what american cars in the civic price range are worth seeing
 

I know we all like civics. However i am curious to know what other AMERICAN cars in the civic price range would be worth seeing or you would not mind buying .

I always like the grand-am and grand prix , they are about the price range of a civic , and they come with a v6 . The are ok looking on the outside and are more powerfull than civics.

However they are automatics.

Worth mentioning that you can get a grand prix supercharged for the price of a stock civic.

You can not mod the grand-ams too much though but in reality you don't really need to because its powerfull enough for the average guy

opinions??

your kind of all over the place...

new or used?
what's the goal? reliability? low cost ownership? performance?...

it really depends how your looking at it...

used , under 10 000 $$$ .
overall performance. Americans do not have a good name in the car industry as being reliable cars. However I find the grand-an and grand-pri a good deal for the price and you get a reliable car , power, and a decent looking car, but thats just my opinion.

I put the grand-am there because their price is very similar to the price of a civic (same year)

Ofcourse i will always prefer my civic but i wouldnt mind a grand-am as an alternative

The Z24. It has a strong following. Tons of aftermarket parts. If you do shop for one, look for the Z24's with the EcoTech engines 2002-2005. They still lack the refinement of the Honda Civic.

I know my GM's fairly well, I used to work at a GM dealership and my parents are big on GM's, as I used to be. (until I bought my civic).

I would advise against the grand-am's/alero's (same car). They have chronic brake problems, the rotors rot fast and warp. They are not as reliable as you may think. And there is very little to no aftermarket support for those cars. The 3.4L V6 you get in the grand-am/alero, are quite underpowered for their displacement. 175hp. Though they may be quick off the line, these engine fall flat on their face in the upper rpm range and they are not as quick as you may think either. Especially with a crapy 4 speed auto trans.

The grand-prix is a decent car, however the 3.8L V6's (both supercharged and non) have been know to spin rod bearings and blow up. I've rebuilt several of these 3.8L's and have seen the poor port castings and design inside them and they are not that great. The 3.8L supercharged engine is the best of the bunch. If you lock the air bypass valve and run a smaller SC pulley you can get some decent power out of them. Overall the grand-prix is an OK car. They actually get pretty good fuel mileage for the size of engine.

However, (I have proof of this on video, just ask and I'll youtube it up), at st.thomas dragway last summer, when my 00' SiR was bone stock with a sri and axleback exhaust, I went up against a slightly modified grand prix GTP (supercharged). He only beat me by about half a second. I ran about a 15.7 and he ran I think 15.2. The GTP is an automatic, so there were no miss-shifts. A supercharged 3.8L V6 barely beat a natrually aspirated 1.6L 4 cylinder. Think about that.

This is why I love my civic. But I'm not saying all domestics are crap.

IMO the new chevy cobalt and pontiac pursuit (now called the G5) are actually pretty good cars. My sister owns a G5 sedan automatic and they've reported excellent fuel mileage (32mpg), much better than I expected. The engines are solid and reliable. You can get the base 2.2L 4 cylinder with VVT with 148hp. Or if you want the G5 GT or cobalt SS (non-supercharged) you get a 170hp 2.4L version of the same engine, OR you can get the cobalt SS SC (supercharged) with a 2.0L version of the ecotec with 205hp (also easily modified). They do not produce the SS SC anymore however I hear they are bringing back a new boosted SS with a turbo ecotec from the solstice GXP. The prices of these car should be in the ball park of what you want to spend depending on which model/trim level/and year you are looking for.

The dodge caliber doesn't really interest me because it is too much like a small SUV and not really a 'car'. The Ford Focus is just a complete joke, both ugly and a pile of crap.

The cobalt and G5 pursuit, imo are the best alternative if you want to go domestic. They have decent aftermarket support and the ecotec engines can handle alot of abuse (I've heard up to 500hp on stock bottom end). I like the SS sedan. It comes with the natrually aspirated 170hp 2.4L four which has excellent potential to make big reliable power, and you get the convenience of 4 doors.

Hope this helps you out!



*edit* DO NOT BUY A CAVALIER....ANY CAVALIER!!! LOL Even the ones with the ecotec engine. They lose value so fast it'll be worth $1 but the time salesperson hands you the keys.

you are talking about a GM over a Honda do the math. Honda very low maintanance

Resale and reliability make the Civic a much better choice. My aunt/uncle have always been Pontiac fans. They have had several over the years and currently have a few year old GTP and a new G6. They have both had so-so reliability. The G6 drives pretty nice, but the GTP rattles like crazy and feels like it was assembled 20 years ago. I'll keep my Hondas thanks.

great read VTEC THUNDER

question, are the 3.8's still push rods? I thought those things were supposed to be solid?

The 3.8 is an 'OK' engine.

ALL Gm V6's up until recently are single, cam push-rod, OHV, 2 valve per cylinder old school engines (with a few exceptions like the 3.4L DOHC version available in the early 90's chevy lumina car). I guess their idea is save money and what ever works doesn't need changing.

I remind you the new corvette C6 Zo6 still uses a pushrod 2 valve per cylinder V8 that revs to 8000rpm, makes tonnes of power and actually gets pretty good fuel mileage.

Wow, awesome review! I like your statement about the Ford Focus. You have spoken like a true GM person. :biggrin1:

Anyway, my experience with GM has been only through my dad and through my wife's first car. My dad's old Chevy and Oldsmobile cars have been super reliable, but we are talking about cars made in the 80s with big V8s or the classic 3.8L V6.

My wife's old 91 Sunbird was IMO the worst car my family ever owned. Pretty much everything that could break on it, did, and on top of that it rusted like crazy.

I am not sure how good or reliable new GM cars are, but some of my coworkers who have Grand AMs and Aleros have complained about the breaks needing replacement at 20K or less. Other than that they were pretty happy with the cars.

American?...that's a stinker...maybe a focus?

Ya, in Europe they seem to like the new focus

In Europe, the focus is not the same piece of junk we get here.

The Europe focus is based on a volvo platform/chassis and is available with one of volvo's turbo inline 5 cylinder engines. They're a much better looking, handling and faster car than the ones we get in north america.

Just google image the European focus and you'll see what I mean. Top Gear actually did a review on the European focus and they seemed to like it. It sounds pretty cool with the 5 cylinder engine.

volvo.. thats were its at
the S60 is so sexy

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/12496...30FDCFC4C15FBB