Sinman

I am planning to get a Civic (probably a 2004 sedan) and I want to know which model I should get?

The LX has a 1.7L engine with 115hp and the EX and Si have the same sized engine but it's a VTEC and produces 127 hp. Which one should I get? Which one will probably be more reliable?

I did some research and found that the more powerful VTEC engine uses less fuel. Is that true? I found that it gets 1 MPG more in both city and highway driving. That kind of doesn't make sense.

I would also like to point out that I'm getting an auto transmission and I would like to know how many RPMs the engine does in top gear at 60 mph, 70 mph, and 80 mph.

Is the VTEC engine really more fuel efficient? Maybe it's because it revs less?

I had a test drive in a 2004 Corolla the other day and the Civic's low power numbers are beginning to worry me. The Civic LX has 15 less hp and lb-ft of torque. The Corolla had adequate acceleration because it has a nice amount of torque, but the Civic's low numbers (especially torque) are kind of worrying me.

Should I really worry about the Civic's low numbers?

I would like a car that has good acceleration for passing on highways, that won't require revving the engine hard. The Corolla's engine does that fine, but how about the Civics?

Also, I would like to point out that I'm not planning to tune it in any way, so I would appreciate some information from people with stock Civics.

I really like how it looks and it'll be a shame if it can't perform as well as the Corolla.

Please help me out here.

Thanks.

Scorvus

I drove a corolla before, it's a nice car, real smooth and does it's job well. I also test drove a civic ex 5 speed, and then the civic si 6 speed. The civic isn't as smooth and torquey, but it cruises good at the top end, and is much more maneuverable in my opinion. I went with the civic si, they only come in manual trans, but I hate honda automatics.

In 6th gear, 60 would be around 2.5 RPM and 80 mph @ 3.5 RPM or less.

DieMaster

iTrader: (5)

i got a 02 coupe manual EX w/ vtec and i LOVE it! i get 35-38 MPG city easily.

in my 5th gear 60 is almost exatly 3000, 70 is around 3400 and 80 is around 3700. IDK bout the autos. but i do know that manual EX's 1st gear is toaller and 5th is shorter than the LX so any + on the vtec is equled out. i wana get a LX tranny simply for the fact that the 5th gear is taller and would help on freeway MPG.

also please be awre that the auto tranys are not the best. they have a dendancy to slip and or downright fail. stay away form the older ones 01, 02. but 04 should be ok. but again IDK that much on the autos.

Sinman

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm also not liking those high RPM numbers at relatively low speeds. At 60 MPH the VTEC engine does 3000 RPM. That's a bit too high for me. If I were going on a long trip, wouldn't that become wearisome? Maybe with the automatic transmission the RPMs will be lower.

It seems like the VTEC engine is a more "rev-happy" engine because I read that the regular 1.7 with 115 hp does only 2600 RPM at 60 MPH.

I still find it very confusing how the VTEC uses less fuel, while revving more, than the less powerful engine (at smaller RPMs).

I currently drive a '96 Plymouth Grand Voyager 3.3 V6 and it does only 2000 RPM at 60 MPH and 2500 RPM at 75 MPH.

I would like a 4-cylinder car to put out those kinds of numbers. But that's unlikely to be in the compact segment. Midsize Accords and Camrys with 4-cylinders probably have pretty low RPMs at higher speeds.

I was considering midsizers before, but I decided I wanted a compact for fuel efficiency. If the regular 115 hp Civic revs lower then the VTEC, then it'll probably be my final choice.

Jza

well VTEC on these cars was engineered to be an over all fuel saving feature.

I drive an '03 EX (Canadian SI), really great car.

Sinman

Oh yeah? The Canadian Si is the same as the US EX? That means that the Si is the only model with ABS, right?

I'm still baffled by how a more powerful engine that revs more uses less fuel.

DT01

Yup Ex is Si in canada. Also, you might want to consider the LX-G sedan also comes with ABS and sunroof. The Si just adds the 12 extra hp, nicer alloys, leather shift **** and steering wheel and carbon fiber trim inside. I find the base engine is actually smoother then the vtec engine for sure, the vtec engine just revs faster while being identical in performance. If you search, the base engine is more economical, but very marginal difference.
Corolla is definitely a nice smooth car, but based on experiance the civic is more fun to drive.
Hope this helps.

Sinman

I saw a Civic Si sedan (04-05) today and the driver was going nuts. He was revving the engine at stop lights and doing full throttle starts! That is another thing that's kinda putting me off the Si: abuse. There's probably a lot less chance that a normal LX was abused than a Si. Right?

Jza

Ya I drive the **** out of my SI (EX). Depends who you buy the car off of, I've seen 60 year old women coasting down the road in their SI's, meanwhile I'm revving the **** out of mine in the other lane. Gotta' stop doing that, gas bill is catching up to me!

It's a great car. You will love the leather steering wheel, it grips like no other. The faux carbon fiber is cool to.

Sinman

I am now considering the new generation Civic (2006-) because I don't think I can live with the 2004's weak engine. The newer one has much more power, so it won't be an issue. Also, with it being more powerful and heavier it still gets better gas mileage. The styling is better, but I heard the trunk is smaller than the previous model (is that true?). It also comes with more features, is better to drive, and is quieter than the 2004.

What I don't like about the new Civic is the digital speedometer.

So, should I pay more and get the newer Civic?

Dticalman81

Yeah. The digital speedometer throws me off too. That's why I wouldn't get the newer civics, sinful playa.

Osprey

My '02 EX sedan w/ 5spd gets around 31 mpg in city-like driving in Northern Virginia. At highway speeds around 72 mph, the tach reads around 3500 rpm...and gets another 4-5 mpg.

... sprey