Honda Civic Hatch Vs. Ford Focus ZX3

kdominczak

What a swampy topic!
carlady, have mercy and kill it, please!
We want the beginning of the new war:"Civic vs. Echo" topic like that would guarantee a lot of fun.
Rex12, some people just never quit...

zx3beast

domingos34 - i applaud your enthusiasm for the zx3
and i second it.the truth always hurts.i will catch
up to you in the main zx3 forum,where one can look
forward to intelligent and considerate posters.

only1harry

Do you go to Watkins Glenn a lot? My friend has raced there twice this summer. He has a modded '98 Type-R (white of course). His name is Jeff Ritt. His car is an awesome handler. He has stiffer lower springs and a rear upper strut bar, not much. Go say hello to him if you see him. Tell him you know Harry from NY. We 're going auto-x racing at the Meadowlands together this Sunday. We may swap cars for 1 or 2 runs. I can't wait to drive his car.

This topic is too much for me..

rex12

I've never been to Watkins Glen. I know of it. I have quite a few friends who have raced ITA & ITB cars.

This topic? Too much? I like the way Focus fanatics never get down on their own when someone says something completely ignorant.

rex12

Looking at domingos34 last post it appears he/she knows nothing of intelligent and considerate posting. Not to mention knowing nothing about the car it drives. I can tell you there aren't any stock ZX3's blowing by me and my 2000 Civic isn't rusting.

Too much crack 4u.

alfaromeo

I don't think owners of a specific car (like Focisists) systematically side with other owners of the same car. We all see a lot of nonsense in these columns on both sides. I think it's okay to be infatuated with a specific car or brand, but at the end of the day, we all read through the lines of 'fanatic' posts.
If you notice it, the 'serious' columnists ignore the flames and stupid posts and move on to their constructive discussions.
If you see posts that obviously don't make any sense, just ignore 'em. I've noticed only1harry does that... and I think he knows quite a bunch about cars - although we all know he's a rice fanatic himself! ;-)

rex12

I enjoy throwing stones. It's kinda fun to poke fun at them. If it diminishes my credibility a bit oh well, it's not like anyone's opinion here REALLY matters to me. I do read all of the posts and I do appreciate intelligent arguments from both sides.

Don't ya kinda of wonder when a guy like ZX3beast says to domingos34 nice post? Doesn't a little voice in your head go "What the hell is this guy thinking?"?

I've never been one to keep my opinions to myself. Sorry (not really) if it offends some when I think they are morons and let them know it.

alfaromeo

with that logic is that you cultivate unnecessary confrontations. And that's not why most people are here. You may enjoy it, but you end up crowding people out. Have you noticed how many times you posted articles successively? And how 'empty' this column has become? (and how active the ZX3 column is?)

rex12

I would tend to say the ZX3 column is full bacuse they are all so giddy about their cars. I would say this one is empty because there are not many Civic hatch owners frequenting these boards.

Do you think people put stupid posts in here thinking no one will respond? I don't think so.

vadp

I wouldn't say that the ZX3 column is full cause not ALL of the participants are giddy about their cars.
I'm as a ZX3 owner find the forum quite usefull and full of some very interesting information.
And if you are still following that forum you would know that time to time I post some critisism in regards of ZX3 quality.
I would say that I like my ZX3 so far despite of its minor glitches.

only1harry

Actually I 've noticed a trend having been an active Town Hall member for over a year and a half. Any newly released car or model always becomes the busiest topic with several subsequent topics (#2, #3, etc.) for the first year or so. In its 2nd year of production, the hype dies down and the posts diminish to just a couple a day. I 've seen it happen with the Cougar, the Civic Si, and now with the '00 Celica (all in the sports cars forum).
May I remind those who are talking about "volume", that there are many other forums on the web that specialize in only 1 brand or manufacturer, and there are more posts in those in 1 day, than Edmunds gets in the same day in all their forums and topics put together! I remember when I first visited www.honda-acura.net they were getting over 2k posts a day and the server kept crashing! Now if you go to their web site, it shows you the total posts of every topic (there 's only 1 topic per model like Civic, Integra, Accord, etc), add them up and there 's about 90,000 posts and they 've only been up a couple of months since they last crashed (and lost all the posts)
So what I 'm trying to say is, you can't really come to valid conlusions by the Edmunds' board activities.. Because a specific topic on a car is not too busy, it doesn't mean that the other forums on the web dedicated to this car are dead too.. As a matter of fact most people that start with the Edmunds Town Hall, eventually move on to fan club forums and more specialized forums that are dedicated to their car. There 's a ton of Civic forums just on the Civic, and there is a ton of Civic Si forums! Just like I 'm sure there are Focus forums out there that are pretty busy..
Alfa: I may be a Honda-Acura fanatic but I 'm not a rice fanatic You used the wrong term. We 've been over it before what "rice" means and I 'm totally the opposite. Thanks for the compliments anyway :-)
I think I 'm pretty open minded though. I like technology and a car's motor (and suspension) more than I like how a car looks :-) Deep inside I 've always liked the old VW GTIs, VR6s and now the 1.8T which also enjoys a decent aftermarket support, but the main reason I went with Honda (Integra) is that mod for mod you always get more HP out of a Honda than you do from a VW.. (woah, another can of worms! hehe). That's off topic though and calls for discussion in another forum..

zx3beast

rex12- thats why i love you man,you have a good sense of humor.alfa,rex, + vadp.despite the differences of opinion you guys are alright in my book.i expect you to defend your car of choice
vigorously.there is also intelligent arguments here
as well.ive said that before.

pks1

this topic is out of control a little. But lets face it the Civic is a better car. When the 2001 model comes the focus will get laughed on even more. Here in ohio the focus dosnt sell that good . You will see a focus but not as much as a accord or a civic. I passed by a ford dealer and boy do their cars sit on the lot. The civic dealer? Its sometimes tough to see a civic or an accord for sale. Went I went to one of the biggest honda dealers in central ohio the selection was pretty small for the civic because of its good reputation.

zx3beast

the reason the focus gets laughed on,is because it
is such a steal.price/performance ratio is outstanding.a lot of car for little money.does
anyone have the sales figures for the civic and
focus in the state of ohio.or does one just count
how many are left on the lot?
rex12- this is an example of what you have mentioned before and i agree with you.it happens
on both sides.im sure you know what im referring to

jimmyfocuszx3

Guess what, the Civic hatch is sooooo much better than the Focus ZX3 that Honda is going to stop building them. Talk about things that make you go Hmmmmmmmm.

Jimmy

rfruth

Actually Honda isn't going to stop building the hatch their just not going to send it to the states for model year 01, seems Americans love expensive top heavy station wagons on truck chassis. I considered a ZX3 but at the time it was too new for my taste.

Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
http://freeweb.pdq.net/rfruth

1981 Raleigh for commuting, errands & fun
1997 Trek 2300 for real fun !
2000 Civic DX hatchback (stock)

tickbitty

IMHO, the civic is a great car, but was, and is, overdue for a major update and redesign. I'm sure that's why they did not want to continue producing the old one. Only mistake they made was letting it go this long, thus creating this one year gap while they get it together for the american market. I'm sure what they offer next year will be great.

On the other hand, Ford shocked everybody by coming out with THEIR great, styling little car first. It is a fantastic value, as well. But what a suprise, I mean, could any of you have envisioned a ford vs. Honda debate before the Focus? No way!

rex12

Just got back from a road trip to Chicago. My, my, my...do they love their Honda's! I generally see one newer model Civic Hatch a week in Michigan. I was in Chitown for 2 days and saw at least 10 of them. Conversely, I saw very few Focuses, maybe 4-5 no ZX3's.

It's pretty funny the way Michigan is such a different world when it comes to buying cars. I see what you guys were talking about when you were calling the ZX3 different, for you it is. I guess I just didn't realize the extent.

rex12

Cool?

COOL!

only1harry

You 're right, but there have been topics here like: Geo Metro vs. Civic and Cavalier vs. Civic (not in those exact words). I wouldn't judge a car's success by the cars people compare it too..
There 's even a topic "Grand Prix vs. BMW 5-series"!! What a Grand Prix has to do with a Bimmer is beyond me.. and a 5-series no less!
If I had to compare the Grand Prix with a foreign car it wouldn't be anything more than a Huyndai Sonata..

superf22

the focus gets laughed at? why is that? explain please.

I am tired tired tired of people arguing that the civic is better than the focus based only on the fact that there are more civics and accords out there than focuses. please WAKE UP!!! ignorant people like that is what make others walk away from this topic. the civic has been a best seller for years. there are about 2 1/2 million of the current version of the civic, and millions of the one that came out in 1992, and millions of accords. the focus on the other hand just came out 11 months ago.

I've actually owned both cars, and I do believe the civic is a better car overall (ex vs zts). however, the zx3 has a more powerful engine, more room, more standard features, and better handling than the civic hatch. still the civic hatch does have better stats in other areas that are even more important to most people, such as reliability, and mpg.

for an equally equipped car the focus is cheaper, and does provide an excellent option to those of us tired of the same (almost equally priced) old options civic, corolla, sentra, and protege (I wouldn't even remotely close consider a cavalier, I'd rather walk) the focus will become a commun car too, I know that. but it'll take a while.

gotta go drive...