a clean title, clean body, and looks the way you want it to.

edit: and look for something as stock as you can get...theres no better feeling than taking a completely stock civic and changing it into something amazing. plus all the riced out ones were probably beat to hell on

suspendedHatch

Well I have a 4th gen and a 5th gen. The fourth gen is a great car, but it's a little more complicated to modify than the 5th gen. For instance, I have an Si and it has ******* rear drums and no VTEC! To get rear discs, I either have to find an EX (pretty rare), or get Integra brakes which widen the rear track. The fuel pump is harder to get to. There's less engine space which makes turbo's, and swaps where you want to keep AC and PS much more trouble than it should be. There may be as many swap options, but they're more costly and difficult. Also, you're dealing with OBD0. To get VTEC, the only viable option IMO is to convert to OBD1 and do a mini-me. Anything else is just crappy or not bang-for-buck.

My 5th gen is cake. 6th gen I don't have personal experience with, but looking at it, it looks pretty simple also, you're just dealing with OBD2 instead of OBD1. Also, compatibility with the 94 Integra is not as good as with a 5th gen. The 7th gen Civic switches to McPherson strut and the engine mounts change which limits your swap options. So not just any Civic will do.

All around the 5th gen has the most/cheapest/easiest options, but you can't go wrong with 92-00 as I said.

alacard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> So not just any Civic will do.</TD></TR></TABLE>

not sure if that was in reference to waht i said..but if it was i meant any 92-00 civic...since this is the 92-00 civic forum i just figured it would be implied...sorry if that was misleading

ddd4114

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would say a DX because you'll probably want to swap the engine, brakes, and swaybars anyway. What's an EX/Si w/out the engine, brakes, and swaybars? An overpriced DX with a sunroof! I would get a 92-00 non VX or CX. That way you could choose to swap or just do a mini-me.</TD></TR></TABLE>
That's true. I'm going to say any EG will do, the higher the trim line, the better.