I am buying a.. "GASP" Honda!

[Osiry]

Hey there I am comtemplating buying an 88 SI off a friend of mine, I am not 100% sure about it though.. My main deciding factor is it's so damn cheap! Plus my current car is 2L V6 and the gas prices are hurting my pocket.. I thought a lil SI'd be nice as a runabout.

What are the main things to watch out for with these cars?
What engine mods can be done on a limited budget?

[Lith]

Hey there I am comtemplating buying an 88 SI off a friend of mine, I am not 100% sure about it though.. My main deciding factor is it's so damn cheap! Plus my current car is 2L V6 and the gas prices are hurting my pocket.. I thought a lil SI'd be nice as a runabout.

What are the main things to watch out for with these cars?
What engine mods can be done on a limited budget?

I hate to state the obvious, but NZHondas should be the place you make this kind of post

88 Si's are quite robust in my experience (I had one a few years ago) - and quite a bit of fun. However, all pre-90 Hondas take little convincing to rust.

The motors in those are a bit of a lemon in my humble opinion - they are reliable enough, but compared to other Honda motors aren't that inspiring. Do a decent cold air intake, as the factory airbox set up on them is atrocious. That gives some nice torque (you really feel it in a car which is quite light for a 2l) and a bit more power up top - save the rest of your $$ on getting a better car, or an engine conversion if you become really attached.

From memory they weigh around 1130kg, and mine with cold air intake made 88kw @ wheels - this puts it at slightly more power than your average AE101 with much more torque, and similar weight... so should still be a bit of fun to blat around in.

[Leon]

a Honda *what* Si? Civic, CRX?

[Osiry]

Sorry my bad, it's a civic hatch not a Prelude, 1600 DOHC. I don't wanna join any other forums I like you guys on toyspeed haha, you're all so helpful!

I don't mind a bit of rust as I can fix it up meself, I just like the idea of very good fuel economy mixed with some decent performance.

[Zitchu]

I just like the idea of very good fuel economy mixed with some decent performance.

Thats why you buy something thats 4AGE powered

[Leon]

I actually prefer the Si's to the SiR's ... strange but true. The Si's have a decent power delivery that actually makes them suit clubsport competitions quite well. Where the SiR's power delivery tends to lead to "bog, bog, bog, [vtaxxxxx] wheelies". This coming from an ex CRX SiR owner.

[Ebola_One]

I just like the idea of very good fuel economy mixed with some decent performance.

Thats why you buy something thats 4AGE powered

pffft... right...
At the Masterton drags this year (I think it waslast year actually, the boxing day drags) there was a civic there, was the model before the EF's, and it had the 1600ZC engine (DOHC) and it pulled several low 15s passes out. all it had was various mcd's wrappers in the back, a huge melon launcher where the oem muffler used to be, I think he removed his air filter later in the weekend too.

I mean come on... 15.2 from a single spinner non vtec. you're doing well if you get 15.2 from your highly beloved 4age (20v or not) LSD.

[Osiry]

Plus they're like freakin lego cars, a 2 yr old can take them apart and put em together. Don't needa waste my moneh on mechanics

[Lith]

Ahh ok, yeah - Si's aren't too bad. ZC motor is quite a cool wee unit, very strong.... they are probably Honda's closest equivalent to a 4AGE - except they have a better power delivery.

As Ebola One said, mid/low 15s aren't too complicated to get out of a ZC powered FC - a couple of people have done 14s with them.

Leon, a ZC's power delivery is pretty much like a B16A without VTEC - there isn't really any difference in torque that I am aware of. The cars tend to be a little lighter though...

[flat_0ut]

Don't get a honda! buy my ae92 Levin

[Loudtoy]

I just like the idea of very good fuel economy mixed with some decent performance.

Thats why you buy something thats 4AGE powered

pffft... right...
At the Masterton drags this year (I think it waslast year actually, the boxing day drags) there was a civic there, was the model before the EF's, and it had the 1600ZC engine (DOHC) and it pulled several low 15s passes out. all it had was various mcd's wrappers in the back, a huge melon launcher where the oem muffler used to be, I think he removed his air filter later in the weekend too.

I mean come on... 15.2 from a single spinner non vtec. you're doing well if you get 15.2 from your highly beloved 4age (20v or not) LSD.

Ahh ahem

But yeah they are pretty easy to get some power out of, the missus had (actually still has) a 94 civic with the 1400 sohc twin carb motor and thats was pretty fun to drive untill she decided to ignore all the warning lights and funny noises for 20km's one rainy morning after doing night shift. Interesting that all it did was the head gasket, she actually rung me up asking how to turn it off, had the key off the battery off and all the ht leads off and was still running sort of and all it did was a head gasket so strong motors as well as cheap, bout 550k's out of a 40 litre tank if your nice to it