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Old 07-12-2013, 03:14 AM
 
Location: The Old Dominion
774 posts, read 1,688,004 times
Reputation: 1186

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On the flip side, you can drive an old Volvo station wagon and whiz past cops at twice the speed limit; they won't even flinch. Absolutely invisible.

Trouble is, driving an old Volvo station wagon twice the speed limit isn't much fun.
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Old 07-12-2013, 06:41 AM
 
Location: Prosper
6,255 posts, read 16,997,507 times
Reputation: 9501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liquid Sword View Post
The performance-souped Civic Si bashers are obviously not gearheads, and probably drive automatic transmissions. (Or Dodges.)
Actually, we're just realistic and know what a performance car is, and what isn't. A Civic is never going to be considered a hot car by anyone but some young kids who can't afford better.

I had an Eagle Talon TSi AWD back then. That was far more sporty than any Civic, had a 200hp turbo engine, and all wheel drive. Won several "bang for the buck" comparisons back then in the car mags. It was a hot car... compared to most sedans and little cars. But overall, in the grand scheme of things, it was never in the same league as a proper sports car or exotic, even after I modded it to run 12's. I'm not going to sit here and be all nostalgic about it and say it was a "hot car that was too hot to handle." That's just complete foolishness.
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Old 07-12-2013, 06:53 AM
 
15,708 posts, read 20,239,147 times
Reputation: 20861
Quote:
Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr View Post
Actually, we're just realistic and know what a performance car is, and what isn't. A Civic is never going to be considered a hot car by anyone but some young kids who can't afford better.
I think my grandmother drove a civic in the early 90's. Really got great gas mileage going to and from bingo.


I never understood the generation that thinks 150HP FWD economy cars are performance cars at all. We have guys at work that drive various year civics that have various Ebay parts slapped on them sitting on cheap rims and slammed to the point where they can't get over the single speedbump in the parking lot. They park out in the middle of nowhere and take up 2 parking spots and "pose" them. Then guys from the corporate offices come in on a friday with their "weekend" cars which are $75-100K+ cars and park them in normal parking spots like normal people.

I'm not against someone taking pride in their car..but don't kid yourself into thinking a Honda Civic is a sports car.
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Old 07-12-2013, 07:41 AM
 
8,402 posts, read 24,120,831 times
Reputation: 6822
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fleet View Post
Several of the car magazines back in the 1960s did say that some cars available to the public were too hot to handle for many drivers on the street.

Like this '67 427/450 hp Nickey Camaro which ran an 11.40 sec @ 120 mph 1/4 mile.
Other examples would be the '62-'63 Max Wedge Mopar and '64 Ford Thunderbolt.
5.4 to 60, but 11.40 in the 1/4? I assume that's lack of traction at the line?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr View Post
Actually, we're just realistic and know what a performance car is, and what isn't. A Civic is never going to be considered a hot car by anyone but some young kids who can't afford better.

I had an Eagle Talon TSi AWD back then. That was far more sporty than any Civic, had a 200hp turbo engine, and all wheel drive. Won several "bang for the buck" comparisons back then in the car mags. It was a hot car... compared to most sedans and little cars. But overall, in the grand scheme of things, it was never in the same league as a proper sports car or exotic, even after I modded it to run 12's. I'm not going to sit here and be all nostalgic about it and say it was a "hot car that was too hot to handle." That's just complete foolishness.
I had a '91 Spirit R/T that embarassed quite a few Mustangs, Camaros, 300ZXs, etc.
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Old 07-12-2013, 08:11 AM
 
Location: Prosper
6,255 posts, read 16,997,507 times
Reputation: 9501
Quote:
Originally Posted by vmaxnc View Post
I had a '91 Spirit R/T that embarassed quite a few Mustangs, Camaros, 300ZXs, etc.
...And your Spirit had 100 more hp than the OP's Civic Si.

...Even more funny... according to Wikipedia, the Si wasn't until 1992, and the OP says he had a 1990 Si... Kid probably had one with an Si badge on it and didn't even have the Si engine in it.

EDIT: Nope. My mistake. He had a 4th gen Civic, even less horsepower than the 5th gen, but they did make an Si in 1990 with 108 horsepower.
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Old 07-12-2013, 08:28 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,206,547 times
Reputation: 4846
Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonMike7 View Post
I think my grandmother drove a civic in the early 90's. Really got great gas mileage going to and from bingo.


I never understood the generation that thinks 150HP FWD economy cars are performance cars at all. We have guys at work that drive various year civics that have various Ebay parts slapped on them sitting on cheap rims and slammed to the point where they can't get over the single speedbump in the parking lot. They park out in the middle of nowhere and take up 2 parking spots and "pose" them. Then guys from the corporate offices come in on a friday with their "weekend" cars which are $75-100K+ cars and park them in normal parking spots like normal people.

I'm not against someone taking pride in their car..but don't kid yourself into thinking a Honda Civic is a sports car.

They got the idea from SCCA and European road racers that race small sedans and coupes, and have for decades.







Track Testing Begins On Honda Civic WTCC | House of Japan - Japan News Technology Autos Culture Life Style

1.5-2.5 liter sedan racing has been popular worldwide since WWII.

The Civic Si, like a lot of small sport sedans, was developed specifically to excel at motorsports, just like most true sports cars and sport sedans, dating back to the '50s. Honda's first road going car in the early '60s was a traditional 2 seat sports car, the S500, developed after Honda had got into Formula 1 with a small engine race car. The Civic s and later Si was the "practical" version of their sports car philosophy while Sochiro Honda ran the company.

I'm 50 years old and know this stuff. If you're a car guy, how come you don't know about the worldwide popularity of sub 2.5 liter sport sedans and sports cars and racing going back to WWII? Amongst adults who like small, nimble sport sedans? Yes, performance cars can come in small packages, from the Si to the original GTI to the sub 2.5 liter Alfa sedans of the '60s and the BMW 2002 Ti, to racers like the BRE Datsun 510:



Most traditional sports cars have been small engined cars, from cars like the MGB and Midget to the Miata. Sports cars were never defined by 0-60 times, like drag cars were. Even the race versions of these cars barely broke 150 hp. But they weighed very little and were quite agile, which WAS the definition of a sports car or sport sedan.

Why are supposed car guys on this board so proud of being closed minded and frankly ignorant of things outside a narrow range of likes?
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Old 07-12-2013, 08:30 AM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,206,547 times
Reputation: 4846
Quote:
Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr View Post
...And your Spirit had 100 more hp than the OP's Civic Si.

...Even more funny... according to Wikipedia, the Si wasn't until 1992, and the OP says he had a 1990 Si... Kid probably had one with an Si badge on it and didn't even have the Si engine in it.

EDIT: Nope. My mistake. He had a 4th gen Civic, even less horsepower than the 5th gen, but they did make an Si in 1990 with 108 horsepower.
The Si started in '86. And while it may have had a mere 108 hp (what my '86 CRX Si autocross car had) they also only weighed <2000 lbs and had advantageous gearing.

But again, you're defining sports cars and sport sedans by hp and straight line ability, which is NOT what they are defined by.
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Old 07-12-2013, 08:35 AM
 
Location: Prosper
6,255 posts, read 16,997,507 times
Reputation: 9501
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63 View Post
The Si started in '86. And while it may have had a mere 108 hp (what my '86 CRX Si autocross car had) they also only weighed <2000 lbs and had advantageous gearing.

But again, you're defining sports cars and sport sedans by hp and straight line ability, which is NOT what they are defined by.
Wrong on both counts. The Si the OP had was on the order of 22-2300 lbs.

None of us are defining what a sports car is... the OP did that. Go back and read the first post again where he compares his car to a Ferrari, while boasting of its 27mpg. If you read any of my previous posts regarding things like this, you'd know I'm one of the last people on here to be defining cars just by straight line ability.
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Old 07-12-2013, 10:13 AM
lgt
 
469 posts, read 1,336,119 times
Reputation: 175
Some reasons I've heard about why people got rid of their "hot" car.

1. They crash it.
2. They couldn't afford it.
3. They decided it wasn't worth it.
4. They decided it was a poor financial decision.
5. Wasn't capable of handling necessary tasks.
6. Could not use it's full potential.
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Old 07-12-2013, 11:16 AM
 
364 posts, read 557,372 times
Reputation: 535
Quote:
Originally Posted by Merc63 View Post
They got the idea from SCCA and European road racers that race small sedans and coupes, and have for decades.







Track Testing Begins On Honda Civic WTCC | House of Japan - Japan News Technology Autos Culture Life Style

1.5-2.5 liter sedan racing has been popular worldwide since WWII.

The Civic Si, like a lot of small sport sedans, was developed specifically to excel at motorsports, just like most true sports cars and sport sedans, dating back to the '50s. Honda's first road going car in the early '60s was a traditional 2 seat sports car, the S500, developed after Honda had got into Formula 1 with a small engine race car. The Civic s and later Si was the "practical" version of their sports car philosophy while Sochiro Honda ran the company.

I'm 50 years old and know this stuff. If you're a car guy, how come you don't know about the worldwide popularity of sub 2.5 liter sport sedans and sports cars and racing going back to WWII? Amongst adults who like small, nimble sport sedans? Yes, performance cars can come in small packages, from the Si to the original GTI to the sub 2.5 liter Alfa sedans of the '60s and the BMW 2002 Ti, to racers like the BRE Datsun 510:



Most traditional sports cars have been small engined cars, from cars like the MGB and Midget to the Miata. Sports cars were never defined by 0-60 times, like drag cars were. Even the race versions of these cars barely broke 150 hp. But they weighed very little and were quite agile, which WAS the definition of a sports car or sport sedan.

Why are supposed car guys on this board so proud of being closed minded and frankly ignorant of things outside a narrow range of likes?
Merc, I must say THANK YOU for dropping some knowledge. I think the two of us forgot that 50 years of NASCAR and musclecars has trained most Americans to only be interested in racing for 10-14 seconds at a time, or only turning left...

How much power was the "hot rod" flathead Ford making back in the day?! Yeah, that's not a cool car! How lame!

A car that one can buy without breaking the bank, work on oneself, have a car that handles great, with respectable speed, and returns good fuel mileage? Yeah what a piece of garbage...

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