Rep Power: 0

hey guys. i wanna ask about how the 5 speed could be better than the auto. man all i know is the auto seems to have no power... at all!!! it only good with competing with 6 gen and lower autos. i test drove a pristine brand new 03 civic coupe 5 speed and the only thing i dont like is the long shift throws. but i know you have better control of the engine. can you tell me which is easier to maintain? even though my dad and mom disagree with me getting a stick, cuz they are lazy, and think its too much maintainance, i still am gonna do it anyway. have any of you guys had problems at all, cuz theres a really nice white one sitting out the dealership for 19g's with just 3 miles. and also if i complete the k20 swap, how will the car handle afterwards? will it understeer or oversteer? is the k20a2 heavier than the d17a2? thanks guys need to know if i should stick with my car or get the other one soon before my dad finds out.

 
Rep Power: 0

19k for a civic lol lol lol lol lol lol i hope to god you dont spend more than 16 on your civic i barely spent over 14 . i remember this dealer had a civic ex for 21 lol

 
Rep Power: 0

Maintainence wise the auto is more relaiable. But your looking at waaaaay into the future (unless your a crappy driver...then all normal rules go right out the window). The stick on my explorer is 9 years old..gets abused by slipping it going up steep hills..and finally went bad and needed replacing year ago...thats 8 years of abuse.

As far as shift throws go..They do make a short shifter for the 7th gen. It installs easily and shorten the thro substantially. Although I didn't think my throw was all that long to begin with.

Yes the k20 is heaver than the d17.

The torque steer would be more noticable after the engine upgrade. As far as over steer or understeer...thats more of a suspension issue.

I have a stick..I prefer it..but then I prefer to tell then engine when to shift. I had an incident with a z28 a few years back when the auto decided it needed to shift mid corner. But if you deal with traffik a lot..then a stick can get tiresome pretty quick.

Keep in mind that the civic just isn't a "fast" car. It wasn't intended to be. If you like your auto then stick with it. No pun intended :-)

And I agree with sadboy..19 grand is WAAAY to much for a civic. Check NADA.com for the invoice price. Invoice for the car is $15,364 with a MSRP of at the highest $17,270. What this means is dont pay more than $17,000. I got mine for $15,500 out the door.

Good Luck

 
Rep Power: 394

Please dont pay 19k for a Civic. That is some crazy dealer mark-up.

 
Rep Power: 0

please don't pay that much for a civic (not even an si is worth 19k). as far as the engine weight, yes the k20 is heavier, but this can be solved by getting stiffer springs.

 
Rep Power: 0

stock for stock, a stick will destroy an auto before it even finishes winding 1st gear.
mod for mod its the stick will win

 
Rep Power: 338

well actually it has more to do with the open differential, if you were to add on the limited slip differential, the torque steer wouldnt be as evident

you have to remember, our stock trannies wont fit on the k20's... so you would have to change the transmission as well and since most k20s have an LSD, torque steer is pretty much gone

 
Rep Power: 412

Chrissy, don't trade your car for a stick. Just do the K20 swap like you had planned. This way you will get your manual tranny. It's not worth it to trade your auto for a manual and then swap a k20 into the manual.

 
Rep Power: 0

i agree, if your serious about doing the k20 swap then do not trade in for a stick. you'll have to swap the tranny with the k20 anyways then you can get stick.

 
Rep Power: 0

I agree! w/ FlyRiceRacer02 as well. If u'r doing a swap, stay w/ what you have now...

 
Rep Power: 0

like someone said before, i have to give myself some planning time so i know what to get, and where to get. and for the most part. i have to trust the seller, which i will be having a difficult time doing because of almost getting scammed that one time. but this d17 will definately go, hopefully sold and i will be truly happy with a 6 speed k20. for now, thats my dream.

 
Rep Power: 424

I don't know about this... if you want long, go drive a Sentra or Neon... those are long throws... maybe you drove an S2000 right before the Civic... then you might consider it to be a long throw, but it really isn't.

Anyways... I wouldn't trade for a new one, especially if you're just going to swap it anyway. Just stick with the one you've got, pull the engine and drop the new one in. IF you're really set on switching for a stick, then do everything at once, and trade the auto Civic for an RSX Type S.

 
Rep Power: 364

If you get the K20, you'll get a manual. You'll only lose money by buying a new car.

 
Rep Power: 0

i like the 7th gen civic styling better than the rsx imho and also the fact the body is like 240 lbs lighter. so i guess i will fall for a swap. maybe in like a couple of months. all i need is planning and finding a trustworthy seller of the k20-s. i have a feeling that i will be dealing with a junkyard cuz last time i checked there was a left side wrecked rsx-s. about the left side impact, i dont know how reliable the components would be after that.

 
Rep Power: 338

well you forget she has a manual, and its pretty expensive to switch an auto to a manual... might as well drop in an automatic...

 
Rep Power: 0

so does that mean i will have to spend another 4k to get my automatic 4 speed schitt into a manual 6 speed with the k20? thats what the junk yard guy said. he told me an auto 87 crx was that much to turn into a 5 speed with a b18

 
Rep Power: 0

get an RSX-S then do basic bolt ons or if you want FI

 
Rep Power: 0

its funny how they have a brand new blue one with 1 mile here for 24999.99. its the cheapest but one thats fu cking pricey as hell, and two, it was here for a long time and theres no shade around it. those dopes. and i dont like the 2800 lb curb weight. well i think they weigh something around there i'll have to refresh my memory

 
Rep Power: 310

I disagree for reliability. A stick has less moving parts usually means less to go wrong.

 
Rep Power: 0

Cars w/ 5spds:

Cost Less
Get better mpg
Are usually faster to 60 and 1/4 mile

Maintenance wise, I have had 2 5spd accords hit 150k on the oe clutch..It's all in the driver. Manuals do not require more maintenance than automatics.

Plus, if you do the swap, doesn't it require the transmission out of the rsx anyway? May as well get the engine with rsx-s 6-speed if you want a manual.

 
Rep Power: 364

I disagree. Those tests that they tell you are misleading. Most people who are willing to throw down the money for a swap do not drive their cars like the people doing those tests.

 
Rep Power: 0

The engine transmission layout of the rsx is completely opposite from our civic's. In our cars the accessorries are mounted on the right (as you look from the front with the hood open) and the transmission on the left. The rsx is completely opposite. Accessories on the left, tranny on the right. If you swap the engines you will need the rsx tranny, the cv axles will have to be changed and who knows what will have to be made to mount the k20 in a civic. Either way it's a major undertaking. I wouldn't recommend doing all that to a new car. Wait till ur warranty is up on ur auto, and if ur gonna swap engines i'm sure cutting a hole in ur car for a clutch won't be that bad considering all the work the swap will take.

 
Rep Power: 0

If you get 2 models of the same car with the trans being on the only variable (1 manual and 1 auto) the manual will almost always get more miles to the gallon when driven in the same manner.

Now, if you are comparing a grandma driving an auto to a young teenager driving a 5spd civic like a race car, than yea, the auto will most likely do better...This is obvious and redundant.

 
Rep Power: 367

er. stick with what you got and save the dough.

there are legit ebay junkyard sellers.. I believe htown got his K20A2 from ebay from a large national junkyard dealer.

just keep searching around.

but yeah, stick with what u got. dont be in a hurry to buy a new car so u can drop an engine in it.. its just not practical.

unless you have tons of cash to burn and dont really care.

there may be extra cost to swap later since you have an auto right now.. but it wouldn't be that much more than if you would have a manual.

 
Rep Power: 338

actually u can get the rsx type-s in a 5spd sport shift auto... so that could also be an option

 
Rep Power: 0

well go to another dealer drive a little save a lot ....less things can go wrong with a new car than a car with a diff engine..besides the swap wont exactly be cheap.

 
Rep Power: 0

Sorry to burst your bubble, standards get better gas milage. Unless they are poorly designed or the driver is always in the high rpm range.

 
Rep Power: 0

19k for a Civic? Holy mother of God. You can get a brand spanking new EX for a little over 15k on www.carsdirect.com. Just print the page from that and tell your Honda dealer to beat that. Not only that, my dealer has a special going on, 60 months at 1.9% APR. Actually, for 19,000 I'll let you buy my Corvette.

If you don't like the long throws of the shifter, get the short shifter from tornactive for around $100.

If I can get out of this Vette, I am hoping to get either the 2003 EX or the Hyundai Tiburon. Still debating...

 
Rep Power: 0

Get a Mazda 6s

3L V-6
220HP
Looks water tight!!!


and

 
Rep Power: 0

The auto does a better job at engaging and disengaging the plates. This means less wear and a longer life. There really isnt that many more moving parts in the auto. I'm not sure if the auto on a civic is hydraulic or electronic. But usually (and I stress usually..cause this isn't an absolute) an auto will last longer and be more reliable than a stick. That being said: I prefer sticks.. and wont get another automatic unless I get a 4000lbs luxury car. BTW..you can disagree..but that doesnt make you right.