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Hey everyone!

I'm pretty new to civics, I've always wanted one but have been hesitant because of the FWD. But I've finally decided to pull the trigger after just crashing my daily 240sx. I'm undecided on which generation to get though. I'm torn between an EF CRX, a EG hatch, and an EK hatch and I would like to ask for come advice. I don't want people to come here and just say that whichever generation they have is best, I want objective reasons of why to buy one over the others. Which is cheapest, best to drive, has the most aftermarket support, and is easiest to maintain?

Thanks everyone!

 
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before giving advice, need to ask why did you crash the 240... answers might differ on your answer

 
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did you understeer? did you oversteer? Were you power oversteering?

 
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I was going around a gradual to sharp corner and understeered into a tree.... maybe FWD isn't the right choice

 
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Mechanically, they're all mostly the same. The only massive difference is OBD1 vs OBD2 when you want to tune.

Having driven an EF, owned an EG and known a guy with an EK, I'd probably buy the EK.

 
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Do they drive that differently? how was your experience owning the EG? Personally I think the EG looks the best and that was what I was leaning towards, but in my area EK's are so much easier to find and much cheaper. However I'm not so sure about the cost of parts. In your experience, which gen had the cheaper parts?

 
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EG drove like a 90s economy car. It was too far gone to do anything with structurally so I ended up selling it shortly after. Parts availability and pricing is pretty much the same across all of the hatches until you get into cosmetics (body panels, etc), then EK is absolutely the way to go

 
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Is that exclusive to the EG though? They're all 90's economy cars, so I would expect them to be quite similar, handling wise. The only difference that I could see is the weight, with the CRX being just over 2,000 lbs to the EK weighing about 2500.

 
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I found they all started feeling progressively more solid as you progress with each generation. Mind you, the EK I was in wasn’t stock so that could’ve been it too.

 
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Majority I see doing that in a RWD does not understand the difference between power drifting and momentum drifting.
I went to an amateur drifting and saw one of them in terminal understeer and still pushing the throttle all the way. Front tires need the load transferred to them to grip, so in a RWD, you lift the throttle to recover front grip. Pushing the throttle will simply transfer even more load to the rear tires and rob the load from front.

FWD is the opposite

 
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OK, that's good to know. Thanks!

 
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Yeah, I was just going around the corner with too much speed. It was a gradual to sharp turn, and when I talked to one of the homeowners that lived around there, she said that I was the 6th person to crash at that turn in a few years. I wasn't trying to drift, but with a welded diff, I'm bound to lose grip somewhere. I've only been really driving cars for about a year so I'm still learning a lot. I've also only had two cars and both have been RWD, so I'll need to learn how to drive FWD. Is the understeer much worse? I've asked some of my friends with AWD cars and from what I've heard, the understeer is pretty hard to control, but that might just be them...

 
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get into your nearest SCCA and start doing autocross.
people there will give you pointers if you are nice to them.
not expensive to have about 3-6 heats to run the car hard in a safer environment and you will not feel like being too aggressive in the streets.

https://www.scca.com/pages/autocross

they also do street survival programs for younger people.

 
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Yeah I did autox once and it was a lot of fun, but sadly the closest track to me only does autox about once a month, and nowadays I'm too swamped to be able to dedicate an entire day to anything. But after crashing, it definitely makes me rethink driving hard on the streets. Thanks for the advice, and with this information, what gen civic would you recommend I buy? Would you recommend another car other than a civic?

Thanks!

 
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I’d probably buy a 6th gen civic Si. If not a civic, I’m partial to TSX’s (they handle deceptively well for how big they are) and the aftermarket for them is still awesome.

 
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That's probably what I'm going to go with. On Facebook and Craigslist, there are way more clean EKs for cheap than EGs or EFs and right now, money is pretty tight so I want something that I can just jump into that doesn't need much work. I would go with a TSX, but since I'm going to be moving to college within the next year, I want a hatch for practicality.

 
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I’ve had my ‘09 for a while and I just started my 4th year. I get what you’re saying but don’t discount them. The trunks are massive.

 
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I'll look into them more. Thanks!

 
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No worries my man. I guess I should clarify something first. If you want aftermarket, get the first gen. If you want more practicality and comfort (it’s subjective but I prefer them), then get the second gen.

 
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this is how much stuff i fit in my 2002 coupe when i drove back from Quebec...
all windows were clear, nothing sticking above windows.

 
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I've owned two 6th gen EX's and currently own a 5th gen EX with a B20/LS engine and LS manual transmission. I can't comment on a CRX because I've never owned one. Between the 5th and 6gen EX's the 5th gen is (imo) better looking both inside and out. Headliner is solid material compared to a cloth headliner in the EK. Both are reliable, and fun cars to drive. My EG has a fully depowered steering rack which I like but the EK can be depowered too.

 
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Do you prefer driving one over the other? I also prefer the way the 5th gen looks, but I would be willing to sacrifice some looks for a much cheaper starting price, and way more available parts in junkyards around me.

 
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6th gens are cheaper, easier to find and more plentiful parts in junkyards. I prefer driving a 5th gen, well mostly because it's a glorified go-kart and the 6th gens I owned were stock. I can't say anything bad about 6th gens though. My advice is to look for an EX model for the bit of extra torque and horsepower the VTEC head provides. Sunroof is nice. Cat-back exhaust is an upgrade too compared to base models.

 
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Which is easier to do swaps with? (Just in case I do decide to go with a swap in the future). I would assume that the 6th gen has an easier time with the b-series because it was designed to hold one from factory. Are they both the same, difficulty wise, for a k-series? Just in case I either can save up lots of money, or the price of k swaps go down.

 
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start with driving lessons, then suspension mods.
civics are momentum cars, how much you can keep speed at corners.
then you start thinking on engines

 
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EF, EG and EK all came with some variant of the B16 from the factory, so swapping is pretty much equal as far as the physical engine is concerned.

If you want a K, I'd probably just buy a car with a K series (sort of why I suggested the TSX). For the money it would cost to K swap (which won't be going down any time soon), you can build one hell of a B series.

But you should probably listen to the above comment first.

 
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I'm definitely not a good driver, (hence why I crashed my 240) so driving lessons will certainly do me some good. I'm just thinking for the future, if I ever do want to swap like if my engine blows and I decide "might as well swap it while I'm here".

 
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I only thought that the EK Type-R came with the b-series. Yeah, I've been looking at some really crazy TSXs and RSXs, but for a decent example, (with a manual) in my area they are pretty pricey. My budget is about 5k and most of the ones I've seen are around 7-8k. I remember seeing so many cheap ones a few years ago, but I guess the used car prices are all going crazy. I might just have to take the bus for a few months....

 
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EP3's might be attainable for a decent price. They have objectively the worst K series but it's still a K series.

Second gen manuals should be attainable at around 5 grand. That's roughly what I got mine for anyway and that was at the height of COVID

 
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yes, bad timing to get an used car... or to get into hospitals. no beds available...