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Hey, people.

I'm a partially grey-haired soon-to-be college graduate. I'm about to start a new job. Gonna have a real income. I've owned nothing but American V-8s all my life. Currently, I drive a 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS.

I love the Impala, but the thing is almost 13 years old, pushing 170,000 miles on the odometer, and gets 11mpg city (I am a spirited driver... it could probably get 13 with a tailwind).

In my quest to buy something new, I wanted something more practical, but for a while I was afriad of sacrificing performance for good fuel economy and emissions. Until I read about the 2006 and newer Civic Si. The numbers given in Honda's Spec sheets impressed me. Then I test drove one (coupe, with about 500 pounds of people in it) and was impressed even more. Then I was not surprised when I found out one of these can reach 60mph faster than my old gangster-mobile.

So if I bought one of these, I know I won't have to sacrifice performance, it's probalby near impossible to get 11mpg unless I drive in 1st gear everywhere, and based on people I know who have owned Hondas for decads and hundreds of thousands of miles, I know it should be a pretty reliable vehicle. I hope, through these forums, I can find out what people like and don't like about these newst generation Civic Si's so I can make a more educated decision as to if I should buy one!

Thanks!

Nic

 
Rep Power: 291

Welcome to the site. I can't say much about the 8th gen SI because I don't have one but I can say your making a good choice in that you'll get the reliability and gas mileage you are looking for. As with any car don't get the first year of the generation (don't get an 06 SI).

 
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get an, 09 SI i have one it's my first time having a honda. just test drive one and see what it feels like. if you're looking for performance then this is the car that you want. here are some of my SI's pix.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...lbumId=3414107

 
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I guess my novel was a bit long-winded.

I already test drove one and love it. The only thing I don't like about driving it is the fact that I was always afraid I was going to shift to reverse instead of 6th while crusing down the highway.

I'd never driven a 6-speed before, so I'm not really used to having that problem. Most of the other 6 speeds I've seen from recent years had some other contraption to prevent accidental reverse shifts.

 
Rep Power: 291

I'm pretty sure the SI has a reverse lockout. You shouldn't be able to shift into reverse while going forward.

 
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hopefully they fixed those 3rd gear issues in the 09 model. i would head to 8thcivic.com and look around there for more info.

 
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just wanna piggy back on what lordhelmet said, they do have a reverse lockout. and for the third gear issue, i haven't had one so far, more so i don't know what the third gear issue is hehehe

 
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i went to 8thcivic.com and read some of the 09 SI owners posts and a lot of them said it's fixed some of them said third gear is grinding or popping out. i haven't had any problems with my third gear, but my car if still new. i'll post again about the third gear issue if i experience anything. i'm going to vegas next weekend, that's going to be my first long drive, let's see if something happens...