Drove a 2000 Honda Civic Vtec Today...whats the big deal?

After hearing all the hype about Hondas and performance I decided to visit the dealership and see for myself. I drove the 1.6L 127HP VTEC man.trans. I wanted to drive the 160hp Vtec Civic but was told they were special order only so I settled for the 127hp. The car was peppy and limber but not really powerful or fast. I expected a bit more according to the hype I have been hearing, I guess everyopne was talking about the 160hp model or either after modifying the 127hp. Anyway I only got a chance to wind it out to about 70 punching hard thru each gear. Its easy to burn rubber in first gear with the go-cart tires it has, chirping the tires in 2nd was pretty easy too. It was fun driving it but I cant see me wanting to drive it long distance on the highway, and you couldnt give me one of those things with an auto trans, it would be the epitamy or boring. Its the shifting that made it fun, maybe because I havnt owned a manual trans in almost 4 years and hadnt realized how much i missed it. In fact its my first time driving a stick in about 3 years. The interior and exterior was hum drum boring too. The seats sit up high and dont grab you. My Pontiac grips my sides and I sit in the seats, the Honda I felt I was sitting on the seats. The bottom line question is would I want or buy one?....hell no. Not that its a bad car, I imagine its dependable and good for getting from point A to point B, but I guess I am just style conscious, like a bit more comfort and a heavier feel. If I deside to get something that small I will just get a real sports car.

thats the difference between car people & ordinary people... cars arent just for getting from A to B...

"Not that its a bad car, I imagine its dependable and good for getting from point A to point B..."
With a few exceptions, modern cars are not so much cars as they are "transportation appliances", not much different in character from a wash machine or a toaster. The efficiency and reliability is impressive, but there`s an indefinable quality of personality that`s missing. You turn the key and it says nothing to you. When I fire up my old Camaro, it speaks to me somehow. It says, "Yeah, let`s go!", (and,"Waddaya goin` to do about those valve guides?)
Sad commentary on the state of the transportation art when you have to pay nearly $20K for something about which the best you can say is that your ass is in a different place when you get out than it was when you got in.

Stefan Bishay - KC7SJC Seattle, WA Pacific NW Isuzu Off-Roaders http://www.mindspring.com/~sbishay

Date: Mon, Aug 14, 2000 9:18 PM



Stefan Bishay - KC7SJC>>
I have the Integra VTEC and find it perfect. When you want to just drive, you shift at 4,000 and get 27-30 mpg. When you want to play, you shift at 7,800 - get sparkling performance, and 23-25 mpg.
Couldn`t ask for more - works fine both ways.

forth the following: rotary comes to mind. Drop it down to third on the freeway and noboy`s going to be catching up

kind. You were trying the econo-box.