My friend is looking at Civic hatchbacks for a transplant to replace his aging GSR, but him and I are a bit confused. He deffinetly want a 96+, but doesent understand the differences between the 96-98 and the 99-00 models. Did they just change the front end a bit or is there more to it. looking for details here. Will he always have to get parts that will match the specific year he gets. Also was there a Civic Type R in Japan for all these years or was it limited production like it is here in the US (We think not, but want to make sure)

 

well the differences are the front end of course and taillights. 96-98 have amber in them while 99-00 are red clear. then in the inside the climate controls are different. As for the motors, wiring harnesses they are all the same and same suspension ect. the differences are just cosmetic.

 

I believe all the changes between the 96-98 and 99-00 civics are all cosmetic. The headlights, front bumper, A/C controls, radio placement, are all different. The 99-00's all have basicly the same front bumper design as the 99-00 si's and IMO look much better. But you'll find alot more cheap 96-98 hatches than 99-00's. Good luck!

 

96-98 had differetn bumpers,tail lights, headlights, grill, hood,...etc than the 99-00.
also, the interior was a little different, like the climate control area was changed. the 99-00 got a little heavier too.
and 96' is when they offered the midori green color(teal) and 00' is the only year they offered the taffeta white color.

thats pretty much wut i kno

 

Wow I repeated everything you said hehe

 

Here's the differences between the coupes of 96-98 and 99-00. Don't know how much they resemble the hatches.

http://www.hondavision.com/showthrea...threadid=23235

 

don't forget the 96-97 had the Trunk relese lever for the htbk. where as my 98 htbk did not have this option and u have to either stretch your body over the rear seats to open it or turn the car off and go to the back of the car and unlock it and then open it..damn honda =P

 

type r only in japan and europe


[Modified by sleeprhatch, 12:53 AM 11/17/2002]

 

didnt the 96-98 LACK..that support beam near the feet area of the rear passenger area

 

96-98 obd 2.1 99-00 obd 2.2


[Modified by seek167, 8:09 PM 11/16/2002]

 

Thanks a lot everybody.

 

only 96s didn't have that.

 

The wiring harness architecture is totally different in the 96-98 and the 99-00. I found this out the hard way when I did a 00 Si B16 swap into my 98 Dx hatch. I ended up having to use the Si main harness (the one that runs behind the dash).

I am bitter about the lack of a trunk release starting in 98 too. It is a major annoyance. I looked onto retrofitting the 97 parts, and it nearly impossible.

 

Do you have more detail about the wiring harness differences?

 

My recomendation is to get the Helms Electrical Trouble Shooting manual. It has a connector by connector, pin by pin explaination for each mmodel year. I spent about 2 weeks with my nose in that book before attempting the swap. After much contemplating, I decided that using the Si main harness was going to be easier than trying to make the 98 Dx harness work. I did the swap2.5 years ago, so I am a bit rusty on the details, but if I remember, the DX ECU couplers were different, engine harness connectors were on the wrong side of the car...
One thing to remember, if you have a rear wiper and use the Si main harness, yuo will have to graft the rear wiper harness into the Si harness.