Civic Underpowered.
 

Hi all, first off I'd like to say I'm new to the forums and to the Honda world.

I just recently bought a 1998 Civic Si, and I find it to be a little underpowered. Now I'm not too sure if it's because there is something wrong with it or its just the way it is? Its 5 spd.

Before the civic I used to drive a 1989 Nissan 240sx, now i know that has a bigger engine than the civic which makes it a little faster.

Could it be just that the civic "feels" underpowered in comparison to the 240? With the 240 I'd push it and it will respond just the way it should. But what happens with the civic is that I'd push it and the car does accelerate but at a slower rate.

Whats going on?

they are obviously going to drive differently for obvious reasons..

is your engine 100% stock? Sometimes with aftermarket intakes and headers you lose low-end but get better top-end power.

Needless to say.. its a econo. box, it's not meant to be fast. Maybe a fresh tune-up would free up some lost power


and welcome to tcc!!

let me welcome you first to TCC...

yeah our cars are always underpower unless you go turbo...nothing is wrong with your civic man.

yes Power is everything...

remember the SI single came VTEC only pumps out a whopping 92whp hehe - somewhere in that region! and not to mention no torque!

Seafoam and a tune up then make your comparison

you should've saved up a little more $$ and got a 99 SiR

BTW: Welcome

the 240 uses a truck engine and has nice low end torque.

the civic is a torqueless wonder!

welcome to tcc
now that you've experienced the slowness of the car i gotta say hahahaha hahahahaha suckerrrrrrr

i hated the power of my POS when i got it, my old ****box neon was faster lol, but you'll get use to it

that's non vtec single cam territory. vtec sohcs are over 100whp. 125hp with a 15% drivetrain loss is 106whp.

this is true harsh - my cav had 120hp stock...but i love my civic:nods: fuel efficient baby:drivesafe and with 500-600kms/tank, regular half city/highway driving...can't complain even though its underpower:banghead:

^ yep. i got use to it. i usually keep my revs under 3000 so im always the slowest one taking off and everyone behind me gets pissed lol but atleast i stay in the right lane

get the h22a deal from teknotik right now

you will change your mind :D

it feels underpowered because there is no torque, its a civic thing. Civics are known to be high reving engines, but produce little torque..while your nissan there had some good low end.

a tune up never hurts. Neither does a turbo

and sorry to double post, but man that is such a good deal!!:thumbup: :thumbup:

Not to mention the 240 is a rwd compared to fwd the feel of acceleration is different.

You never get uesd to a slow car. Every time i drove our Taurus and then went back to my Maxima it felt like a Viper in comparison haha.

so isnt that getting used to a slow car?

lol....i'm the same way...people usually go behind me vs the mom in the minivan but i always keep it under 3k rpm and people get angry and pass on the left...still breaking the engine in, i'm only at 1.3k km on my car and i plan on driving under 3k rpm for a long time


next wednesday will be my first meet (pending on the rain) and i hope it will be a big 1

i do 2.5 rpm most of the time:p
then you guys think your slow???:haha:

welcome to TCC

yes civic are slow...stock

they weren't designed for high speeds(stock)

but we have the dime-a-dozen swap option...

almost all motors honda makes can be dropped into a civic, i find that awesome

once you get the fever you'll wanna swap too...

good luck on ur WIP