Drove a 10th gen non-Si for the first time...

[MutatedMango]

Well first off, I'm not a lowering springs guy. Don't get me wrong, lowered, a car looks fantastic and it helps overall handling. But the negatives are a bit rougher ride and more challenges dealing with curbs and bad roads.

A good front strut bar does something more specific and something I felt my car needed. By stabilizing the front strut tower geometry, not only does the front end feel more solid overall, quick lane change moves are much more controlled. Steering feels a bit better too.

If you want me to list suspension mods in the order of what I'd do, it goes like this:

Better tires
Beefier rear sway bar
One piece front strut bar
Lowering springs

Thanks dude. I see you all over this forum and you're just full of knowledge lol. Super helpful

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[gtman]

Thanks dude. I see you all over this forum and you're just full of knowledge lol. Super helpful

No problem. Happy to help where I can. Since my own car forum is no longer active, I still like to help others, so I hang out here a lot.

 

[fiend busa]

I don't get this thread at all...the non Si is a non Si...of course it's going to feel different than the Si variant...

The si turbo is different
The si has an LSD

I've owned both as well, the LSD in the Si really helped when tuning lol.

 

[Topsportsman916]

I drive a 2019 Sport Touring hatchback for a daily driver. I drive 150 miles per day for work. I love the Civic's dependability and gas mileage. I average 40-41 mph. I thought that it was pretty peppy until I got my 2019 CTR a few weeks ago. Now it feels like a lead sled. I definitely want to drive/ ride in an SI to see where it falls between the Sport Touring and the Type R.

 

[fiend busa]

I drive a 2019 Sport Touring hatchback for a daily driver. I drive 150 miles per day for work. I love the Civic's dependability and gas mileage. I average 40-41 mph. I thought that it was pretty peppy until I got my 2019 CTR a few weeks ago. Now it feels like a lead sled. I definitely want to drive/ ride in an SI to see where it falls between the Sport Touring and the Type R.

I've owned the manual hatch for 1.5 years and the Si for 1 year and now the Type R for about 6 months.

Just in terms of feels only

Si in normal mode - definitely more planted than the Sport model, and handles corners much better (LSD). It feels more stiff but nothing too crazy, very comfy (feels like sport touring until you start pushing it or start making turns)

Si in sport mode feels like the R in comfort but steering feel of R sport.

 

[xcivicx]

anyone test driving an SI coming from any other trim level without the 2.0, is bound to find it disappointing. until you really test it. my test is up hill pulls from almost a stop, pretty much 0 to 60 up a steep hill . my SI does not feel faster up certain hills i know, until i look at the speedo and see its a s-load faster. i find my SI tame, in compar to my 6sd hatch, until i enter a canyon road and no one is in front of me. tame in that my hatch felt stronger but wasn't. butt dynos can be wrong sometimes.
two things sold me on the SI, smooth power delivery, and the seats. the regular cloth seats never put me in the right position the the si seats do. both the lx's i had the seats made me feel as if i was facing just not the right direction, maybe a degree off. another bonus is the SI seem to cruse the highway easier steering wise, to me more relaxed.

 

[gtman]

I drive a 2019 Sport Touring hatchback for a daily driver. I drive 150 miles per day for work. I love the Civic's dependability and gas mileage. I average 40-41 mph. I thought that it was pretty peppy until I got my 2019 CTR a few weeks ago. Now it feels like a lead sled. I definitely want to drive/ ride in an SI to see where it falls between the Sport Touring and the Type R.

A Hondata or KTuner base tune will really wake up your Sport Touring all the while keeping the good MPG's. Something to consider to spice up your commute.

 

[frontlinegeek]

Man, this all was quite the read...

So the OP decides to compare a Civic to a Civic Si and doesn't find it as sporty... Si... Sport Infused... I don't mean to sting too hard but come on bro!

The GenX platform is arguably the best Civic platform yet and even relative in any generation. When you buy a different trim and transmission, you are buying the same car with a different setup. The only truly different Civic is the R. Frame, stiffening, suspension setup, scrub configuration... It is a beast of its own.

An Si is the pretty much the best daily driver compact sport sedan that won't fly apart after only 3 years (Looking at you 3 series cars). It is deliberately tuned to be track car lite and is one of only two models available with an LSD. All the other Civics are merely a more sedate version of the Si with the engine and CVTs programmed to perform in a fashion that is more appropriate for daily mundane driving but is more than capable of handling some mildly spirited driving (More compliant suspension, lighter steering from narrower tires, etc...). However...

The Si is NOT a good car if you can't drive stick, can't trust the roads where you live to not eat your rims, don't like the seats, want more features like Honda Sensing or want a color that you can't get. ALL our cars are great cars. The question is was it and is it a great car for YOU. The Civic is not the best selling car in Canada for 21 years running for nothing and one of the best selling cars of all time worldwide for no reason.

And to all the whining about people comparing their modified cars to the Si, understand that this forum exists heavily because we all want to make these cars our own. If we activate max smarm, NONE of us think these cars are great because we are all changing what we bought. We were, by definition, dissatisfied before we even signed the papers. The reality is that we know a good platform when we saw it and we found the setup that was closest to what we thought we wanted and were willing to afford and knew we could adjust it to some degree once we drove it for a while. For instance, I got an EX 2.0 Sedan because I didn't see the value to ME to get the Touring or the EX-T. I didn't like the LED headlights and wasn't keen for paying for 18" tires as time goes on. I knew that there were tuning options for the 2.0 and was satisfied with the extra that I will get when I finally do get a KTuner. I got black because black is awesome. It, however, is NOT the "best" color as it is a maintenance nightmare. Anyone going on about the color they got being the best is just childish. Do you also make fun of people that don't get their steak cooked properly to medium?

Anyhoo, everyone needs to enjoy what they bought or could afford and change or upgrade as they discover what they like and dislike or as they find that they can afford to change to a more or differently configured Civic. And if you insist on trying to make foolish comparisons, then as the saying goes, play stupid games, win stupid prizes...

 

[xbbnx]

All of you who are saying that my comparison is stupid or misguided obviously havent read the entire thread as I have stated multiple times why I decided to compare. I even took a snapshot of one of the comments that inspired me to make this thread. Do your homeworks.

 

[frontlinegeek]

All of you who are saying that my comparison is stupid or misguided obviously havent read the entire thread as I have stated multiple times why I decided to compare.

Your first post was abundantly clear and you made no such initial distinctions as you claim. All other posts afterwards were to either double down or back peddle on certain aspects of your original disappointment in a car that is not at all set up to do what an Si is set up to do.

I can't invalidate your opinion as this is all in the realm of opinions as far as how you feel about the Touring but the pointlessness of your comparison, it displays the fact of its pointlessness on its own. Equally, anyone that comes into this thread and claims that their Touring is hands down better than an Si, I will blast them just as fast (And there is one of those goobers in this thread with that attitude so they can consider themselves blasted).

Now, had you come at this comparison from the clear and deliberate perspective of advice from an Si owner to those who aren't sure if they want the Si or just a turbo of the other trims, then that would have made a whole lot more sense. You did not and this thread is now onto 10 pages...

The best comparison I have seen to explain all the differences and why you might want them are the videos from SavageGeese on the Touring and the Si.

 

[xbbnx]

Your first post was abundantly clear and you made no such initial distinctions as you claim. All other posts afterwards were to either double down or back peddle on certain aspects of your original disappointment in a car that is not at all set up to do what an Si is set up to do.

Not sure if you just did not get the point or if you are just choosing to ignore it for whatever reason. I know the Si and Touring/Regular Civics are different cars geared for different people, or at least I thought I did, but over the more than 2 years I have been on this forum I have seen a few people who have claimed that both those cars are so similar on the streets that distinctions between them are hardly there or unnoticeable, and since I have never driven a Civic with a turbo outside the Si, I went in thinking it was true and was let down. Again, my perception of the car going in was that it was basically not that much different from the Si in everday driving thanks to posts like the one I snap shotted a few pages back. So in making this thread, I was trying to convey how untrue those claims were IMO by pointing out those major differences that made the Touring such a dissapointment to me compared to the Si. Stand alone, the regular Civics with the Turbo are great cars for its class dont get me wrong, but it baffles me when such people like the guy I snap shotted say they are too similar in driving feel to justify getting the Si, to me it was night and day, making this thread was me trying to convey that experience to counter those false claims. Get it now? Good.

 

[xbbnx]

In case you missed it, here is one of the comments that inspired this thread

 

[nick94]

A guy walks into a bar, orders a Johnny, takes a sip and exclaims:

- This ain't Jim Beam!!!

 

[Gruber]

..and I was disappointed. For you 1.5T non Si owners be warned this wont be pretty..

By saying the above, you are implying that those naive non Si owners were misled just like you, and they thought their cars drove exactly like an Si.

I think you brought it all on yourself.

So you were disappointed with non Si because someone said, and you bought it, that there is no difference in how an Si vs. non Si drives?

And you started a thread to argue with this someone knowing this won’t be pretty? If you wrote it right, without too general statements, it could be much prettier.

Honda would be an extremely inept car maker if they put a LSD adjustable suspension plus 14 to 18 % more max hp in the same model car for zero effect on how it drives.

In fact, the very one thing in non-Si non-R civics that I expected to be better is taking turns at speed. I expected less roll, as I can (almost) turn at the same speed in my CR-V as my civic.

I’m sure some older-year regular civics were better turners, and I drove some unremarkable and not sporty cars that were better, like some Fords.

So you are creating a straw man based on someone’s odd opinion.

I knew since the test drive that my HB is not much better, if at all, than an average turn carver and I still will not downgrade it to an Si.....

 

[turbo lover]

In case you missed it, here is one of the comments that inspired this thread

Notice that they say that they don't notice much difference *on the street for everyday driving*. Honestly for everyday driving where my top speed is like 35 mph, I probably wouldn't notice much difference between a Type R and my Sport Touring.

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