Honda Civic Si / SiR 2005 and earlier

Kirstie_H

You are, of course, welcome to stay or still drop by. Just because you bought another vehicle doesn't mean you're banished from this discussion

kirstie_h
Roving Host
Host, Future Vehicles & Smart Shopper discussions

blueiedgod

Let me know if you miss the "angry hamster" too much-I'm always open to sell! I have 40k on my '02 and the rattles (especially in the cold weather) make me wonder of the ability of the UK group to bolt a car together. Still having issues with mysterious random noises from the front end that the dealer can never track down. Gotta think it is in the steering rack, just not sure. Guess once it breaks, it will be easier to find.....but bottom line is I love to take the engine to the red line. Kinda makes it tolerable...

I gave the CR-V to my girlfriend, and working on getting an "angrier hamster": 6 spd TSX.

bobbsi

Good luck on the TSX. Don't be a stranger-drop by and visit. I enjoy your insight.

gee35coupe

I agree about the questionable long term issues. That's why I'm actively looking for my next car. Like Anony said, the front runner looks like the new IS.

john500

Hard to say. There's a lot of pseudo-science and marketing involved with air intake systems. You should see at least a 2-4 hp gain with a short-ram air intake system. I believe the air intake systems from AEM are allegedly coated with some type of zirconium material that is supposed to reduce the heat transfer from the engine compartment to the intake pipe (presumably this would make the short ram system still somewhat effective and the cold air system even more effective). I understand your concerns about the cold air intake systems. They sit real low to the ground on the current SI's and I could see killing off my engine if I went through a big puddle.

john500

1 liter = 1.056 quarts
4 quarts = 1 gallon
3.7878 liters = 1 gallon
1 mile = 1.609 km
(1 L / 1.056 quarts)(4 quarts / 1 gallon) = 3.7878 liters/gallon (1.609 km / 1 mile) (3.7878 Liters / 1 gallon) = 0.424

Multiply the mpg value by 0.424 to get units of km/liter
i.e. [(26 miles)(1.609 km/mile)] / [(1 gallon)(3.7878 L/1 gallon)] =11.04 km/L
I thought Canada used the Europe-type system of units (L per 100 km)..?

si04

So I just got a Cold air intake for my 04 Si and there are no instructions. any clue on where Iican find some?

carlisimo

vikcorp, only expect gains in power if you drive in the upper rev range a lot.

So yesterday I got a job offer (almost done with school!) and got all excited and started looking up cars and I called my insurance (AAA) and asked for some annual quotes. My record isn't perfect, so I asked about a small variety of cars to have a way of comparing.

$1800 for a new Corolla, $2200 for an '03 Focus SVT, $2300 for an new Audi A4... and $3900 for a new Civic Si. Wow!

They told me it had more to do with it being a Honda than an Si. I guess I'll still consider it if there are good deals to be had when the new Si comes out, but over a few years that cost difference would really add up. Is it just AAA, or what?

gee35coupe

Is the near the same for all my Hondas. We have an Odyssey, Accord and a Civic SI. They are all $50 apart. Whereas my LS400 is double them all combined. Insurance is a joke.

carlisimo

Well... I'm not sure I'd want an Si if its insurance will be $2k more a year than for a different car. I'll keep my eventual car for several years, and if I only kept it for five years, I might as well have gotten a car worth $10k more (suddenly I'm looking into the Audi A3, hehe).

I wouldn't mind exhorbitant insurance on a relatively hardcore car like an RSX-S or WRX, but the point of the Si was that (apart from the good backseats) it is cheap for a performance-oriented vehicle. Its low price and low "cost to own" made it easy for me to get used to its questionable styling and its widely publicized downsides (steering feel, transmission problems, frequent suspension problems if lowered, lack of "fun to drive"ness). But insurance takes away the low price.

blueiedgod

...lack of "fun to drive"ness).

I would disagree with that, I think the insurance companies would agree with me, and it is reflected in the qoutes. The new Si is not the old Si, 1999-2000 Si was one of the most stolen cars out there. The new Si is not on even on the 10 most stolen lists, either because of the immobilizer chip in the key, because of the 160 hp engine when 210 one is available, or because of perceived styling issues.

My insurance did go down $200/year on the brand new CR-V compared to the 2002 Si. But the difference is not in the thousands. Insurance is also dependant on the location. When I lived in NYC, I paid $5000/year for full coverage on 1999 Coupe EX. As soon as I moved to CT, insurance dropped to $1200/year, and in upstate NY, where I moved recently, my insurance on the Si was $800/year.
My girlfreind's 2002 Focus costs about the same to insure.

john500

My experience is that my insurance went up over $500/year when I switched to a 2003 Honda Civic SI. I agree that the new SI should not be categorized with the old SI's. However, from an insurance perspective, I'm sure all that they see is an increased theft rate and an increased accident rate (from tuners who have modified old SI's).

carlisimo

Yeah, I realize the new one isn't popular among thieves (or most other people) and its drivers are probably different from the old Si's. Oh, and I also asked for an insurance quote on a 2003 SVT Focus and it was $2300/yr (vs $3900 for the Si), so it's not that any car of that class is going to be expensive for me.

That was just one insurance company, but my location isn't something I can change (SF Bay Area, CA). Also, visiting the Si forums sorta confirms what the insurance guy told me... that the Si does get vandalized a lot, even this generation.

natenj1971

I pay $1200 a year for a 2001 Accord EX V6 Coupe (live in NJ). No tickets/no accidents.
I was ready to buy (deal was in place) a 2005 Civic Si - checked with my insurance and was told the same coverage would go up $500 - $700 more(this was with the highest deductable). Apparently the Civic is rated a 21 on some insurance scale while the Accord is rated a 16 on the same scale.
So I canceled my deal (and I'm pissed!). Wonder how long it will take to get my deposit back?

jmiller417

The Si is a little more expensive to insure. In NJ, I paid about $1700 with my old insurance company, up from about $1200 I paid on the 2002 Civic LX I had before. I have since switched to GEICO, and it did indeed save me $200, just like the ads.

I can vouch for the Si being a vandalism target. I've had to pay about $1500 to fix various dents, broken windows and, lastly, to replace my front seats last week. I haven't bothered to replace the Si badge that was stolen off the grille. I love the car, but I'd watch out if you don't have a private spot to park it.

Sylvia

Have been moved to the below discussion:

Honda Civic: Prices Paid & Buying Experiences

natenj1971

Hey just got your note (just back from vacation) I have a garage but the whole "stolen seats" is out of control! I mean I'll be using the car (drive on average 10k miles a year) and I don't want to be in a movie theatre wondering...are my seats going to be there when I get out of here? Does the Si even come with an alarm? just the immobilizer? I couldn't find an active alarm option when building the car at the honda site. I live in Bergen County but travel through out NJ - except Hudson County. The roads in Hudson County are killer.

gee35coupe

blueiedgod

Alarms are only a deterrent to amateurs and novices. An alarm has never stopped a professional. When was the last time you checked out why someone's alarm went off? If anything, you got annoyed and angry that it was loud. If you are in the movie theater and someone has tripped your alarm, you won't hear it, unless you have one of those paging alarms. Even if you get a paging alarm, are you going to be running out of the theater every time a kid with a hole in the muffler, fart can muffler, or 12 inch subs drives by and triggers the alarm?

gee35coupe

I don't know about the motion sensor though. And I doubt the people stealing seats are professional. The alarm would help in that case. Now if someone wants your whole car...That's another issue. But if they are professional and they chop it up, oh well, time for a new car. Just make sure you have the deductible and GAP insurance.

blueiedgod

If you finance through Honda, they include GAP for free.

gee35coupe

I know they do on leases. But I have three Honda contracts right now and the only ones that said anything about GAP was the lease. In fact they tried to sell me GAP on my 03 Civic Si when I took advantage of the 1.9%.

jmiller417

Yeah, I know all too well about the roads in Hudson. I'm in JC They make the roads in my native Mississippi look like the autobahn.

So some bad news... Because I was getting paranoid about the seats, I decided to trade my little Si off. I was sad to see it go, and I was planning to keep it for at least a few more years. But I got tired of worrying about whether the seats would be there.

So some good news... I traded it for a new 2004 Accord LX V6 coupe that I happened upon at Metro Honda in JC. I managed to trade for $7600 difference +TTL, etc (from a 2002 Si in decent shape with 44,784 miles), so I was pretty happy with the deal. As a bonus, it turns out my insurance went down a little over $100/year, too!

I may still check in over here from time to time to see what's up... but I'll definitely be over on the Accord coupe forum some, if any of you are over there.

carlisimo

Awww. Hope you have fun in the Accord; it sounds like a good buy.

After some searching, I found better insurance prices so I'll keep considering the Si.

AAA charges double for the Si as for most other cars I could get.

Progressive charges about the same for the Si as for any other coupe... but that cost is about 1.5x what AAA charges for normal cars. (And Progressive seems to charge a lot more for coupes, whereas AAA doesn't.)

I'd worry about an Si going out to San Francisco and other cities. At home though, my front-door neighbor parks his Evo outside so there shouldn't be a problem.

Now I just gotta get through projects and finals before I go test driving... still trying to find a car that feels lighter and more sprightly than the Si.

natenj1971

Congratulations on the Accord!

I used to live in Jersey City so I know all about those hudson county roads. They wont feel as bad in the Accord - but watch out for Ogden Ave - it was awful the last time I was on it.

aaronpan

Recently noticed my '02 Si (18000+ mi) has a weird sound coming out from the engine as I accelerate. It gets more noticeable (louder) as gas pedal depressed deeper. And when I release gas pedal noise is gone.
I've tried to accelerate to 3500rpm without any gear engaged in a quiet enviroment, and did not hear the noise. Noise seems to appear only while acceleration with gear engaged and only can be heard from inside of the car (heard nothing strange from outside). Any ideas?
(Once I tried to drive the car out of snow by driving it backward and hit 5000+ rpm in "Reverse". Could this be the cause of that noise? Or could it be something loosen or broken?)
Please help! thanks~!

204meca

As a long time Honda fan & the owner of several Si models (92 Civid, 94 & 97 Del Sols) I had seriously considered the current Si model. While I loved the seats and the dash mounted 5spd I decided against it on the basis of poor gas mileage, reliablity concerns, & it just seemed too pricey for what it offered. But I still enjoy reading about it.

Over the past 6 months , I can't help but notice how many of you late model Si owners are bailing. At the same time, I am noticing that there seem to be used Si on every other car lot - counted 4 in the local used car mag. Since this was a relatively low production car, where are all these used ones coming from and why. Has the latest Si hit a Honda low on reliablity?

Also, I notice that the aking price seems to be running $14 to $16K. Seems that I have read on this forum that many bought new in that price range. Could they possibly be getting that much in the used market for a car that seems to be a s l o w mover?

Is it in fact a :lemon:?

nippononly

they have sold new that cheap in a couple of years. The '02s were still sitting around well into '03, and as a result some people were getting $15-16K deals back then, but since then they have been going for the usual Honda prices.

Was looking at the '05 at a dealer lot the other day. Seems as if the mileage rating has actually DOWN a point this year?

Given the similarities between RSX and SI, and the closeness in price, I chose to go with the RSX instead. Recently checked out out KBB retail on it just to see, and it came up at $18K, for a car that only listed at about $21. Not bad after more than a year and just shy of 20K miles. Of course, the advantage to the SI is it is unique - you do not see them anywhere. By contrast, the RSX is around in numbers - I was at the mall the other day and parked in a row where there were three other RSXs. Mine made four, in a row of maybe 15 cars. Sheesh.

I love the bigger rims they put on the SI for last year. I think it looks great. But they still can't seem to sell very many. Ford bailed on the Focus SVT with way more sales than this.

gee35coupe

That was the problem. Honda flooded the market with 15,000 of them. Ford bailed on the SVT when they couldn't move half that without incentives.
http://www.mustangworks.com/articles/features/2002SVTFocus/

nippononly

was only selling at about 5K per year, I believe. It wasn't even making the 7500.

Now as for SI, I know Honda's sales target was 15K per year. But did they really sell anywhere near that many? It is hard to get numbers only for the SI, as opposed to the whole Civic line, but I bet they didn't do 15K in any year they have sold it since '02. I would be surprised if it broke 10K in any of those model years.

gee35coupe

john500

I haven't had any problems with the 03 SI that I own. Somebody put a big gouge into my car while it was parked, so I'll be holding onto my car until it dies (I would take a beating on the trade-in now from the scrape - I dropped full insurance coverage on the car after 6 months since I paid cash for it). I'll be the first to let you know of any lemon issues, given that this is my first foreign vehicle and I bought a Honda for reported reliability. So far, however, the car has been excellent. The retail prices that I have seen listed for an 03 SI were in the 11-13 K range, so the 14-16 K seems high unless the cars are 04 models.

gee35coupe

Lowered and exhaust(cheap ebay) and not a problem.

taykinitezy

I've had my '04 Si for over a year now, and have posted my complaints a time or two since then. If in fact there are a lot of late model Si's out there it may be from guy's like me who went with the Si because we had been buying Honda for a few years for the family (civic sedan,CRV etc) and when the chance came around to go for something "sporty"just for me, but yet with some added practicality the Si seemed like a good choice. I was looking for " small, 2 door, hatch and sporty" My biggest hurdle has been trying to get used to the stiff, sometimes harsh ride of the Si. Maybe guys my age (late 40's) are realizing that the Si isn't as quiet and comfortable as they were expecting. I test drove 3 times and didn't notice it much at the time. Any other complaints have had to do with minor creaks and squeeks that I wasn't expecting since our "cheaper" VP sedan didn't have any. I had the struts replaced for creaking under warranty, no questions asked, other interior squeeks seem to come and go. ( no major problems) That's been my dilemma, one day I feel like the car is stiff and squeeky, the next day it's quiet and smooth. I have thought that maybe i should dump it for an accord 2 door and be more comfortable. My overall impression is that my Si is definately not a lemon. No matter how much I may get irritated at certain aspects of the car, that smooth engine and shifter keep haunting me...I can't afford to dump it so I gotta learn to live with it. I do wish I could soften the ride a little though. :shades:

gee35coupe

Try a set of 45 series tires and eibach springs. The Progress rear anti roll bar makes it corner like it's on rails though.

muffin_man

Not sure how familiar you are with the, "coffin creak," but you are lucky that your Si behaves normally when lowered. Mine made some unbeleivable sounds until I put my stock springs back on (6 months). Something to do with the tie-rod ends.

I love my Si, but I wouldn't recommend anyone lowering it without doing some research first.

gee35coupe

It comes and goes. I haven't heard it in while though. They say to replace the rack is a $1500 job. I'd lose more than that by dumping it. I'm at 33K now. If it gets worse I'll either fix it or raise it and sell it. I still have the stock parts and the tires are like new.

carlisimo

Slightly cheaper to get a suspension that doesn't change the geometry - Honda HFP or Mugen SS.

gee35coupe

The HFP package uses eibach springs with the same drop that I have. 1.5". My suspension aligns to factory spec.

carlisimo

I thought there was something more to it, not having to do with the springs but the arms... of some type. I've barely slept this week so I don't remember any details. Never mind.

I have a question about the shifter.

When shifting from 2nd to 3rd I hold the shifter palm-out. Is the shifter in the Si too close to do that comfortably? Do any of you do some of your shifts palm-out?

muffin_man

gee35 - I think the rack is only a temporary fix, but I don't really have a definitive answer. I think you have to change the tie rod ends, but I don't know that anybody has done it yet. The new ones are made by J's Racing.

carlisimo - I don't know about HFP, but people do get the sound with the Mugen SS.

gee35coupe

People have gotten the creak with stock suspensions. Honda just won't fix em if you have springs though. Well they have for some people but most said they told em to buzz off it they have springs.

I heard the upgraded 04 rack cures the sound though.

carlisimo

Hate to repeat a question, but I'm worried that it'll get relegated to the second page where no one will see it. I promise it's a quick one.

When shifting to 3rd or 5th, do you hold the shifter palm-out? Or is it too high up to comfortably twist your arm like that?

muffin_man

I don't think you could comfortably shift palm-out on this shifter, I'll have to give it a try.

blueiedgod

Hate to repeat a question, but I'm worried that it'll get relegated to the second page where no one will see it. I promise it's a quick one.

When shifting to 3rd or 5th, do you hold the shifter palm-out? Or is it too high up to comfortably twist your arm like that?

Just stop by the dealer, get into an Si and see if you can do that in a static model.

chloebigdog

This weekend I bought a used '03 Civic Si @20k miles with an aftermarket muffler from Comptech Sport that the previous owner had installed. The muffler indeed puts out a considerable bit of noise that is driving my wife nuts. Any suggestions on where to find a quieter muffler (even stock is fine) and/or where to offload the comptech. Its a great muffler, just not working for us.

blueiedgod

This weekend I bought a used '03 Civic Si 20k miles with an aftermarket muffler from Comptech Sport that the previous owner had installed. The muffler indeed puts out a considerable bit of noise that is driving my wife nuts. Any suggestions on where to find a quieter muffler (even stock is fine) and/or where to offload the comptech. Its a great muffler, just not working for us.

Ask the previous owner if he has the stock one. Then sell the Comptech on Ebay, or just trade the previous owner for the stock one.

5port

When I had my 94 Si I went to Midas and told them I just want the stock muffler...no garbage cans. The owner and I had a chuckle about that then he installed the Midas version of the stock muffler. He even transferred the chrome tip from stock muffler to the midas muffler (welded). Try Midas.

drewzle

I am also new to this forum and own a 2003 Honda Civic Si. My Car (which I bought new in 02/2004 as a left over) currently has 33k. I have never taken it into honda for service. The only reason I think you may want to do this is to keep it pre-owened certified. I don't feel that they would do any special diagnostics or voodoo magic to keep it running better than it would otherwise with routine maintenance. Perhaps plugging into the computer will give the mechanic special information or something, I'm not sure. I'm not a mechanic, I'm an accountant. But what I will say is that the price of these services is astronomical for the benifit they provide. And once I pay it off or I fully amortize my warrenty I'm going to start moding it. (Little things, no turbo, no insane body kit, you get the idea.) I have heard claims from honda that you don't need to bring it in till 10k miles. That's insane. (Or at least that was the impression of the sales person selling the car.) It is good that you change the oil every 3k. It keeps your fuel economy up (which pays for itself by the way), keeps your engine in good condition and protects the enviroment. I will say this however, promptly after 30k, the "MAINT REQU'D" light keeps flashing after I start the car. It goes away after 8 or 10 flashes. I suspect the computer in the car "knows" it hasn't been back to Honda. This will ultimatetly make me take it to the dealer. And soon. Although the car runs as good as the first day I bought it, it is FOREMOST ON MY MIND AT ALL TIMES!!!! If someone else with more expertize gives you an a copesetic answer to your question, please let me know. Good Luck to you. -Drewzle

gee35coupe

can be reset. It's okay not to take your car to the dealer. But you should at least read the owners manual. There are directions in there to reset the maint light.