I was accelerating up to 70mph in the fast lane of the A43 tonight in my sport Scooby, after just coming off a rundabout.
I look in my rear view mirror (I'm around 2/3rd's of a mile along the road) i see a red car come accelerating up majorly fast behind me from the roundabout. First reactions , is it another scooby? is it an Evo? is it Skyline? , it sits inches away from my back bumper so i pull over once i have passed the cars on my inside lane (still accelerating as i want to try and keep up) , and this thing shoots past me like something i've never seen in my life before - a honda civic!!!
Now i know what real fast cars are like, I have driven my sisters Wrx on many an occasion and also driven a uk turbo a few times , but this thing had me amazed. Can Honda Civics really be modified to be quick? I am possibly just biased towards Scoobs, Evo's and Skylines but it was a shock.
Ian - T555 HOS

 

V-tecs are Mighty quick if thrashed it's a real buz when they come on cam at about 5300
a few type R 's about as well extra quick maybee sub 7 to 60 of the top of my silly head

 

I had one of the previous model VTI's, and it was without doubt the most enjoyable car I have driven, other than my Scoob.

100bhp per litre, power to weight ratio of about 130 per ton and superb handling for a FWD.

From my limited experience with a Sport (courtesy cars mainly), I'd have to say the VTI's would see you well beaten.

Sorry.

Josh

 

Any car can seem quick if you are pootling along cruising and suddenly they appear out of knowhere in a hurry. I was coming onto the M4 in my Scooby and this RS Turbo came past me so quick it made me look as if I was standing still. Mind you, I was doing around 70-75MPH and he was probably doing 110+

Gethin
MY97 WRX

 

My mate has got a v-tech. With exhaust air filter and a v-tech control unit (not sure what it does)
My mate had a sapphire cossie and lets just say on many trips to the pub we never lost sight of him
It is very loud, at 6000 rpms the thing was like the devil. It screams through to around 9000 I think. It scares me stupid as it feels like you are in a go-kart!
Cracking little car. Amazng for a 1.6 normally aspirated!

Ron

 

Bit off track, but when I had my *whisper* escort cosworth (castle stage 1, c260bhp), I got *embarrased* by an Integra Type-R. These things are only 1.8 naturally aspirated, and are limp below 4/5000 rpm, but above that they fly (max power c8000rpm, red line c9000rpm).

 

They don't go too bad

I had a 1.6 VTI Civic with a claimed 158BHP. They are light and the BHP per tonne is 129 ish (UK Impreza turbo 177 - sport 99/102) My Civic handled well and was great fun to drive - The car was anonymous, no one took any notice of it (sort of thing your dad buys when he retires)
I had mine up to 7800rpm in top gear, off the speedo (19mph per 1000 revs) so 145 (ish) if the rev counter is to be believed. This was in a slight slope, not a vertical one. The thing revved to 8750 before hitting the limiter with nothing below 4250, however the 4500 rev power band is pretty useful
.

 

When I owned a CRX VTEC, I belonged to the Honda-R club. There was a chap there named Alistair who also owned an older shape CRX VTEC, although in red. He had a very very serious Turbo conversion on his car.

I once saw him on the track at Castle Coombe and saw him totally cream a 400bhp Sierra Cosworth which was being 'driven' hard.

I'd say there was well over 300bhp in that little roller-skate, which considering it weighs so little, and revs so high, gives it an awful lot of grunt.

Those CRX's are great cars for what they are...

Ross.

 

Are Civics fast? Why not ask SuzyQ, she's got one, it's *only* a 1.4 auto but it's mighty quick, especially when she's driving

 

We have just bought a Civic VTi for my girlfriend. What amazed me was the TOTALLY adjustable suspension front and rear which enabled us to set the four wheel alignment to perfection (handles like a dream). When the rev limiter cuts in at 8500 it sounds like a BTCC car and forces you to drive like a hooligan (the engine note from 6000 to 8000 is addictive and should come with a government health warning!).

Driven below 5000 it is like a normal shopping car and is still amazingly tractible. The gearbox is rifle-bolt like and I must confess to wanting to drive it lots (Me; "Shall I drive?" - Her reply: "NO!").

Unfortunately, I showed her how to drive it properly (normally she changed gear at 5000). I have now created a monster and she drives everywhere at 90-110mph! (oops) When I point this out to her, she just grins and says "You're right, the car MAKES you do it!"
LOL
Mike

 

Yes officer......the car MADE me do it....


LOL. Must try that one some time.

 

I have it on good authority that the integra R will run to circa 9000 rpm in top. Thats 160 mph ish.
Wierd stuff happens when you get Mr Honda cranked up.
Integra R undoubtedly the best chassis driven from the wrong end too!
The 24 hour race cars run 286 HP - more if theyre just sprinting.
Do you suppose someone shoed one of their lumps into a civic?

 

Wow things are different on that side of the pond.

In the USA, which is where I get most of my car info. from, the Honda Civic and Integra are undoubtedly the most popular import cars to modify. Remember that there are no Evos or WRXs avalable over there.

Several turbocharged drag Hondas are running 9 sec quarter mile times. One naturally aspirated Honda is running 10 second quarter miles and many are in the elevens.

Anyway, concenring street driven Hondas, it is very common to take the cheapest lightest Civic hatch and drop in the 1.8 litre VTEC engine from the Integra GSR or from the Type R if you can find one. These cars are called Hybrids. There is a website dedicated to all things Hybrid. The swap is very easy as the Integra and Civic have the same chassis. You can even swap-in type R suspension components and anti-roll bars.

Then you can go to work with cams, exhaust manifolds, higher compression pistons etc. etc. There is an endless list of parts available. If you want forced induction there are supercharger as well as turbo charger kits.

It just takes a guy in the U.K. to want to do something different and he will have a car that will make people do a double take without much effort. Maybe it was him that you saw.

By the way Mike, Camber is not adjustable on Civic suspensions, unless they were redesigned in the past year. This is why most of the U.S. Hondas that have been slammed to the ground run some wicked, easily visible, negative camber.

 

AutoCar Mag clocked an Integra Type R at 143mph max on a banked circuit - so add another couple of mph on top.
I doubt it could reach a genuine 160mph even with a following wind !

Ro