My girlfriend hates my Si and I understand why

Brakes88

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As for the suspension and I know it is expensive but have you considered the HFP suspension? I found my stock set up rough after a 12 hour day or labor! And especially at the end of my then 84 hour work weeks! Every seam in the payment hurt my back no joke. But since I upgraded to the HFP it's been WAY more comfortable.

However. I still feel like what you stated is very one sided. And I don't do one way streets in relationships. But that's me.
 

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In Stop-n-Go traffic, I always shift back to Neutral & take my foot off of the clutch.

If you are driving at least 8 MPH... shift to 2nd gear.
Is it common for folks not do to these? It could be my age showing but these are manual driving 101.
 

NixChixFix

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Is it common for folks not do to these? It could be my age showing but these are manual driving 101.
I learned how to drive manual in my Si and I was taught by family/YouTube to do both of that. That being said, I know a couple of manual drivers around my age who keep clutch fully pressed when not on the gas so it may not be as commonplace anymore.
 


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First things first I'm just gonna say that I absolutely love my 2017 Si that I have had since brand new bought in August of 2017 with 19 miles on the odometer. But my girlfriend absolutely hates it and I kinda understand why.

First a couple of things about her, she is not a car person at all, in fact she HATES HATES HATES driving, avoids it like the plague so I do 99.99% of the driving when we go out. Second, I dont think she has ever seen anybody drive a manual before, infact she was shocked when I told her my car had 3 pedals, and didnt know that was a thing lol.

But I can still understand why she hates my car. Here are a few of the reasons she hates it in no particular order.

1. Ride is too stiff: We just drove 2 hours to Galveston (1 hour one way) and also around Galveston when we got there, the trip and the city once we arrived has some pretty bad roads. Now I've had my car for 3 years so I am used to the rough ride, but my gf isn't. She complains about how she feels every bump, every rough patch, and every road imperfection through her entire body. In fact after the entire trip, she limped back home lol.

2. Shifting: I think this is more a manual thing than an Si thing specifically, but shfiting in this car for some reason throws her whole body forward. No matter how smooth I try to be with the throttle and the clutch, shifting especially from 1st to 2nd throws her forward and I can just see her entire body in the corner of my eye move forward each time I shift in the lower gears. She absolutely hates this, especially after a night out drinking or after a meal, she says my car makes her feel like throwing up lol.

3. Low height: Getting in and out of the car for her is a lesson in leg exercise. As you all know, the 10th gen Civic front passenger seat does not have height adjustment, so the seat is pretty low to the ground. She moans and groans each time she gets in and out of the car.

4. Weird gearing: Similar to #2.. When crawling in 1st gear in slow bumper to bumper traffic, the car will do this weird launching or herky jerky thing. She sometimes thinks I am messing with her lol but then I have to reassure her that it is just what the 1st gear does sometimes in traffic. Because of this, long crawling traffic can make her car sick with repeated 1st gear jerking.

She absolutely hates my car lol and wants me to get rid of it, but my car is my baby and isnt going anywhere anytime soon. With that being said, I completely understand where she is coming from, especially seeing it from her POV as someone who isnt into cars.

It is getting so bad that I am beginning to get anxious and super aware of every thing I do when she is in the car with me lol. She would much prefer something like a GTI I feel, it is the ultimate comfortable cruiser in these class of cars, over my dead body though ?
Other than swapping out for a new gf, you could try putting Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on your SI.
I did that with my '17 SI and the ride and grip were better.
Want to hear a crazy idea? Pay for her to learn how to drive a stick, maybe even get her on a track and let her have some fun. She will never see your car, or driving, the same way. There are enthusiasts, there are non-enthusiasts who are still supportive partners, and then there are whiners. Your choice.

Let her eventually whine that you need racing brake pads to avoid fade, or that you need to swap in an Acuity pedal kit so she can heel and toe properly. That is the kind of whining we all dream of hearing from our significant others.

Also, the SI, like most cars, feels way better from the driver's seat. So if she is driving, then she will be happier.

Unless she is buying you a Golf R, not sure where she gets off telling you to trade a car you love. Even my wife wouldn't do that if she knew I was happy with it. Oh, and she can drive a stick.
Mandatory.
Suppose she needed to drive you, or get to you in an emergency and the only car available was a manual? 'Gee I would have gotten him to the hospital in time, but I can't drive one of these three pedal things.' Not acceptable.
 

Valenzx

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I feel like a lot of people have never rode shotgun in their own car. The experience of being a passenger in this car sucks. The seat is too low and you feel every bump, dip, and shift way more as the passenger than you do as the driver.

My wife is not a car enthusiast but she loves driving. She's the one that taught me how to drive manual and she loves driving my Si, but we both hate riding shotgun in it. It's a driver's car. Luckily we also have a CR-V so we take that if we're going on a road trip anywhere, but I totally understand where your girlfriend is coming from. Personally I'm going to be trading my car in for something that trades a bit of fun for a bit more comfort (GTI, Accord maybe) because even I start to find it a bit exhausting on a long trip with crappy roads, and the jerky 1-2 shift gets really annoying when you're running errands and hitting every red light.

At the same time, your girlfriend is a fully grown woman (I hope.) Why doesn't she have her own car? Why doesn't she get over whatever it is that makes her not like driving? Lots of people don't like driving, but they don't just expect someone to drive them around.
I've taught my ex and my son to drive in my car and was fine sitting shotgun. None of the issues listed were present.
 

Donk232

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My wife has a CR-V and had about all of those complaints about the stock SI. She still complains a little bit about the stage 2 clutch lightweight flywheel, motor mount or lowered suspension and I'm still planning on 235/35/19 wheels and tires. I suppose if that doesn't help Ill consider HFP suspension next to soften it up in comfort mode ?
 


5th 3l3ment

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First things first I'm just gonna say that I absolutely love my 2017 Si that I have had since brand new bought in August of 2017 with 19 miles on the odometer. But my girlfriend absolutely hates it and I kinda understand why.

First a couple of things about her, she is not a car person at all, in fact she HATES HATES HATES driving, avoids it like the plague so I do 99.99% of the driving when we go out. Second, I dont think she has ever seen anybody drive a manual before, infact she was shocked when I told her my car had 3 pedals, and didnt know that was a thing lol.

But I can still understand why she hates my car. Here are a few of the reasons she hates it in no particular order.

1. Ride is too stiff: We just drove 2 hours to Galveston (1 hour one way) and also around Galveston when we got there, the trip and the city once we arrived has some pretty bad roads. Now I've had my car for 3 years so I am used to the rough ride, but my gf isn't. She complains about how she feels every bump, every rough patch, and every road imperfection through her entire body. In fact after the entire trip, she limped back home lol.

2. Shifting: I think this is more a manual thing than an Si thing specifically, but shfiting in this car for some reason throws her whole body forward. No matter how smooth I try to be with the throttle and the clutch, shifting especially from 1st to 2nd throws her forward and I can just see her entire body in the corner of my eye move forward each time I shift in the lower gears. She absolutely hates this, especially after a night out drinking or after a meal, she says my car makes her feel like throwing up lol.

3. Low height: Getting in and out of the car for her is a lesson in leg exercise. As you all know, the 10th gen Civic front passenger seat does not have height adjustment, so the seat is pretty low to the ground. She moans and groans each time she gets in and out of the car.

4. Weird gearing: Similar to #2.. When crawling in 1st gear in slow bumper to bumper traffic, the car will do this weird launching or herky jerky thing. She sometimes thinks I am messing with her lol but then I have to reassure her that it is just what the 1st gear does sometimes in traffic. Because of this, long crawling traffic can make her car sick with repeated 1st gear jerking.

She absolutely hates my car lol and wants me to get rid of it, but my car is my baby and isnt going anywhere anytime soon. With that being said, I completely understand where she is coming from, especially seeing it from her POV as someone who isnt into cars.

It is getting so bad that I am beginning to get anxious and super aware of every thing I do when she is in the car with me lol. She would much prefer something like a GTI I feel, it is the ultimate comfortable cruiser in these class of cars, over my dead body though ?
Imagine if you had married her already ??? warning sign of things to come.
 

Gruber

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I'm a person who almost never wants or gets to be driven. On longer drives as a passenger I often get nauseated, regardless of the type of the car (including buses with angry drivers). But when I'm driving, I can drive forever, and then some more.

So I'm definitely not a rocketman myself, and I kinda understand people who get shaken in a car, and then stirred. I took my family once or twice on a Dragon Tail ride, then cleaned my car and learned.:puke:

There is a way to drive any manual car (that's not broken) smoothly. Anyone who says it's impossible, has still way to go learning to drive stick. The problem is, people think that since they can get the car from A to B and back, they mastered the stick. Takes much longer. If what your car does surprises you all any time, each shift is a lottery ("it's not consistent") and every good shift is a matter of luck, you are not done learning.

Honda claims 1st gear is just for launching the car. They claim their automatics work this way too.
Honda is right. Don't drive in first gear. In slow traffic, I don't try to drive any manual car naively in first gear just by manipulating the gas pedal, like a true rocketman, definitely not with passengers. There are ways to do it right.

I also drive differently when I'm alone vs. having passengers (or loose eggs in my trunk.)

All this doesn't mean at all that the OP shouldn't trade in his current girlfriend :bump:for one with more astronaut-like guts if he wants to drive the car he likes the way he can/likes.
 
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Dpack

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I feel like you are missing an important piece of info here. Is your suspension stock? Because if you have some wild performance suspension setup I could see her hate for the ride being valid, especially if she isn't used to it. However if the suspension is stock it sounds like she is being very overdramatic by constantly complaining about the ride and limping after.... Unless she has some health conditions that make it worse for her which makes it again understandable.

I would talk to her about it, ask her why it bothers her and make sure she understands it's important to you. If she truly truly hates it that much she can get herself a car so that you guys can take that on road trips together, this is not something you should have to try to fix (unless the situation falls into the exceptions I mentioned above) but it is something you should try to bring up with her
Deep, some Dr Phil knowledge! I’d go with new gf route
 
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xbbnx

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Just took her on a ride in a 2017 Porshe 718 Boxter S 6MT. Her comments were "this is much more smoother and comfortable than your car, I'm actually having a good time" lol..surprisingly she was right. The Boxter S wasn't as harsh on bumps and actually felt more comfortable. Zero rev hang and no 1-2 gear weirdness, and obviously performance was a wash. The biggest surprise though was just how much more comfortable it was seeing as how it is an actual dedicated sports car.
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