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I have a choice of either :

EM1 for $10k with 118k miles. Mint condition, bone stock, beautiful car. Always been my favorite civic.

or

EP3 for $10k with 90k miles. Also appears to be in good condition. stock.

haven't always been a fan of the hatchback, nor am i a fan of the gargantuanly long shifter. however, the ep3 has a k20a3 and the em1 has a b16a2. the b series is decent and good for the car, but the k20.. oh jeeze. well you know.

so i'd like your thoughts on which i should get.

I posted this in the 7th gen forum as i'm biased towards the em1, so i figured i would post here to get some 7th gen input.



i just like that smiley

 
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Get the EM1, drop a K20 into it

 
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i would kill for that oppurtunity. however, they would definitely not loan me the money for that

that would be, though, my ultimate goal with the em1. keep it nice for a while til i can get the bills to swap it.

 
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if you care about looks, the em. if power, the ep. oops i just read the post. b16a2+supercharger ftw!

 
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yet another thought of mine. an affordable one lol. 10k is steep for an em1 though as much as i love them. idk if i'd be able to get a loan for that, ya kno? i might HAVE to take the ep3

 
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I'm with gearbox . I love my em1. I haven't done anything to it, but the car is just great fun to drive. I drove an ep3 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The shifter placement, IMO is great. Then again, I'm apparently quirky and like odd things, so who knows. The price and mileage seem a little better though.

 
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In all practicality, if you're going to spend the same amount of money go for the newer car with less mileage. It will last you that much longer and it also means that its had that much more time for Honda to fix any problems it may have had with the EM1.

That being said both cars are great, though I personally would go for the Ep3 because I like the more "modern" look.

EDIT: However, if you like the Em1 and only want the EP3 for the K20, go with what your gut tells you. Take both cars for a good test drive and see which one makes you happier. Before dropping that much money on a car you need to be sure that you enjoy it and can see yourself driving it.

 
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EP3 hands down.

Superficially you'll feel like your in a much more new car riding in the EP3, the EM1 has a pretty dated interior with the controls, gauge cluster seats and so on. The EP3 interior is much cleaner and more modern feeling.

Performance wise the b16a2 is good, but the k20a3 is a higher displacement more technically advanced engine with way more potential long term and interesting new options coming out every day.

The only disadvantaged I see in the Ep3 is that you can't tune on Neptune, you need to use Hondata.

 
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Go Ep3, mmm.... k20 engine.

 
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thanks for the input y'all. i'm going with the ep3. talked to the bank today and hopefully saturday am putting a down payment on the loan (depending on how good of condition the car is in) and hopefully taking it home!

 
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to me the older civics drive and feel like "made in japan" and the newer 01+ civics feel like "made in china" lol just my observation. that being said, my 02 is still pretty nice. just missing that old feeling of reliability.

you know you can supercharge the k20 too right? lol

 
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the absence of timing belt is good, but the tensioner still needs to be serviced on the K20...
good choice - depending on the condition the EM1 10k might have been too much (unless it was in real good condition, that is.)

 
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if you want better performance from the ep3, get hondata.com ecu reflash. it helps a ton. even better if you have intake and exhaust. you have to use premium fuel tho afterwards cause they change a ton of stuff. its well worth the extra hp.

 
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it was in IMMACULATE condition.. lol. but the bank said it wasn't worth it.

 
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wow. that's actually significantly better. i'll have to look into that. I've never tuned any cars ive had. only serviced them. but i will certainly look into this.. as the ep3 is certainly going to get my fingers twitching.

http://hondata.com/reflash.html

shows only the 02-04.. the k20a3 is in 01-05 civic si's.. why would this say otherwise? are they for some reason not tunable?

also, says it shouldn't be used with F/I.. if i was planning on supercharging it, would this not be good? or should it only not be used with the use of nitrous.

 
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I guess i did not link this one before.
if it was anything close to this one, i would pay the tag
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...nal-miles.html

hunh, i think this one had more pics
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...guy-99-si.html

 
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same price. same looks. but 80k miles more

 
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Ep!!!

 
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The 02-05 Civic Si/Sir is the Ep3 and has a k20a3.
The 01-05 Civic Si/Ex is the Em2 or Es2 and has a D17a2.

I'm not sure why the 2005 Ep3 would not be supported, there may have been some slight change in the ECU. The reflash is just a basic re-tune, I would never waste my money on it. You want to get k-pro, that's a fully tune able stand alone ECU that will support anything you want to throw at it.