I am looking to buy a new car in the next few months (civic vs speed3) and I have been reading all the reviews I can find on the web.

The conclusion I am coming to is that the build quality for civics these days may have deteriorated when compared to civics of 8-10 years ago.

I am starting to lean towards the speed3 (Mazda) because of this.

Anyone care to take the other side of the argument?

 

The civics today are terrible. And the fact that the civics share components with the upscale acura brand leads me to believe they are even shittier yet.

Since mazda is primarily run by Ford, I would say you can't go wrong with them and you are very safe in picking the Mazda.

Sounds like you've already made your mind up dude.

 

AJP...I don't know if your post is a joke, but it made me lmao like it is.

 

What parts do the new civic share with acura?

 

Lulz

 

Why are you comparing a turbo car to a non turbo car? Wait.. it's a mazda..

 

Huge joke... I laughed as I wrote it. Yeah I was trying to make it confusing...I'm so cynical anymore I can hardly stand myself sometimes.


Hey "I want to be in you sig" If you consider the friggin motor a part in the RSX type S than that's one right off the top of my stupid head. Or would that count as a bunch of parts?

 

The only thing similar about these cars is that they are considered to be in the same size segment.

The Mazdaspeed3 will be much faster than the Si (Of course if you put a turbo on the Si... the speed3 would be in trouble). I really liked the speed3 when I drove one last year, but its not as nimble as the Si, and I prefer the Si 6 speed over the mazda's (which was fine, just didn't feel as good).

Also, for curiosity's sake, I'd like to see where the info came from about Civic build quality. Because frankly, old Civic build quality (I'm more talking fit-and-finish, rather than mechanics and such) was nothing fancy.

So it really comes down to how you drive, and how you are going to use the car.

 

well at least our floor mats arent killing us

 

I would say that civic quality has taken a step backwards. My previous civic was a 99 Si I bought new and had until it was totaled by a moron that took a red light in 2003. My 08 Si that I also bought new already has more rattles than the 99 did. The windows rattle and are damn annoying. Never heard of gearbox issues that seem to be common now either. In between the 99 and the current car I drove and Elantra and that also didn't have the creaks and rattles the 08 has.

 

ok, the ONLY complaint I have about the civic is the Tranny, but thats because I'm boosted. HOWEVER.... I drove a friend's ms3, and have heard from him the complaints.

Smokes, the turbo has had to be replaced (at least once). Power is great, tires are expensive. usable power is mostly in 3rd+ (unless you know how to drive, then 2nd isnt bad either, but spins if you dont feather the throttle)

clutch is also a bit weird / hard to get used to unless you're used to heavy clutches on the MS3, but the civic one is light as a feather.

as for build quality. I'd put my money on the civic to last longer than ms3 any day of the week.

 

I see what you are saying Ben, but all 3 major car mags have don't shoot outs with both cars being included(car and driver, road and track and motortrend).

From a price stand point there is really no denying that they should both be compared to eachother. It's actually a huge compliment to the civic in my opinion that it can hang with a boosted car with out a turbo.

If you plan on modding, I think your money will go further on the ms3 since it's boosted already.....Much easier to increase power on a boosted car than one that isn't.

I would've bought the genesis 2.0 turbo if it was out when I bought my civic.

 

^^ Sorry new to the civic world. I figured you would have said the RSX-S motor lol, but then and again I was confused with the 'upscale' part haha.

 

FA5 FTW

 

so far, 66% of your posts have been talking about about how the si sedan is "ftw". do you have anything useful to contribute?

 

You need to be more specific as to what you want to do with your "new car".

I have a friend with the MS3 and his main gripe is that there aren't many options as far as aftermarket parts are concerned. Are you are trying to get a car that is gonna be quite quick in stock form? Are you wanting a car that looks good? (I think the mazda is hideous, but fun to drive)

 

The engine and transmission is the ONLY reason why we bought 2 new 08 SIs (for me and my wife). My wife had a 2003 Mazda Protege that we traded in and it had fewer rattles than either of our 08 SIs did within a month. The odd thing is that each car has different rattles for the most part, but the same gripes with stupid designs (like the windshield wipers being under the windshield and freezing in place when it snows).

I have a friend who just got rid of his 2008 MS3. He liked the car but it was expensive to run with tires, brakes, and it needed an EGR valve or something to be replaced twice, in 20K. That would set him back a few hundred when it goes out of warranty.

Honestly, I don't think the Civic is any better than the competition these days. The Mazda will depreciate much faster though. My prior Hondas (1987 Accord DX, 1994 Accord LX, 1997 Integra, 1999 Civic EX) felt like they were screwed together as tight as a swiss watch compared to our current Hondas. This civic is the most powerful, but not the most fun to drive, the 97 integra and 99 civic were the most fun to drive of the lot. They were the most engaging drivers experience, even though they were low powered (but weighed less). The 08 Si feels like a driving a quick lazy-boy recliner. For around town, it does the job well, but it would be nice if the rattles would just go away...

Good luck with your decsion!

 

To drive the car for a day or two: MS3

To own: Si

 

Just had a test drive experience on a 08 Civic SI Coupe. I was very disappointed. I do drive an 05 Civic EX 5speed. Now yes my car is VERY slow. The Si is a LOT of fun engine wise. BUT... things I noticed, the car at the dealer had 22,000 miles on it. First thing noticed was that I was getting dripped on, the celing was wet right by the passanger map light. Then driving it noticed that the dash board rattles something fierce. not noisy but you can actually see it wiggling due to the idle and bumps. Seemed REALLY cheap compared to my 05.

So then I turned on the "premium" sound system. What a freggin joke, why even put a "subwoofer" in if it doesn't do anything. Had the bass all the way up, and the subwoofer all the way up, the 05 standard radio is 10x better sounding. not great by any means, but at least had some bass. You would think Honda would move forward with these things instead of backwards.

I'm wondering if the dash issue was maybe due to it being a coupe with the door openings being a lot wider than the sedan. My Friend has an 09 sedan and I never noticed the dash wiggling around like that. I had a friend with me and he was really unimpressed as well. Just my .02. From my brief drive, but yeah that car is a hoot to open up, at like 6K it has a dr Jeckle and Mister Hyde personality that was a LOT of fun, that red shift light comes up REALLY fast. And then ya shift and do it all over again.

The 05 EX will totally keep me out of trouble, the newer Si's would have me pulled over lots of times, it's addicitve.

 

Your '05 is pumping some serious toxic fumes through the vents if you believe it's radio sounds better than the 8th gen premium sound system. If it truly does, there is something wrong with the SI's radio.

Basing your opinion of the Civic model in general on a used car is ridiculous anyway. God knows what the previous owner did to that thing. I drive my SI every day, and she's never let me down. I've put 56k miles on her since November of '07 and aside from thinness of the clear coat and the ease at which the interior plastics scuff, I have no complaints with Honda. Like I said, I drive my car hard and VTEC all of the time. However, I maintain my car. It gets washed 1-2 times a week and the interior gets cleaned every week also. I change the oil when it needs it and perform all required maintenance. I bought a Honda expecting a reliable, affordable, efficient and fun to drive car. It's delivered beyond my expectations time and time again. I didn't pay for a Bentley so I don't expect to be driving one.

 

^Well put.

 

So test driving a used car of a model you want to buy is ridiculous? Why? I mean if a 3 year old car with 22K on it feels like that, what's it going to feel like 6 years old with 78K on it? Even if it's driven by a complete moron. Then again it was a Red Coupe so we can figure on exactly the demographic that would go for a bright red car like that... but I digress.

I'm a HUGE honda fan, my car before the civic was a 93 Accord that I got with 35K on it and sold it with 365,000 miles on it. That car was 10x as solid as this 22K mile Si. THat's why I wanted to drive a used one. You can tell a lot. It sold me on keeping the slow *** 05 that's for sure. Maybe this was just a really bad example but it was bad enough that my co-pilot thought the same.

I am going to drive another one if I come across one, this one was at Carsense which is a dealer that puts a 6month 6k warranty on everything down to wiper blades, so it was most likely checked out, plus they run a car fax, plus they are usually lease turn in vehicles. It also had all the maintenance records on it as well. Also really cool about this dealer is that they just hand you the keys and say be careful, the sales person doesn't ride along. Pretty cool really.

And as far as the stereo goes, I *REALLY* hope there is something wrong with it, becuase my friend has an 09 Sedan with just the stock stereo and this Si was no better. NO bass, it was pretty clear, but literally 0 bass.

 

I have been really impressed with the Si's sounds system. It's not 15 speaker Bose or Bang & Olufsen system, don't get me wrong, but for a civic I think it fairs pretty well. Now I don't know what your definition of detectable bass is, but I will need to go for a ride in an EM2 to see for myself.

 

that's the thing the 05 isn't great by any means, but compared to the tester I drove, something had to be wrong with it. It did say something about the Navigation DVD not being present, maybe something was wrong with the stereo, plus maybe with that learking water by that map light maybe it dripped into the stereo, who knows.

 

35,000 and no major problems. A couple of minor rattles, none of which can't be fixed when I can find time to take it to my machanic. Drives great and with a few mods, it's quite fast.
Overall, I'm very satisfied and much happier than when I owned an 06 G35 mt coupe.