My review of the Si coupe

Acey

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After thrashing a new Si coupe around northwest Calgary this afternoon my opinion is that you have to occasionally track this car for it to be worth the $32k CAD price tag, given that a EX-T 6MT can be had for $25k. I'll try to explain.

Firstly, there are positives. Seats are fantastic, probably the best seats I've ever sat in for this segment, right up there with the Cobalt SS Turbo seats which I loved. Great bolstering but not too tight, comfortable, and they look great. The rest of the interior is not drastically different from an EX-T but the changes are enough to set it apart. The red stitching is just enough to convey "sporty" but isn't overdone, and the red gauges instead of blue are a nice touch. Shift lights are cool. The shifter is unreal... very short throws and a great feel. It almost feels like you're "outshifting" the rest of the powertrain during WOT shifts. Nav is good and the LED headlights are good. Sorry you don't get either of those, Americans.

As horrific as the coupe spoiler looks in pictures, it is far worse in person. The changes to the rest of the coupe rear look good and there is still plenty of differentiation from the base, so it is my hope that a lot of people do wing deletes. It is rancid, but the sedan wing is far more tasteful. The excessively large fake vents on both of them is... whatever. We've beat that to death.
Pulled out of the dealership and immediately went wide open in first, wasn't immediately impressed. Hit the WOT shift into second and the additional power over the EX-T finally became noticeable. There's lots of power in the mid-range just like in your EX-T, car pulls well between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm and sort of falls off nearer the top. Clearly this car would benefit from a more aggressive tune as would the base 1.5. If someone who never intended to tune the car was cross-shopping between the two and power is the only metric, the Si is not worth it under any circumstance. Obviously, that's not what Honda is targeting with the Si and not what the car is about.

I didn't drive the car out of sport mode so I can't speak to the differences between it and the regular mode. The handling and turn-in is great. I was pushing the car as hard as I possibly could without getting arrested and it did everything I asked with ease. Tried ripping around a loop ramp, sudden stops, quick turns, etc, and it is clearly a far more competent drivetrain in every regard than the EX-T. The issue is that if you drive like I did today with any kind of regularity, you run a somewhat serious risk of either wrecking the car or ending up in jail. The limit of the manner in which I am willing to drive on the street is FAR below the Si's capabilities, but here's the rub: for ME, that limit is also below what my EX-T is capable of. Therefore, to realize the performance of this car over the base 1.5, it has to be driven on the track, IMO. This statement might not apply to somebody willing to drive on the street like they're at Laguna Seca, but that isn't me.

So if money is no object, get an Si, it's obviously a better car. If you don't have unlimited money, but aren't interested in tracking the car, consider having a go in an EX-T 6MT because it might just be enough car to suit your needs. Personally, I will tune my EX-T to ~200 hp at some point in the future and be even happier with it than I already am.
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argh

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Thankfully I won't end up buying the car that you went WOT in well before the break in period was up...nice job
The OP may have done the future buyer a favor. There is a huge contrast in opinion on the subject of breaking in a motor. One theory is to "baby" it for the first 1,000 or so miles. The next theory is with in the first 30 miles do a couple hard pulls in order to "seal or set" the piston rings. It seems like the first theory is an old way of thinking, with that said I honestly don't know which to believe at this point.
 
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Newflyer3

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Yeee Calgary represent
 


Inertiaman70

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The OP may have done the future buyer a favor. There is a huge contrast in opinion on the subject of breaking in a motor. One theory is to "baby" it for the first 1,000 or so miles. The next theory is with in the first 30 miles do a couple hard pulls in order to "seal or set" the piston rings. It seems like the first theory is an old way of thinking. I host don't know which to believe at this point.
' the makers of some of the most legendary performance cars out there, including the Nissan GT-R and the Corvette, all recommend a light-load break-in for the first 500 miles or so. These cars live and die by their reputation for maximum performance. If an alternative break-in technique could net some more horsepower, or safeguard against the occasional race track engine failure, you'd think the automaker would give different instructions in the book."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e/videos/a31398/best-way-to-break-in-new-car/
 

argh

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' the makers of some of the most legendary performance cars out there, including the Nissan GT-R and the Corvette, all recommend a light-load break-in for the first 500 miles or so. These cars live and die by their reputation for maximum performance. If an alternative break-in technique could net some more horsepower, or safeguard against the occasional race track engine failure, you'd think the automaker would give different instructions in the book."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e/videos/a31398/best-way-to-break-in-new-car/
I agree that it is a popular opinion. Though if you research the other side you will find equally amounts of supportive evidence that seating the rings is required, and that you only have a short milage window to do so.

https://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/breakin.php
 

dmitri

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I agree that it is a popular opinion. Though if you research the other side you will find equally amounts of supportive evidence that seating the rings is required, and that you only have a short milage window to do so.

https://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/breakin.php
It's not a "popular opinion"; it's what a team of top-notch scientists and engineers, working on the research, design and development of a number of car models which are continuously ranking among the world's best, decided to advise to the buyers of their cars. Do you think it is even remotely possible that those guys a) are not familiar with this "other research", or b) don't care about improving their product while at the same time making it easier for the customers (by not asking them to tiptoe around performance-oriented driving behaviors for the first 600 miles)?
 
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Vaders CTR

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Keep in mind from a manufacturer's stand point their reasoning for 500-1000 mile break in comes down to reduce: Warranty Claims

The manual and break in's are for the manufacturer's to CTA (cover their asses)

Do what you want with the break in. It is doubtful anything will be impacted negatively whether you break it in hard or baby it. My preference, I always drive my cars the way I want them to run. I run them hard, always. I do what I want, you do it however you want. It's yours!

I am pretty sure there is a thread about this somewhere and it has been discussed at length with magazine links, videos, etc.
 
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Acey

Acey

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Thankfully I won't end up buying the car that you went WOT in well before the break in period was up...nice job
Spent about half the drive at WOT. The hell am I going to test drive an Si and just roll around parking lot? He encouraged me to go WOT; it's specifically a demo car that had already been on 4-5 drives all of which went WOT.

If I hadn't gone WOT, I wouldn't have known that the car is not worth buying.
 


Metfanant

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The OP may have done the future buyer a favor. There is a huge contrast in opinion on the subject of breaking in a motor. One theory is to "baby" it for the first 1,000 or so miles. The next theory is with in the first 30 miles do a couple hard pulls in order to "seal or set" the piston rings. It seems like the first theory is an old way of thinking, with that said I honestly don't know which to believe at this point.
I agree that it is a popular opinion. Though if you research the other side you will find equally amounts of supportive evidence that seating the rings is required, and that you only have a short milage window to do so.

https://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/breakin.php
ill take the manufacturer's recommendation on this one

Spent about half the drive at WOT. The hell am I going to test drive an Si and just roll around parking lot? He encouraged me to go WOT; it's specifically a demo car that had already been on 4-5 drives all of which went WOT.

If I hadn't gone WOT, I wouldn't have known that the car is not worth buying.
hey, if its a demo car...whatever...but the dealer is eventually going to try and sell that car to someone and the break-in procedure wasn't followed...im just glad it won't be my car
 

gtman

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Thankfully I won't end up buying the car that you went WOT in well before the break in period was up...nice job
Which is why I'm glad my EX-L sedan was fresh off the truck with 3 miles on it. You know damn well buying a car with a turbo, test drivers will beat on it a little to see what it's got. It's not just the engine, the brakes need proper break in too. I want to break my car in my way.

Here's a good read from R&T on new car break in (check out the video at the end):
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e/videos/a31398/best-way-to-break-in-new-car/
 
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Froz3nTundra

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Which is why I'm glad my EX-L sedan was fresh off the truck with 3 miles on it. You know damn well buying a car with a turbo, test drivers will beat on it a little to see what it's got. It's not just the engine, the brakes need proper break in too. I want to break my car in my way.

Here's a good read from R&T on new car break in (check out the video at the end):
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e/videos/a31398/best-way-to-break-in-new-car/
Same here, both of my last 2 vehicles were under 5 miles, one had 2, one had 4.5, people test drive cars like a-holes.
 

optikalillusi0n

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Which is why I'm glad my EX-L sedan was fresh off the truck with 3 miles on it. You know damn well buying a car with a turbo, test drivers will beat on it a little to see what it's got. It's not just the engine, the brakes need proper break in too. I want to break my car in my way.

Here's a good read from R&T on new car break in (check out the video at the end):
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...e/videos/a31398/best-way-to-break-in-new-car/

What's the best way to get a car fresh off the transport truck? Stories like these scare me, lol.
 

zx2down

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Thankfully I won't end up buying the car that you went WOT in well before the break in period was up...nice job
I've never done a break in period for anything other than a shop built motor. I easily get 150K+ miles out of cars and years of redline(and past) shifts. When engines are tested at the factory they see speeds over Redline so no real reason you can't do that. If anything is going to go wrong it likely will in the first few hundred, that's why they don't recommend it in manuals usually. They don't want to risk you being at 6500 when something comes loose.

250 miles I change oil, then 1000, then every 7500 after that.
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