I'm in the market for a car. I've considered the EP3 hatches. Some Q's...
1) First off how do you all like yours?
2) What kind of gas mileage are you getting?
3) Is there anything you don't like about it?
4) Is there anywhere to mount a bike rack...have any of you done it?
5) How easy or not so easy are these to work on?

I found an '04 Si at a local dealer with 12,500 miles on it I might go look at. They're asking $15,999. It's silver (I would prefer a white one), but I might need a car pretty soon due to some unfortunate circumstances.

TIA



Modified by Yellow Dragon at 10:04 AM 11/2/2006

 

1) I really like mine
2) I am getting in the high 20, low 30 mpg city driving usually, it also only takes regular gas instead of premium
3) I wish it came with the K20A2 like pretty much all EP3 owners do. Although usually the price difference between an EP3 and a RSX-S is enough to pay for a K20A2 swap
4) Yes. I personally haven't bet there is a pic in the EP3 pic thread of one mounted
5) Really no problems on my 03 yet so i really don't know how easy it is to work on.

 

It's not an ITR, so hopefully you are not looking for anything to remind you of that.

They are good cars, but personally I prefer the RSX, base or Type-S, for several reasons.

Things that bothered me about the 01-05 Si:

--Shifter. Could not stand it on the dash. Never got used to it either.
--Driver's view. The extremely long dashboard made me feel like I was driving a GM minivan from the 1990's. This was my largest gripe about the car. The windshield is huuuuge. I like a car I feel in contact with; The EP3 was extremely vague to me. Even though the chassis is the same as the RSX, the RSX just makes you feel in more contact with the road.
--Looks. This is personal preference, but the looks of the car never grew on me.
--Electronic power steering. I hated the EPS system. does not have the feel of the traditional setup.

Gas mileage is decent and the motor makes decent power. Drivetrain is excellent, but this goes for any manual EP3 or RSX. They are as easy or hard to work on as any newer Honda. It's not as easy as an 89 Si, but it's still fairly easy.

 

Love the shifter -- if I ever have the choice, I don't want a low-mounted shifter ever again in a future car. There's no practical or mechanical reason for a floor shifter in a front-drive car anyway.

I've got a bike rack that mounts to the hatch, and it works just fine. I've had it strapped so that it only attaches to the hatch door, allowing me to lift & open it if I need to without taking the rack off. Interesting thing is that with a Mugen-style wing, the top straps have a straighter path to hooking onto the leading edge of the top of the hatch (better than with the Type-R/HFP wing, too).

What do I not like? Well, really, there's nothing that I don't like about my EP. I'm jealous of the Type-S engine, but the stock motor is peppy enough and can run regular gas with no problem. I actually like the styling, but in a more practical sense, I'm satisfied that my EP has more room in the back than an RSX. I could probably prefer a different suspension design, but I don't think that my skill level would matter much, plus I don't get to track it often enough to really notice.

Your question 5) -- what kind of work do you mean? Spark plugs are easy enough to get to, clutch replacement is as tedious as almost any front-driver, cam angle & overlap is done via ECU reprogramming instead of adjustable gears, etc etc.

If you get into modding it, you'll learn that there are a bunch of RSX parts that also fit the EP. Most of mine -- hubs, brakes, intake, header, cat, sways -- are all either OEM or aftermarket parts for the Type-S.

See if you can talk that dealer down another grand or two. Towards the end of their run, EPs were selling for as little as $17K brand new. Nobody in the general public really knew about them (hell, most of them still don't), and the tuner crowd had dismissed it as slow (i.e., not an Evo or STi). If Honda North America had given us the Type-R motor right off the bat back in '02, it would be a much more popular car.

 

Bike rack with the little stock spoiler:


Top straps strung through the gap in my fake Mugen wing:

 

It's a love/hate relationship with me.

I hated the stock brakes and tires. Which made me hate the suspension. At first I did the TYPE-S 5 lug conversion along with Mugen SS and it was very nice on and off track. Now with DC5R Brembos ansd DC5R 17" wheels, there's not much of a difference. But I had Cobalt GT pads F/R on the S setup and stock pads now. I do have Buddy Club N+ now only cause I needed adjustability for the DC5R setup. Otherwise I'd stick with the Mugen SS. I really love the shift position. It made things real nice on track!

I was thinking of parting with it for something nicer, with NAV, factory XM, real suspension, etc... I was thinking TSX. But everytime I wash the EP3 and see it clean I rethink that idea. Damit!

-Victor

 

It's 'cuz the EP has a nice round ***... especially when going over it with a soapy wash mitt...

 

haha... no, DC5R wheels in white along with DC5R Brembo's look h0tt!

-Victor

 

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to go with a new Fit Sport instead. I think it'll work better for me right now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Yellow Dragon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for all the replies. I think I'm going to go with a new Fit Sport instead. I think it'll work better for me right now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think its a win / win situation... SI or Fit... but I think the SI is just a tad bit faster in stock form... no comment handling wise, however.

 

Ya, you can't go wrong with the Fit! It's also in my head too at the moment.

-Victor

 

I drove a fit sport when they first came out...and while I liked the layout of the car (rear seats were a little hard to operate imo), it was slow as dirt. Basically like driving a civic VX wagon.

The Fit sport clocks about a 17.5 in the 1/4 with a trap of 80mph (MSN)

2002 Honda Civic Si 15.8 in the 1/4 (R&T July '02)

So it's quite a bit faster. Personally I don't really see the relation between the Fit and the Si, although I consider them both great cars. The Fit is a slow, reliable wagon, with no chance of ever being even quick (sans the spoon K20a swap ), and the Si's A3 responds very well to mods and has a lot of aftermarket support, and 2 big brothers (the CTR, and RSX-S) to swipe from.

Good luck with whatever you choose...try to take a nice long drive in the Fit before you slap down 16K for one

 

I plan on one day getting an si, I test drive them every so often at the dealer cause I like em so much. I took my gf and taught her stick on one. The only issue is they are still very expensive. Till the prices drop, I will stick with my ek.