mynickers

Anyone had one of these, or know anything of them?

I know it's 170bhp and usual VTEC fun.

But I'm not too sure about the chassis set up etc?

Mike123

If it's the 167bhp version that was out from around P-reg to S-reg, I tried one at a local garage when I was after a cheapish fun car to drive around and go on hols in. I didn't think the handling/suspension was as good as the Primera GT I eventually bought. Engine had more bite at the top end but felt flatter at the bottom end than the Nissan.Nicely made and had all the same stuff as Nissan - half leather seats, sunroof, aircon etc. They also do an estate version.

Slyme

I used to own one of these a few years ago.

My personal experience was that it was an excellent car. Reliabilty was fantastic! The interior was very nice, half leather with all the toys included. It also benefitted from having a sunroof as well as air conditioning.

On the driving front it was fantastic. it was great for merely cruising around but for when you wanted to thrash it it was awesome. As soon as 5500 revs was reached the car note changes and speed increases rapidly, iirc 2nd gear will take you close to 70mph or just over at a redline near 8000rpm. It's the same engine as in the integra type R but slightly detuned. 0-60 is around 7.2 secs, easily a match for my mates MR2 N/A and FTO. Passing was easy.

On the handling front it was a capable car, no traction control or any electronic aids and flitted around corners with ease. I had it lowered and it cornered like on rails.

On the downside to the engine is that mods are difficult. I tried replacing the air filter with a K&N and a Powerflow but found that although the power seemed to be slightly more below 5000rpm as soon as went above the engine couldn't get enough air.
Only other thing was that it isn't that common and therefore you have to wait for parts to be ordered.

All in all a brilliant car, I bought mine with 65000 miles on the clock and owned it for nearly 3 yrs up to 97000 miles. I never had a problem, all MOT's passed first time only thing that needed doing was the back box and front discs and pads. A real wolf in sheeps clothing, very comfortable, quick and a pleasure to drive. I only sold because an FTO came up that I couldn't say no to.

you can read other peoples views at this website: www.carsurvey.org

I hope this was of some use, any other I can give please just ask.

Slyme

mynickers

The one I have been looking at was 45k miles on the clock and full HSH, and I can get it a little over trade price through work. I'm pretty tempted...

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like a good deal...

SimonD

I bought an estate version when our first child was born. I traded it in for another Impreza after 5 months because it was so awful.

The engine is noisy and needs lots of revs. The handling is indifferent and the torque steer unpleasant. I'm not sure if this fault was peculiar to mine but despite several visits to Elite to sort the geometry we could never get it to sit straight on a motorway without constant correction.

The interior was not bad but any refinement was destroyed by the buzz bomb of an engine and suspension that never stopped creaking - this on a one owner 3 year old car with 20k on the clock and a full Honda history.

I changed to an Impreza (my second) and the difference was incredible despite the fact that they were the same age and had the same mileage. It really felt like I was driving a 15 year old car.

Oh....and the paint was flaking off the door handles too.


By the way, if anyone has one I have a dog guard for the estate sitting in the garage that you are welcome to (collection only!).

Slyme

Sounds like you got a melon, what a shame.

Agreed, the engine is noisy at the higher revs, but the pitch change and scream (which is awesome) is the VTEC kicking in, you want to change gear but she keeps on pulling! Variable valve technology is very impressive. It's very similar to the FTO I traded it in for. IIRC the engine also protects itself from overzealous drivers who try to rag it from cold, it doesn't allow the variable valves to engage until it's warmed up, a nice little engine safety feature.
Scoob is a completely different animal, not a viable comparison really.

Never had any problems with flaking paint or creaky suspension.

SimonD

The Impreza was introduced as a direct competitor to the Civic and Corolla.
It is only the fact that the major interest over here has been in the 4wd and turbo versions that makes us think of it as a more expensive/upmarket car.

I agree that the steering and suspension problems could have been peculiar to my car but it still felt like a car from a previous generation when compared to a non-turbo Impreza.
I can understand the appeal because it is quite a good looking car and the interior is quite nice for the money but I have never regretted buying a car as much as I did that one.

Slyme

I bought an Astra 2.2 bertone coupe after my FTO and I now regret buying it and am going to sell it, I know how you feel.

I think we get ideas and aspirations of a car that sometimes they can't live up to or what we expect we don't get. Things with most cars is that everyday use brings about things that we didn't realise would be there.

My Astra for example, I'm getting bored with it! It's the lowest power car I've ever owned but I bought to save a little money and for all the mod cons it had, Sat Nav, cruise leather, nice engine, reliability. She sounds good handles like a dream. But now it's cost me over a grand in 5 months. There's nothing else to go wrong admittedly now that everything is fixed but it's lost its magic. Maybe thats what happened, cos it happened to me.

Every other car has lived up to it's expectations: Astra GTE (i was at uni) brilliant car dashboard from knight rider made me feel like I was 12 again(need I say more ;-))! MR2 Turbo- amazing, Civic Vtec frightens and surprises a lot of mre traditional and expensive sporty cars, FTO- glorious V6 just loved looking at and driving it, quick car!

All my mates love my Astra coupe, the looks the sound and the toys and the colour (capri yellow). but the magic is gone from it for me, i'm sure her next owner will love her.

mynickers

Hi Simon, thanks for your imput. Does sound like you had a bad experience though, nearly all the feedback I have read has been really positive, and they hold their value like no-bodies business, sounds like yours might have been abused before you had it. The estate probably not the best body shape to take advantage of the 1.8 unit either.

RE: Scoob comparison, I thought the Impreza was a D sector car? I.E. equiv to an accord / Passat / Mundano etc. The Civic being a smaller car than that. VTI is also the warm hatch version (probably equiv to modern Type S), Type R the hot full on hatch. Accord Type R would be more of a competitor to a scoob IMO, which is a 2.2L VTEC.

Don't think you'd get much of a scoob at the £3500k mark, not a reliable un-ragged one anyway.

Thnx.

Jeff Wiltshire

My wifes red 1.8 Vti S reg (60K) is for sale if anyone is interested.

SimonD

You're right that you wouldn't get much of a scoob for £3.5k but they are not much bigger than the Civic. I've had a MY98 5dr and a MY00 4dr and there is nothing in it in terms of interior space when compared to the Civic.
The Scoob is a hell of a lot smaller than a Passat/Mondeo.

k.b

i was looking into possibly getting an MB civic for a wee while and during my search found out that it shares quite alot in common with the integra dc2 chassis apparently.basically you could transfer standard dc2 stuff onto the mb and it would be no hassle.only certain bits though i think.

Slyme

Good call K.B.

Some of the engine bits from the integra supposedly fit too.

shustir

Drove one of the civic 1.8 VTECs around for a bit and in all honesty I was very surprised with it. Surprised at the lack of performance ! It was well before I owned an impreza and hadn't been spoilt with other big performance cars. It was just so boreing. It was all very gradual I though things would liven up when I got into the VTEC range, but no nothing exciting at all ? I have driven other Honda VTECs with the same conclusion so it wasn't just this particular example. The only Honday VTEC that has put a smile on my face is the NSX, now that is a machine. Just my honest opinion

mg driver

try a zs 180 ,almost same car to the uneducated but the zs will eat the civic alive from a to b.
A chap on mg forum had a zs 180 he was struggling to afford to run so he got a cheap civic vti 170,ran it a few months then bought another zs 180 and said what the hell to the fuel costs .
Wont tell you what he said about the civic

mynickers

ZS is a 2.5L V6 IIRC? I'm not surprised it kills a 1.8 civic warm hatch.

Do MG Rovers have the same build quality though?

Daz1121

I had an 1.8VTi-S Civic after owning a series 3 Audi 80 coupe quattro 2.3i 20v. To be honest the Civic was a much better overall car and seem to be quicker too and handle better. I done a few mods to the Civic like a K&N induction kit and lowered it with Eiback spring that made the wheels fill the arches better. I had the car for almost 6 years and didn't have any major problems with it as it was so well build and very reliable. Only reason I sold it was because I fancied something different, always wanted a Classic Scoob so traded it in for one in a garage in Chester. The guy that traded in his BMW325i is very pleased with my old Civic and says it's more fun to drive and handles better than his old 325i. I would have another Honda, was going to get a Accord Type R but it was too ig to fit on the drive so thats why I got the Scoob as it wasn't much longer than the Civic.
I would hand on heart recommend The 1.8 VTi Civic to anyone and if you can find a good VTi-S, that comes with more of a body kit and Accord Type R style alloys. The best colour to get is the pirates black as it has a purple tint to it in certain lights and look well mean.

Richard_P

The civic is a good fun car, reliable too.

I'm not sure about the 325 comment, I went the other way, the 325 is as fast, although doesn't feel as fast due to no kick. However the handling is better unless you're a bit of a fairy that doesn't trust RWD Enough of that anyway, if you're thinking about a 325, don't. Get a 328 instead!

If you're thinking about a civic then i'd say go for it. Servicing isn't cheap, clutch changes, cambelt etc can be done for better prices are independent dealers.

Apart from servicing costs all my other experiences were good, that's 2 years and 25k miles worth in a 97 vti a few years back. It probably needs springs to stiffen up the ride a bit, slightly too family like handling for my liking.

mynickers

Cool stuff. I'm good friends with a main dealer who has basically offered me one at trade cost (give or take a few squids).

Car I'm looking at isn't listed as a VTI-S, but it does have the S wheels and looks like body kit too. In Pirates black, 45k miles, FHSH and comes with 6 month warranty. Listed for £5.5k.

Daz1121

Looking at a car like that brings back a lot of very good memories for me. If it was me I'd buy it. Sometimes I regret selling my old VTi-S but it was a few years older than the one you are looking at and a change was due. If you do get it one of the best things you can do is lower it so the whelles fill the arches better. Make the car handle that bit better (handles very well already) and makes it look much better too. If you buy it, make sure you post some good pics of it.
I'll dig out some pics of my old VTi-S later so you can see what it looks like lowered.

mynickers

That one does look like a VTI-S doesn't it?

Although it's badged as a VTI.

Not sure if I'll defo get that one, depends on whether I can get a really good price or not.

Daz1121

I think the VTi-S was only available from early 1998 untill late 2000 so it could be a VTi-S but my one and all the others I've seen have different wheels to the one in your pics.
Here is a link to more info on the car http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/sp...d=295&id=14534

Richard_P

£5500 doesn't sound that cheap. I paid £5500 for mine 3.5 years ago and thats was a 97P so I'd say for one to be the same money 3.5 years down the line for a 3.5 years younger car considering its an outdated model doesn't sound too good. £4k max i'd think.

mynickers

I'm not paying list price, I work for honda I'm trying to negotiate paying a little over trade

Monkeybone

They also have an lsd iirc as standard.

mynickers

I have been offered this one for £3.5k

Civic Hatchback 5 door 1.8 VTi-S
Body style Hatchback 5 door
Colour Milos White
Transmission Manual
Fuel Petrol
Mileage 21,000
Price £5,495
Date of registration 01/08/1998

I'm a little bit worried that a car of this age that has done so little mileage has only done short trips, obviuosly driving lots of short trips when the engine is cold probably does more wear than a car that's had some proper plat.

It's got a Full Honda Service History, do you think I'm worrying for nothing?

Daz1121

That seems a bit on the expensive side to me as wouldn't pay much more than £2500 for that car.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/use...&buyorsell=buy

mynickers

Hi Daz, good point, I hadn't checked out parkers, but mainly cause they're too broad to be accurate.

The actual model is 98S VTI-S, which is listed at a snip under £3.5k

http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/use...&buyorsell=buy

These prices are based on an average milleage of 70k miles, this one only has 21k. If you search on Honda.co.uk though, all the dealers are pricing them at £5.5k with milleage around 50k average. I've been looking for about 3 weeks and they're selling them. That black one went this week, haven't found out how much for yet, I'll call them 2moro but I doubt it was far off £5k. They do seem to hold their value when sold through a main Honda dealer.

£3.5k for a car listed at £5.5k with main dealer warranty is surely a good deal?

Daz1121

Just had a look on Autotrader and saw a 98 S 1.8VTi-S up for £3000 independant garage with 81K miles on the clock so if you can get it for £3500 then you are doing well by the loo of it.