The experience of Si.....

[pure2.0]

I just came back from test driving a new 08 Civic Si coupe (NHBP....just like my old 07 ) on my way home from work as there was a dealership like 4 minutes up the road from my last appointment of the day. After getting back to the dealership and pulling the Si up front, I still had my heart fluttering in my chest and electricity in my veins.......

The power is in no way the same or close to my 07 WRX or the MS3 (which I have been test driving lately). They pull harder and have waves of torque that will be found nowhere in the Si. And that is ok.......The Si is its own car, its own experience. The car felt very direct, very nimble, very sporty. The handling is so sharp, so quick, and so stable at the same time. I came of the highway right next to the dealership on this nice snaking off ramp, and got well up into 3rd gear up near 70mph bringing out the beauty of the complete experience as the engine was singing, the short gear change, the car was pulling decently along the asphalt, cutting its way through the curves.......

The Si is much more than the sum of its parts. It is not an engine and some suspension tweaks, and a unique interior. It is a pure driving experience, a connection to what makes car people car people. It is that feeling that enthusiasts get when you are driving, and not just operating a vehicle.

Is is going to win a drag race against a Mustang GT, or beat an STi or MS3 from a roll on the highway, or set a better lap time than Elise or S2000.......probably not.

What it will do is make you smile each time you drive it, make you look forward to taking the long way home, give you chills when the needle hits 6,000 rpm's, inspire your inner race driver when you push the limits through a curve, and make you forget about horsepower, MSRP, 1/4 mile times, and everything else but the drive......


All of this is of course just my opinion, my experience of the situation. Everyone has there own.......

[pure2.0]

The above post comes partly in response to the "wishing I had....." feeling that I have found myself experiencing over the years, in regards to always wanting the car I don't have. In the last year myself, I have gone from an 06 WRX to an 07 Si, and then back to an 07 WRX (and am now test driving Si's and others cars again......). I saw a bunch of stuff on the Mazdaspeed3 in a thread on here over the last few days and after my test drive of the Si again today, I just felt like I wanted to post a new thread saying what I wanted to say......Thanks for listening......

[06CivEXJon]

Hows the GD WRX doing Pure? you should do an 05 Conversion! i heard its pretty easy. Did you test drive an 08 WRX yet? its so fugly and slow LOL. I cant wait until the 09 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart comes out! the car is going to be sick and awesome!

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by pure2.0

What it will do is make you smile each time you drive it, make you look forward to taking the long way home, give you chills when the needle hits 6,000 rpm's, inspire your inner race driver when you push the limits through a curve, and make you forget about horsepower, MSRP, 1/4 mile times, and everything else but the drive......

Amen. No need to go fast, because the experience is plenty enough!

[pure2.0]

Originally Posted by 06CivEXJon

Hows the GD WRX doing Pure? you should do an 05 Conversion! i heard its pretty easy. Did you test drive an 08 WRX yet? its so fugly and slow LOL. I cant wait until the 09 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart comes out! the car is going to be sick and awesome!

I did drive an 08 WRX about 2 weeks ago. I did like the feeling of the new rear suspension and noticed a pretty significant positive difference in the handling feel of the car. There is a good bit of body roll, but that can be corrected very easily and relatively cheaply with F/R sway bars, while still leaving suspension travel for crappy roads and snowy conditions(I live in MA). The car is much more stable and points into the turn better. It feels much more connected to the road(but much softer in stock form). The tranny is smother than previous years as they are using a revised Legacy tranny. The outside appearance.....well, they(Subaru) have the optional "sports grill", they(aftermarket) will have lips, side skirts, rear bumpers, kits, etc.....eventually......and the tail lights can just be covered up with tint/colored film......

The engine is decent, but not tuned like previous years. There is low rpm and mid-range thrust, but dies out after like 5,800rpms pretty badly. The power comes on at like 2,500 though, so it is really not that bad, it is just that the powerband has shifted. Instead of having to rev it a little for the 06-07's, and a lot for the 02-05's, you can just put your foot down and go. The power is smoother and does not have much of the traditional "turbo" feel to it; the "punch" is gone, replaced now with progressive, smooth acceleration. It is a good deal less sporty than years past, and honestly the engine feels boring stock. Highway driving is better because the torque peak is now at like 2,800rpms, so you get more passing power/engine response while cruising in 5th gear. However, the gears are a little longer, and if you run 3rd to redline the car can feel really slow for what it is. The trick is to shift at like 5,800rpms and it feels much better/faster.
The best thing is that the engine is a full Legacy swap that is just de-tuned and seems to take well to modifications. People are putting intakes and catbacks on and getting a bunch more power (20+). As well, people are putting downpipes on the cars with no engine management and seeing great gains with NO boost spikes, air-fuel ratio concerns, or other problems.

Honestly, it seems like a decent platform.....It has much better handling potential with the new suspension setup, the tranny is smoother, and the engine makes a nice bit of "daily useable" power. I think of it as a "baby Legacy" more than a WRX. I mean in Japan, there is no current WRX. They call it the S-GT, which is basically what we have in America as the WRX. I might be looking at trading my 07 in sometime in the fall/model year end. Of course I am also looking at the Civic Si again, because even though the WRX has a ton more torque, I am having "issues" again with it, and the Si is just a more focused driving experience - you more "at one" with the car/experience.

[quackattack88]

First time i drove the si, "gawd dam this sh1t is vicious." After I drove my sister g37 "gawd dam si got nothing on this." g37 more money=much faster.