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was the braking ability of this car. I have had the EX for 7 months
and have been greatly pleased by the stopping power and the great
control in stopping with its brakes. I have been greatly surprised and
pleased with the Firestones but probably will get Yokahamas when it
comes time to replace them. Just my 2 cents.
However, some people like the modulation of Honda's brake. A linear modulation could make a less powerful brake feels more powerful than it is. I once did the back-to-back test on a IS300 and a 328. I felt more secure with 328 (because of its modulation), even though IS300 has a shorter stopping distance. Another example is with the new G35. It's said it beats any other sedans on the road in the stopping distance department. But people complaimed how touchy the brake was. But, this modulation thing COULD be quite subjective.
Finally, it seems to be widely agreed that Honda's brake lasts a long time.
Civic Brake.
I am not sure whether Civic applied 80% of brake force on the front brake or not. But I will assume since its a Front wheel drive car and also weight distribution front is heavier than the rear, based on physics more brake force should apply to the front drive wheel.
My only minor complaint is with the suspension - it feels too bouncy jouncy on rippled pavement. I would prefer a firmer suspension. I really am satisfied with the car overall.
This should be fun checking out this board after lunch.
Focus SVT $28,164
RSX 2D 5M $27,069
Celica GT 2D 5M $25,001
Civic Si side air bags $24,718
Accord LX 4D 2.3L 5M $24,557
Elantra GLS 2L 5M $23,559
Focus LX 4D 5M $23,496
Civic EX 4D 5M side air bags $22,402
Sentra GXE 4D 5M $22,309
Civic EX 4D 5M $22,261
Civic LX 4D 5M $20,954
http://applications.edmunds.com/products/tco/TCOintroController
The wife's minivan has GY-Eagles and she has yet to have the ABS engage.
It's a no-brainer, there are numerous here who've taken the plunge and swapped out the Firesucks.
http://www.handa-accessories.com/civic/civickeyless01.pdf
other webstie selling them too:
http://www.fairhondapartsforyou.com/index.html
http://partscheap.com/index.htm
regards,
Ben
Automatics in this class of car by definition are going to rob some performance; with a torque converter automatic, you need lots of torque for the effect to go away, and these engines don't have it. So sure, there is some performance loss - how important that is to you is a matter of taste and nothing could be more personal - there is no right answer.
CVTs are probably the wave of the future for all automatics, but especially when combined with engines of less than 3 liters of displacement. The latest CVTs do not cut performance at all, and in fact can be faster and more economical than a manual trans with the same engine [see the new Audi A4 as exhibit A].
As for reliability, the days are long gone when you could generalize that a manual transmission and clutch combined were going to give a longer trouble-free life than a good automatic. In the Civic, they are pretty much equal in the sense of giving you 100k miles without making some major repair, and that tends to be true for Toyota [Corolla, Camry] as well. Because of some supplier quality problems, the V6 Accords have had some hiccups that affected a small percentage of cars, but not enough to make the generalization different.
So: performance differences are still there in this class of car, but long-term reliability differences are not. Buy what makes you feel right - in our market, automatics tend to be easier to sell at resale time, but even that is less the case with Civics than with nearly every other car on the road. Once you move into the next class [Accord/Camry], the market for manuals, especially on resales, is much smaller.
2)firephoenix asked if anything will happen to the gas in the gas tank during CONSTANT high speed driving, and my understanding is different than yours, which is it didn't matter thus my example of the big gulp.
3) If you still think the gas will flow to the back of the tank, ask any physics teacher.
It did happen to me once when I parked on a steep hill with very little gas in the tank and the car won't start. Had to put the car in neutral and roll down the hill, then the car started. Won't make that mistake again.
riley
This puzzles me. I thought the common sense is that the over-inflated tires produce more bouncy ride. Any explanations?
~alpha
Civic or Corolla, both good choices.
A lot of older folks like the mushier ride of Corollas and Camrys a bit better than Hondas.
Have her drive both of them.
You better take your 79 yrs old mom to the dealership and ask her to test drive Civic, Corolla, Accord. Don't just look at HP and Torque. That's misleading. Also car size, wt, tranny, also depends on the engine performance, at what useful RPM does it perform better? Just HP or Torque numbers don't mean anything. Granted its not good old American V8. Civic has enough power to get your mom going, also it is good on gas MPG.
Since she is 79, I don't know how tall she is, I think cars ergonomics is important. How easy for her to get in and out. To me Corolla is a little tight in driver position than Civic, 03 Corolla has improved some. Also Civic is more fun to drive than Corolla. Since you mentioned cheap is important too. If you only look at how much you pay for the car as your criteria for cheap. How about some Korean car, they give your 100K miles warranty on it. (My wife will never buy a Korean car. we had bad experiences with Korean home electronics. I am working on her to see if she is willing to buy Korean computer products. LOL) But if you look at actual cost, Civic has better resale value than Corolla, Mazda or any Korean car. Edmunds True Ownership cost estimate will give you some suggestion, too.
I went thru the whole thing before we bought 02 Civic Ex for my daughter last month. We were looking at Civic LX, but after look at the difference price vs options ABS, CD player, Sunroof . We decided to go for EX. You can't get ABS with Civic LX. ABS is an available option for Accord LX sedan.
1987 we bought our father-in-law a Toyota Corolla. He likes it, but once a while he would talk about owning a Honda Civic. Bottom line is to take your mom to the dealership and let her test drive and make a decision herself. She will be much happier. Well at least she won't (can't) complain that I wish you had bought me a "....."
Good luck,
bjk
I have a 2001 Honda Civic EX with about 14,000 miles on it. When I back up and step on the brakes, I hear a semi-loud *clunk* noise coming from both the front brakes. Then, when I go forward right after backing up and step on the brakes for the first time, I hear the same noise. No other times do I hear it though.
I thought a pin holding the pads in place was gone but dealer said no and that it was normal in Hondas. Anyone else have this happen to them because I don't think it's normal...
Thanks!!!!
If I'm not mistaken, I think the clicking or clunking is normal for disc brakes. I remember reading something about a "self-adjusting" feature that re-levels or re-aligns the brake pads every time the brakes are applied after the wheels reverse directions.
Anybody else wants to shed some light on the technical details of this feature? My memory is failing me.
Here is the IIHS crash test result for 01-02 Civic. It has the best crash test rersult.
WOOHOO!
http://www.iihs.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/00031.htm
bjk
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2002e/as117.html
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2001e/as121.htm
Both almost good as the 2002 CR-V.
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2002e/as123.html
Here's the link for full listing:
http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2002e/as105.html
I am new posting to this particular topic. I have been reading the postings with great interest, ever since I added the Civic to my list of potential alternatives for my next car. I have decided to purchase (instead of lease) my next vehicle and I am considering less expensive choices. If I decide to go to a small car, the Civic is at the top of my list.
Anyhoo, that being said, I now take more notice of Civics on the road, especially the latest version of the model (I really like this one best). I noticed one in the mall parking lot last night and something about it stood out, I think it was the rims that caught my eye. So I drove past it and it had Acura rims. I thought that was odd, but not unbelievable until I noticed that it had Acura badging as well. A closer look showed the name as "Acura EL". I was floored!! I had never heard of this vehicle, not a word of a Civic-based entry level Acura.
I do know that the TL is based on the Accord, but they do look different. They are somewhat similar but you can tell them apart, even from a distance. However, this "EL" looked identical to a Civic. The only apparent difference I could see (it was getting dark) were the rims, the badging and the nameplate.
I'm not sure why someone would rather pay more for an Acura that looks exactly like the Honda Civic, except for extra goodies not available on the Civic and the Acura ownership experience. Still, I would think that Acura would have done more to differentiate the look of the "EL" from the Civic, which is more of a compact economy car. Acura generally indicates more of a luxury experience, not economy. I also wonder what the difference in price is. I wish I had had a camera with me so I could have taken a picture of it. It almost looked like some sort of hoax.
Has anyone heard of an Acura EL? Is it new for 2003? I had to share this with the forum, I was really surprised to see this.
There is some unofficial weblink. http://www.fsa.ulaval.ca/personnel/paradisj/acura1.6el/
bjk
I appreciate the link, it's amazing to see that there is a dedicated website for a car that I never even heard of and never seen before. Or maybe I did and I assumed it was a Civic. :-)
The car I saw looked different from these pictures. It looked just like the latest version of the Civic, but with a few small tweaks that made it stand out a bit (which is how I noticed it). I think the pictures on this website reflect a body style before the current one. Is that why they refer to the engine as 1.6? Was that the engine in the previous Civic models? Right now the engine size is 1.7 IIRC. In any event, it's still cool to see this whole other world out there ...
Thanks again.
Of course we could purchase cars in Canada and drive back to US. People go to Germany and purchase Benz, BMW and bring them back to US.
But there are some issues, like odometer in Canada is in Kilometers not miles, also warranty Canada vs US, finance etc.... If you are interested, there are alot of discussion Canada vs US in Odyssey forum. Due to Odyssey is selling like a hotcake in US and people are talking about buying Canada version. Even some car dealer/broker selling Canada version Odyssey in US too.
Silvercrown:
You are very welcome. I can't seem to find Canada Acura site about new version of Acura EL.
You know people modify their Civic. How about replace Civic tires with Acura tires and replace Civic emblem with Acura Emblem. Will that do the job? LOL
Regards,
bjk