Got a Reality Check Today

[si_well]

I had myself convinced that my (stock) Si is a pretty fast car up until today when a GTO put me in my place on my way home from work. Why I thought that? I don’t know lol.

As soon as I got on the highway I jumped in the left lane to pass a slowpoke in front of me, and right as I got in the lane this 5th gen GTO came ripping up behind me. I just assumed he was in a hurry so I moved out of his way for him to pass, but he sped up next to me and rolled at the same speed as me for 5-10 seconds and then took off. He clearly wanted to play around so I obliged.

We played cat and mouse through traffic for about 10-15 minutes before he reached his exit. I was the cat, and I might as well have Garfield for that matter. We weren’t reaching insane speeds (I don’t think I reached 90 mph) but I just couldn’t keep up with this guy. Every time I would catch up to him he would take off again and made my car look like a toy struggling to keep up. I don’t know what kind of mods he had (if any) but it put into perspective how slow my Si is compared to a genuinely fast car.

Today was the first time I was able to compare my car against a car that is actually fast. Today was also the first time I ever felt dissatisfied with my car’s power/performance. Now I’m itching to get a ktuner and throw a tsp stage 1 tune at it to squeeze everything I can out of my humble little 1.5L engine.

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[amirza786]

I had myself convinced that my (stock) Si is a pretty fast car up until today when a GTO put me in my place on my way home from work. Why I thought that? I don’t know lol.

As soon as I got on the highway I jumped in the left lane to pass a slowpoke in front of me, and right as I got in the lane this 5th gen GTO came ripping up behind me. I just assumed he was in a hurry so I moved out of his way for him to pass, but he sped up next to me and rolled at the same speed as me for 5-10 seconds and then took off. He clearly wanted to play around so I obliged.

We played cat and mouse through traffic for about 10-15 minutes before he reached his exit. I was the cat, and I might as well have Garfield for that matter. We weren’t reaching insane speeds (I don’t think I reached 90 mph) but I just couldn’t keep up with this guy. Every time I would catch up to him he would take off again and made my car look like a toy struggling to keep up. I don’t know what kind of mods he had (if any) but it put into perspective how slow my Si is compared to a genuinely fast car.

Today was the first time I was able to compare my car against a car that is actually fast. Today was also the first time I ever felt dissatisfied with my car’s power/performance. Now I’m itching to get a ktuner and throw a tsp stage 1 tune at it to squeeze everything I can out of my humble little 1.5L engine.

Let me just put this in perspective for you and start off by saying don't be ashamed. The Si is a performance car, or more an economy performance car (with the stress on economy). It wasn't meant to compete with a GTO, at least in a straight line. And those who put a bunch of performance mods and custom tuned this engine to allow it to compete with a car like a GTO without building the block have found broken injectors and thrown rods.

Just enjoy the car for what it was meant for, don't worry about being the fastest. You get better gas mileage than the GTO, and your engine will probably also outlast it as well, as long as you take care of it

 

[Siiick]

Torque baby, it's all about that torque! Those GTO's, especially the 6.0l, are no joke. It's the gas and tires that will kill ya. But if you aren't daily driving it, it's not too bad. My first taste of American muscle was my '13 Mustang GT that I bought brand new back in 2012. Had to wait 6 weeks from order-to-delivery but oh man was it worth it. That was my very first car with a V8 and I was hooked as soon as I drove it off the lot. All that instant torque down low makes all the sense in the world for driving around on the city streets. My Civic feels like a slug compared to my Corvette in terms of acceleration but that doesn't bother me one bit. I still enjoy the heck out of it because it's cheap enough that I was able to pay cash for it and economical enough that I'm not crying every time I fill it up. It also handles as well as the Corvette and would definitely have no problem keeping up on a tight twisty road course. But on the straights, fuhgettaboutit.

 

[arpypat]

You don't realize how nimble and agile the Si is around corners until you get into a heavy POS American car.

I'm currently on business travel and have a base 2019/20 Dodge Charger as a rental. It has 290hp/260tq (probably overrated) and tips the scales at a whopping 4000 lbs. My god this thing is terrible. So much momemtum coming to stops. Feels like a school bus when you take 90° turns. Infotainment is complete horse5hit. It's snowing here in Buffalo, and if you shut the traction control off, this thing won't make it 2 feet before it starts sliding. I can't wait to get back in my Si.

The only American car I'd buy is a Toyota Camry.

 

[Siiick]

You don't realize how nimble and agile the Si is around corners until you get into a heavy POS American car.

I'm currently on business travel and have a base 2019/20 Dodge Charger as a rental. It has 290hp/260tq (probably overrated) and tips the scales at a whopping 4000 lbs. My god this thing is terrible. So much momemtum coming to stops. Feels like a school bus when you take 90° turns. Infotainment is complete horse5hit. It's snowing here in Buffalo, and if you shut the traction control off, this thing won't make it 2 feet before it starts sliding. I can't wait to get back in my Si.

The only American car I'd buy is a Toyota Camry.

No denying that. I owned a '15 Challenger scat pack for a couple of years and yes it had gobs of power but was a total pig. Felt nowhere near as agile as my Civic.

 

[2020PWP]

Those GTOs are pretty darn fast you could maybe lose him in some twisties

 

[arpypat]

No denying that. I owned a '15 Challenger scat pack for a couple of years and yes it had gobs of power but was a total pig. Felt nowhere near as agile as my Civic.

Your vette must be hella fun in the twisties!

I had a 2019 camaro as a rental too once and it was a pretty nice car, even in base V6 form. It had some options - sport exhaust and 20" wheels. With 335hp/284tq at 3450lbs, it wasn't as terrible as the base Challenger or Charger. With traction control left alone, it actually was very confidence-inspiring in turns. You couldn't get that side to kickout if you wanted to!

 

[amirza786]

You don't realize how nimble and agile the Si is around corners until you get into a heavy POS American car.

I'm currently on business travel and have a base 2019/20 Dodge Charger as a rental. It has 290hp/260tq (probably overrated) and tips the scales at a whopping 4000 lbs. My god this thing is terrible. So much momemtum coming to stops. Feels like a school bus when you take 90° turns. Infotainment is complete horse5hit. It's snowing here in Buffalo, and if you shut the traction control off, this thing won't make it 2 feet before it starts sliding. I can't wait to get back in my Si.

The only American car I'd buy is a Toyota Camry.

Haha I travel to our San Antonio Texas office 2 or 3 times a year (since 2010), and I've rented several Chargers, Challengers, and Mustangs (V6 and V8), and although I will admit the Dodge/Chrysler's are both comfortable and powerful as hell, I recently last few trips have been renting Toyota's (Budget Car rental San Antonio Airport). So far I've rented two Camry's (SE 2.5L I4 and an XLE V6), Sequoia SUV, and a RAV 4.They are just way better cars, and except for the Sequoia, I end up not having to fill up the tank until I am ready to return the cars. With both the Chargers/Challengers as well as Mustangs, I end up having to fill up the tanks at least twice before returning them. Yes, gas is cheap in Texas and I am putting the gas on the company credit card, but it's just a hassle, as I end up driving a lot of miles, San Antonio is a big city...and so are the fricken grocery stores (Super Walmart and HEB)

 

[Siiick]

Your vette must be hella fun in the twisties!

I had a 2019 camaro as a rental too once and it was a pretty nice car, even in base V6 form. It had some options - sport exhaust and 20" wheels. With 335hp/284tq at 3450lbs, it wasn't as terrible as the base Challenger or Charger. With traction control left alone, it actually was very confidence-inspiring in turns. You couldn't get that side to kickout if you wanted to!

I owned a '17 ZL1 for about a year before I traded it for the vette. The Camaro was a fun car and handled way better than the Challenger but still had that muscle car feel in the turns. I've not had a chance to take the vette out to the FM roads but on the streets it's an animal. I did attend the Ron Fellow's Corvette driving school last year and had an absolute blast. It inspires immense confidence in the turns due to the wide stance and incredible grip. It's got killer looks and performance to back it up. My dream car.

But I still love my Civic. It's an extremely rewarding car to drive. I would deem it a true driver's car which is perfect for me because I am a driver - been racking up close to 30k miles a year for the past several years. Having a car that is cheap on gas, tires, and oil helps a lot in that respect. There are times I'll hop in it and have absolutely nowhere to go but I still end up somewhere just because I felt like driving it. That to me is the best part about owning a car you love

 

[tinyman392]

I had myself convinced that my (stock) Si is a pretty fast car up until today when a GTO put me in my place on my way home from work. Why I thought that? I don’t know lol.

As soon as I got on the highway I jumped in the left lane to pass a slowpoke in front of me, and right as I got in the lane this 5th gen GTO came ripping up behind me. I just assumed he was in a hurry so I moved out of his way for him to pass, but he sped up next to me and rolled at the same speed as me for 5-10 seconds and then took off. He clearly wanted to play around so I obliged.

We played cat and mouse through traffic for about 10-15 minutes before he reached his exit. I was the cat, and I might as well have Garfield for that matter. We weren’t reaching insane speeds (I don’t think I reached 90 mph) but I just couldn’t keep up with this guy. Every time I would catch up to him he would take off again and made my car look like a toy struggling to keep up. I don’t know what kind of mods he had (if any) but it put into perspective how slow my Si is compared to a genuinely fast car.

Today was the first time I was able to compare my car against a car that is actually fast. Today was also the first time I ever felt dissatisfied with my car’s power/performance. Now I’m itching to get a ktuner and throw a tsp stage 1 tune at it to squeeze everything I can out of my humble little 1.5L engine.

I think the 3rd day I had my CTR, a GTO wanted to race me from a light. This would be an extremely close race from a dig or a roll (GTO has slight advantage from a dig, CTR from a roll). Suffice to say, I'm completely against street racing, so it never happened.

That being said, power to weight ratio is no contest against an Si. GTO weighs in at 3750 lbs with 340 to the wheels (assuming 15% loss from 400HP crank) making a power to weight ratio of 11.03. The Si weighs in at 2900 lbs with a WHP of about 200-ish if memory serves so you get 14.5. For reference, the CTR weighs 3100 lbs with 290-ish to the wheels for a power to weight of 10.74.

Keep in mind that an Accord 2.0T and a V6 Camry will take an Si in a straight line. Granted I'd still rather have an Si over either of those two cars.

Just enjoy the car for what it was meant for, don't worry about being the fastest. You get better gas mileage than the GTO, and your engine will probably also outlast it as well, as long as you take care of it

Better gas mileage yes, but LS motors are known to be pretty damn robust. There's a reason why they are very popular to swap into cars (outside just availability).

 

[Ron R]

Don't feel bad, those LS Powered V8 GTOs are quick. I had a '00 Trans Am WS.6 and even test drove '05 GTO with 6.0 V8. Those cars will humble our SI's. I miss the power of the V8, but for an economy car the SI is decently quick and had great handling. Also the gas mileage is excellent and has decent fit and finish.

Enjoy your SI

 

[Ron R]

I owned a '17 ZL1 for about a year before I traded it for the vette. The Camaro was a fun car and handled way better than the Challenger but still had that muscle car feel in the turns. I've not had a chance to take the vette out to the FM roads but on the streets it's an animal. I did attend the Ron Fellow's Corvette driving school last year and had an absolute blast. It inspires immense confidence in the turns due to the wide stance and incredible grip. It's got killer looks and performance to back it up. My dream car.

But I still love my Civic. It's an extremely rewarding car to drive. I would deem it a true driver's car which is perfect for me because I am a driver - been racking up close to 30k miles a year for the past several years. Having a car that is cheap on gas, tires, and oil helps a lot in that respect. There are times I'll hop in it and have absolutely nowhere to go but I still end up somewhere just because I felt like driving it. That to me is the best part about owning a car you love

My wife loves the handling of the 6th Generation Camaro. I rented her a '16 V6 Convertible and she feel in love. Then during our Vegas trip, Hertz had a '17 SS convertible and she loved it with the V8 power and rumble.

Last year tried leasing her a '19 Camaro SS, but dealers were not that interested to deal. Guessing Chevy wanted to sell versus lease them. Long story short got her a Mini Cooper S and she loves it.

Still miss the LS series V8 lol.

 

[Dwight]

I had myself convinced that my (stock) Si is a pretty fast car up until today when a GTO put me in my place on my way home from work. Why I thought that? I don’t know lol.

As soon as I got on the highway I jumped in the left lane to pass a slowpoke in front of me, and right as I got in the lane this 5th gen GTO came ripping up behind me. I just assumed he was in a hurry so I moved out of his way for him to pass, but he sped up next to me and rolled at the same speed as me for 5-10 seconds and then took off. He clearly wanted to play around so I obliged.

We played cat and mouse through traffic for about 10-15 minutes before he reached his exit. I was the cat, and I might as well have Garfield for that matter. We weren’t reaching insane speeds (I don’t think I reached 90 mph) but I just couldn’t keep up with this guy. Every time I would catch up to him he would take off again and made my car look like a toy struggling to keep up. I don’t know what kind of mods he had (if any) but it put into perspective how slow my Si is compared to a genuinely fast car.

Today was the first time I was able to compare my car against a car that is actually fast. Today was also the first time I ever felt dissatisfied with my car’s power/performance. Now I’m itching to get a ktuner and throw a tsp stage 1 tune at it to squeeze everything I can out of my humble little 1.5L engine.

Bruh happened to me alot lately, ever since I got my prl cai and tsp race tune I thought I was fast until I got beaten by a Camry wasn't expecting that at all ,last Friday a Subaru show's me whose the man then again on Monday a golf took me to gape city now I feel like I only should be racing old man in Corollas cause all the other guys have been whopping my ass lately or maybe my 1.5 cvt isn't as fast as I'd like to think but I accept it, but it just kinda weird seeing some guys here and on Facebook who have civics have all kinds of story of their civic taking down mustang's, Subaru's and a guy claimed he smoked an M4 on Facebook page called 10th gen civic performance, even me myself though my 1.5 cvt turbo with the prl cai and tsp race tune was fast until I actually race some other cars and I personally test drove a golf R and holy f××king shit the golf r feels 5 times faster than my car especially flooring it from a dead stop

 

[aaaaah]

It's because the Si is perky, not fast. Below 2500rpm it is struggling to make torque and above 5000rpm it doesn't make any real power. They handle nice and are excellent daily drivers because they are efficient and have plenty of overtaking ability but they are not even close to fast.

 

[trapbryan]

No denying that. I owned a '15 Challenger scat pack for a couple of years and yes it had gobs of power but was a total pig. Felt nowhere near as agile as my Civic.

My brother has a 6 speed 15 scatpack. Absolutely love driving his car
That shit is fast lol.

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