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The cat-back exhaust is a Magnaflow ($305 shipped), the exhaust note is deep, and sounds good. I'm having a problem with it ratting underneath the car right now, which is a common problem with our car and aftermarket exhaust. I didn't have time to stay at the shop for troubleshooting on saturday, I just started it up and backed out. I'll go back soon to have that fixed, and have a DC Stainless Header installed. (if it ever arrives)
The low-end torque still feels about the same, but there is a definite increase in top end horsepower. The car pulls (even more) strongly to redline.
If you just want something to make your car a little bit more fun, these are great mods. The car has a little more juice and sounds fantastic.
I'll update again when the header is in.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
snakerbill - ...but I only wish that to ensure that manuals continue to live on - I wish you could have an automatic Si also. I'm pretty sure that with a little work you could swap in an automatic transmission and an ECU...
I applaud Honda for not offering Auto. I think if someone wants to have the higher HP then they should also bear the responsibility for dealing with it. Driving manual requires concentration and somewhat intimate knowledge of the vehicle (shift points and power band). I don't know if there are statistics, but I would assume that people who drive stick are better drivers, as they are more in-tune with the vehicle. I was at the dealer the other day, there was this 80 year old lady, she may have been in her 70's. She drove the Si, I was just amazed.
I think the government should pass a law that cars with more than 100 HP can only have manual. That way it will keep people from getting these high power vehicles and driving like idiots.
Possible conversation at the dealership:
"So you don't like the way your 60 HP vehicle with automatic drives, go to school and learn how to drive a manual car. We will be able to offer you a much better car, as long as we know you are willing to be responsible with all that power. Any idiot can put a gear shifter into D and point and shoot"
Hey if Arnold mandates that every car sold in CA is manual, imagine how much less congestion there will be. The only exeptions will be that if you are phisically impared (missing limbs) The ones who don't want to learn how to drive stick will finally car pool, and the ones who do learn how to drive stick will be fewer and if there is a traffic jam, they won't be riding each other's bumpers. How many times have you been coasting in traffic with a speed that will allow you constant movement, and someone with an auto sneaks right in front of you. Only to mess up your calculated speed so that you don't have to shift or brake. Or how many times have you been stopped at a light on an incline and some one pulls right up behind you. I learnt that if you see someone do that, all I have to do is loosen the brakes a little and start rolling backwards toward them. They stop a foot away from me. I am good enough that I don't roll back more than a couple of inches, but you never know. I may mess up, I like to have buffer between cars. Just in case he gets rear ended, I don't want him to hit me.
"Or how many times have you been stopped at a light on an incline and some one pulls right up behind you. I learnt that if you see someone do that, all I have to do is loosen the brakes a little and start rolling backwards toward them. They stop a foot away from me."
Then again, maybe not. They may hit you. This strategy may promote a collision between your two bumpers. If the driver behind has a witness who can testify that you rolled backwards, then I'd predict the police officer will cite you, your insurance company will punish you, and your nice rear bumper will be dinged up.
I urge you to rethink this strategy. I think I understand your intention, but you're relying on the driver behind to be paying attention, and that may be unwise. <heh>
Continue giving one's fellow motorists a chance to screw up. . . and they will! :-(
Deliberately rolling backwards on an incline towards thoughtless drivers who look to be getting too close may surprise them -- they hadn't anticipated that you would now occupy the very space _they_ had planned on occupying.
Driving is not supposed to be a contact sport. 'Cept for Nascar, of course, where "Rubbin' is racin'!"
Dudka wrote:
" I am good enough that I don't roll back more than a couple of inches, but you never know."
When you learn to properly execute a handbrake start you will not roll backwards AT ALL. Not even one millimeter.
This will also reduce clutch wear dramatically, and eliminate the possibility of overheating and damaging your flywheel.
Yes, one can certainly "balance a car" on an incline by slipping the clutch "just the right amount" with the right amount of throttle application. Heck, if you're "good," you can even do it on the steepest inclines holding the car in place without ever touching the brake!
Of course, if you stand there performing this "balancing act" long enough, the interior of the car will begin to fill with smoke, but hey(!) it's a skill allright.
But I am hard pressed to imagine a more abusive practice to accelerate wear on the clutch assembly.
Yes, I know almost everyone does this -- because almost no one even knows about the handbrake start, much less how to do it. It's one of the reasons we don't buy used cars. ;-)
In the next installment, I will explain how to execute a handbrake start, if anyone is interested. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
(Ya know, that's why men don't live as long. Very stressful endeavor.)
Snakerbill, The reason I am intolerant of un-skillful drivers is because driving is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT. If one does not want to be bothered with such a simple task as shifting gears (except for amputees) how can one be expected to be a decent driver. Most of the traffic problems and accidents are due to people's lack of skill and understanding of the vehicle. If the government demanded more training and testing, majority of people would have been taking public transportation.
Choice is nice as long as people realize the reasoning behind the choices they have maid. Why does a suburban family of 3 need a gargantuan SUV? Yes, they have choice, to buy one. But to have the wife drive single kid in the back seat in an SUV is a senseless desision. Especially when the 2.5 tonn SUV is being driven by un-attentive driver, who is reading a child book to her kid. Yes, she chose the SUV to protect her self and the kid, but by the same token, she has endangered everyone else on the road. So the next person, being fearfull of the mindless mom-driver, goes out and buys a bigger SUV... See a pattern? So, yes freedom to chose is great, but chose snesibly.
Another failed example of choice is California's energy prblems. Before Davis they had one company providing electricity. Davis and the democrats thought that it will be better if the electric company had competition. Good idea, gone bad. Without government regulating the companies, California has some of the highest electric costs, and they endured months of rolling black outs. Once again, choise is a good thing, as long as you chose wisely.
I pretty much taught myself to drive a stick. We bought a RAV4 5-speed and I had 1 day to learn to drive it before I had to take it to work. So I was out at 3 AM in the rain driving up and down the streets. Now I prefer a manual but did buy an automatic this time because of the upcoming baby. If Honda only offered the Accord EX in a manual though I still would've bought the Accord.
I never questioned your personal driving technique, all I said that high power vehicles come with responsibility. Just like you have an opinion, I have one too. And in my view if one does not want to be bothered with shifting, one should not be allowed to drive high power vehicle. This is my opinion and I am sticking with it.
By going with auto you are not losing your 2 million miles of experience, but you are losing touch with the vehicle.
All those tiptronics and such were created to generate more sales. To most people a Porsche or Ferarri is a status simbol, that rarely sees road, and almost never sees what it was designed for. When was the last time you saw a BMW M3/M5, Porsche or Ferarri at your local race track? I saw a mid 80's 911 once. Most of those "high-performance" vehicles never see red line.
I saw you mentioning that you get over 40 mpg in your auto RSX. It would indicate that you drive slow, at or bellow speed limit. I just hope you are not doing it in the middle or left lane. Slow drivers in the left lane cause more acidents than they realize (by forcing people to pass them on the right!!), but are considering them selves "safe drivers." Once again, I am trying to flame you, just the fact that you were able to achieve 45 mpg would indicate low acceleration rates and low air resistance due to low speed. By the way, the new autos get better gas mileage since they are geared taller. The Si revs at 4000 RPM at 80 mph, while RSX wil probably rev at 3500 RPM (never driven one, just calculated based on the drive ratios).
These are just opinions, and we are all entitled to one ot two.
P.S. By the way an Accord EX 4 door is available with 5 spd, but not with V6. However the new TL is available with 6 spd manual.
When your father taught you to drive a manual, did he teach you how (and why) to perform a handbrake start?
Greg wrote:
"I received my drivers license in 1960 on a 1951 Buick Special, with a straight eight engine, no power steering, no power brakes and a three speed stick transmission."
Tell the youngsters here where that stick was located, Greg!
And the handbrake, too. If it was like the '57 Chevy I learned to drive on, it required some contortions to perform a handbrake start.
Greg wrote:
"Parking that vehicle required some skill."
Yep. And muscle! The frail and infirm could forget parallel parking.
Those huge steering wheels were _necessary_ for the leverage they provided, remember? Can you imagine trying to drive one of those old cars with the tiny steering wheel we have on our Si? I don't think it would be possible!
Ah, the good old days, eh? ;-)
"I thought handbrake starts were old hat for anyone who drives stick"
I know. I used to think that, too. Then I discovered that very few people employ the technique. Now, a survey of readers in our group might not reflect the general population since I suspect that as a group we're more knowledgeable than most. Perhaps there are only a handful of readers in this group who are unfamiliar with it. (Although, have you noticed that no one has taken me up on my offer to explain how to do it? ;-)
You alluded to the "hills" of San Francisco. Have you ever wondered if there are a disproportionately large number of automatics sold in that area? It would be interesting to see the statistics.
Even in our group, here, one can see that there are those drivers who know about the technique but dismiss it as something appropriate only for beginners and wusses.
I reckon I'm a wuss. How 'bout you? ;-)
-Kauai (who likes the idea of his clutch lasting over a hundred thousand miles, and who tries desperately to repress a smirk as he sees Dudka at the dealership staring in dismay at the bill for replacing his clutch. ;-)
'Twas trickier on my 1st new car, LOL. But doable. '73 Nova (3 on the tree, foot brake with hand release).
(I've burnt my share of clutches, too, though.)
"'Twas a '68 Bug, LOL. Once you got the hang of it, you could ease off the hand brake as you let the clutch out."
Yep. "Seamless," as I like to describe it. Quick and easy when you do it all the time.
The first car I ever bought was a '68 VW Beetle. Brand new, it cost me around $1800! How 'bout that?
You and I seem to have a lot of parallels, River. :-) I wonder what your next car will be?
And:
"'Twas trickier on my 1st new car, LOL. But doable. '73 Nova (3 on the tree, foot brake with hand release)."
"3 on the tree!" <laughing> I'd forgotten that phrase.
I wonder how many young readers in here are scratching their heads, wondering what these old farts are talking about? ;-)
And:
"I've burnt my share of clutches, too, though.)"
Lemme guess. . . drag racing? ;-)
There's a fellow racing a prepared '72 Nova in local autocrosses who'd probably put a smile on your face.
Next car? There may not be one, LOL. I'm in my early 50's and come from a long-lived clan, but the Si could well out-live me. If the Si were totaled tomorrow, though, I believe 'twould be an S2000 I'd be hunting.
Fun story: met a guy yesterday who is shopping Honda for the first time in 14 years - is looking at Civic SI. His last car? A '90 CRX SI which is 14 years old in November (this month), and guess how many miles? 425,000! At least, that is what he claims. Why would he lie? I wasn't buying his car or offering him a mileage prize or anything. He said the engine was the original - hadn't been opened - and he was the original owner.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Also, Honda is stating the FP package will be around $4000. Wow! That is a lot of money to add on to a Si.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)