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Comments
What are you looking for straight tracking on the highway? No torque pull under heavy acceleration?
If the torque arms are un equal or if the traction caused by tire contacti is different on either front tire you will get torque pull. I get some torque pull on my FWD 6-speed 2005 V6 Honda Accord Coupe. You will not get torque pull from a RWD ( example my 2006 6-speed S2000) but you will still pull to one side or the other if a particular tire has better traction on its tire contact.
So back to your Si:
(1) The Si puts quite a bit of torque to the pavement through FWD, but it should be able to handle it. Other cars with the same amount of FWD power can!
(2) The difference in tires and the wrong front/back sounds like a "swamp land story" too me. I would go to a reputable Tires only dealer. One thing to check is toe-in. IA little toe-in will cause it to track straight forward, with little or no addiition tire wear.
(3) If the the design is such that the torque arms are different length, then it is a Honda design flaw and cannot be correct; shame on Honda. One of the best applications of this technoilogy was the Yahamha V6 220 HP Taurus SHO ( It was a great car and as such Ford quit making it as they do with all potentially good cars!; they are really in the service and repair business).
Let me explain torque arm better. Each front tire on a car "pulls" the car forward. However since the pull is not directly straight forward of the car mass it actually is two vector forces one pulling forward and one rotating. Think of a car being pulled by a tow chain in the middle of the car. All the force is forward and there is no rotating force vector. Now envison the same car as FWD with only power being applied to the left wheel. The is a force that pulls the car forward and there is also a force that rotates the car to the right because the center of mass of the car is to the right of the left wheel. The center of mass of the car is an imaginary point where the effective weight of the car is equal from all directions. The moment arm ( or torque arm )of each front wheel is the distance from the center of mass to the tire. Ideally the weight will be balanced symmetrically 50% left of center, 50% right of center, 50% rear, 50% forward. If is is symmetrically balanced left and right then the forward forces add and the left pull (right wheel) and the right pull (left wheel) balance out and there is no torque steer or pull even under heavy acceleration or tire traction differences. But do you design the car with no one in it or with a driver? If you design the weight symmetry with no one in it what happens when you put a driver in the car. It shifts the weight symmetry to the left. This will emphasize the rotation ( torque steer ) traction of the right wheel and you will get torque steer or pulling to the left. It also depends on the driver's weight. The heavier the driver, the more torque steer. Up to an assymptotic limit, because a heavier driver will reduce the power to weight ratio of hte car and actually slow it down. So it sounds like Honda designed the torque steer symmetry with no weight in the car, not with a tyupically 180 pound driver.
So the answer to reduce torque steer is to try driving with a front passenger equal to your weight. Or if you are going to drive by yourself , go on a diet! LOL!
Double Sixes :shades: ,
MidCow.
Since you know about alignment and its effects (I don't) wanted to post this.....On the EX, factory settings are 0 camber in the front. They also list -1.3 deg. of camber in the rear. (Service dept says camber is NOT adjustable)
Toe is probably adjustable but it is set with approx 2 degrees negative toe in the rear.
Car <- front view
/ \
Toein - Toeout is the degrees variation to the horizital plane.
A two degree toein on the rear is probably standard. This is like walking pigeon toed : / \ <- view from top of car looking donw to ground It helps the car not wander, but it slightly increases tire wear. It can be done on back and front normally.
Pull Straight - Keep the Torque Arms Even!
MidCow
I have a Rallye Red on order, which should be delivered within a week...Man, am I ready!
Ritlin, I haven't modified anything.
Francey, nice work. Very stand-up of you.
Thank you for all the information. I agree the tire situation for my SI was a load of crap, but I am not the most mechanically inclined individuals, although I love cars.
To me and my logic, it feels like a torque issue given the pull is noticiable upon the application of power, especially at highway speeds.
I most likely will have to take it to a tire place and then an alignment place, but the long and short of it is... that sucks! It's a brand new car and having to deal with that crap just plain sucks.
For now I am dealing and simply am having enough fun with the car that I am trying to overlook the issue. I am sure at some point the fun will wane and I will get iritaited enough to go back and fight.
Yes, I could use a diet, but for now I will over compensate... or drive one of my other cars!
Thanks again!
Riveted
Sounds like a great car enjoy it. Watch out for the high maintenace costs. I have a little over 20,000 miles on my 2005 Accord and it has cost me $24.95 so far ( delaer paid for the first 3 oil changes). That is way too much to pay for maintenance JUST KIDDING.. Vert, Very low cost of miantenace on Hondas.
Agian enjoy your car.
A good tire store can do tires and alignement for you. Find one like NTB, Firestone or Midas that has computer alignment!
Cheers,
MidCow
Driving top-down convertible S2000 to work tomorrow :shades:
Hope you had a great day for the convertable. My toy car is a 1989 BWM 325i convertable I bought off of ebay a year ago. That's my fun car, kinda like your S2000. Bought it sight unseen on Ebay... so far it has exceeded every expectation I've had for the purchase. The only major issue was the leather seats which I just had recoved about four weeks ago. The car has 89,000 miles and came up from FLA. The seat recovering cost me about $1,200. which I felt was very reasonable. Had the BWM logo embroidered on the front seats as well. The interior looks brand new. Picked up a few other costmetic items online like the Roundels for the hood and trunk along with the stock wheel roundels.
Anyhow, happy motoring. I am takign the Si on a trip this weekend which will include plenty of highway, so I will definately have a better feel for the tracking and pulling.
Later,
Riveted
I do have a little ting in my stomach because i am trading in my 97 Prelude.
I will let you guys know how it rides. If I ever get back to my computer.
Been reading the Navi book and it looks tough to work...does anyone know how hard it is to operate? :shades:
me: But remind the sales manager at any dealer, " You'd like to get $613, but it is still better to make $100 than $0."
And the smart dealers realize that the more vehicles they can move the lower the overhead per vehicle is; since most overhead in any business is fixed and has to be paid whether they sell 1 car or 20.
I still bought it after all the problems, you should see my VW Turbo ... we named it CEL(check engine light)
I am new to this website and after reading all the discussions I think I will be able to get some help..
I got my Civic coup 2006, 5 speed MT in October 2005.
since last few weeks I have been noticing some creekin noise from the rear windshield area of my car when the tires hit an uneven surface. Also, when I play the stereo on higher volume with medium bass and treble, I hear a weird vibrating noise near the rear windshield probly cos thats where the subwoofer is located and is close to the windshield.
Could somebody please suggest me what it might be cos its pretty annoying.
Sorry to hear you're having problems with the rear window. From these posts, it seems to be a rather common problem too! You should search this discussion for "rear window" to see all the comments relating to your problem. You may even want to print them out and present them to your dealer.
I am anxiously awaiting delivery of my 2006 Civic Coupe 5sp MT . Should be here within a day or 2. Hope my window is ok!
Regards,
Gliderguy52
The driving experience is great. The car is very quiet at all speeds, and tracks very straight, with no hint of the torque stear mentioned in other posts. The 5 speed stick shift is responsive. Clutch pressure is light, but smooth throughout it's travel. Its been a few years since I've owned a stick shift, but it is like swimming; once you learn, you never forget. Stearing is very precise, and sensitive. Slow, parking lot manuvering takes a little practice. It is very easy to turn the wheel TOO much in a tight turn. However on the highway this sensitivity results in immediate driver feedback and is a very welcome sensation. There is very little body roll in cornering, with no tendency to over or under stear. Braking is smooth. However I have not attempted any hard braking, and hopefully won't till after the break-in period.
With only 65 miles on the odometer, I can't comment on fuel economy, but I expect to get close to advertised mileage. I don't drive very aggressively (throttle-wise) unless I need to pass a car on a 2 lane road.
I look foward to many trouble-free miles of fun times with my new Honda.
Will the US and Canadian models be built in the same place?
Thanks for any input :confuse:
In addition, I am thinking about removing the rear spoiler and the "DOHC iVtec" writing on the sides of the car. How much does it run to have those things removed/painted over? In general, I am wondering what it will cost to make my SI coupe look like the normal honda civic coupe--in order to appear lower profile for theft. Any ideas?
Thanks
get an alarm system installed and connect a wire to the SI badges that will trip the alarm
if anyone touches it. My daughter had an alarm system installed on her car, and it was parked in a condo lot. One early morning she was awakened by the alarm shrieking and
ran out to check and whoever it was, didn't stay around long enough to do any damage
or be caught. Sure beats damaging your lovely new car. Bye. Francey
thanks for your input. Can you tell me how to remove those decals? I don't like them, for aesthetic reasons, as well.
fatinos
hair-dryer. It softens the decal, or the sticker/label adhesive. Heat, then Pry up a small edge with a finger nail, and then keep heating it til
it slowly strips off. Doesn't harm the surface . Works for me. Bye. Francey
Coupe EX: When I press the seek buttons or turn the folder knob, my radio can only display the folder/track numbers, then shows the category and then to the file or folder text. This sucks because it's easy to search by text instead of numbers.
*Is there anything wrong with my radio???
1. this car is just excellent. Get one (I paid MSRP). Nothing's wrong. Drives like a dream; if anything, I wasn't ready for its effortless speed and got my first ticket (70 in a 55) in eight years.
2. Did have a problem with an after market theft deterrence system, Silencer, which needed replacement.
Dunno, trying to be critical about the steering. Tracks fine at 65 hands off. I feel like I'm driving a go cart -- point and car's there.
2. Auburn, California, Honda have just been great from start to finish.
If anything goes down bad, I'll post about it.
Worth the 3 month wait. Buy one.
with price arrange of the car between 20k to 23k car makes limited, so consumer have to wait like 3 months without test drive and etc....
I mean, I understand car would be good and such and such, but what the heck is point of making nice car with so little numbers to it?
and cannot get hold of it unless preorder it.....
I shuffle steer, my hands starting at 9 & 3, then feeding the wheel to the other hand from the bottom. To get the wheel out of my lap, I have to adjust it to a position that obscures the speedometer. The tilt-the-seat-way-back kids are going to have that problem, too.
There, nits picked. My EX Coupe is awesome!
salesman claims this stuff will help reduce road and tire noise.
Has anyone on this discussion board done any aftermarket undercoating/rustproofing? and has it helped with reducing the noise from outside the car(minimal as it is compared with my old S2000)?
thanks for the imput-- steve w
Help please.....
Steve W. :confuse:
I live in Canada and have just ordered a 2006 honda civic SI. The problem is that I don't get it till Sept, and at that point I know the 2007 will be out and I am debating to just purchase an 07. For 06' the SI in canada wasn't offered with navigation, and I am wondering if anyone knows if canadian 07's will be offered with navigation? Anyone know of any changes for 07' other than the introduction of the SI sedan?
I have a 2005 Accord Coupe 6-speed an it shifts very smooth. Has a fairly tall 6th gear ( 30 miles per hour per 1,000 rpm) and gets around 30 mpg on the highway at 75 mph.
I have had it 21 K miles and spent less than $25 ( tone tire rotation,oil changes so far have been free) on amintenance.
I have a 2006 S2000 convertible 6-speed and it shifts even smoother , if you can believe with even a shorter throw shifter. It is gear lower, only 19 miles per 1,000 rpm in 6th and I only get about 23 mpg. But it is a fast fun car.
Have test driven TL and TSX 6-speeds and they are very nice also.
If you like manual transmissions you will not be disappointed with Honda 6-speeds.
The Si 6-speed is nice but I have not driven one. I still think the 6-speed Si sedan is in the speculation stage and has not been confirmed it will be built.
Shift-on,
MidCow
P.S.- I you get a 6-speed you will have none of the automatic transmission "lug" bug problems :P
Wrong. It's official. "A production vehicle based on the Civic Si Sedan Concept will go on sale this fall" Source:
http://world.honda.com/news/2006/4060208CivicSiSedan/