hi, i hail from the world of offroad 4x4's but ive been considering buying myself a sport compact for some time

to make a long story short i have little avaliable funds (so i cant afford wasted money), my current daily driver vehicle i a lifted gas guzzling torquey 89 jeep xj, and my daily commute involves highway miles (my xj is road-unfriendly). so i am looking for a daily driver to go to work and college so i can leave the pride and joy intact for the weekends of mudding and if i manage to break the jeep i still have a backup vehicle

i want something small so it wont hog driveway space, easy on the gas for the commute and most of all the ability to add decent performance



now to the main topic:

what type of motor, trans, year, model, etc do i look for when shopping for a civic?

what are good links or build sheets for civic engines?

what should be the first things i should be upgrading once i purchase a civic?

what should i be expected to pay for a structuraly sound civic?

anything else i should take into consideration?



any info, links, comments, suggestions will be greatly appreciated

 

You should look into a coupe from years 92-00. D series motor (for gas savings), D15b7, D16y8 engines, if you want decent performance I'd say go with EX model. unless you are going to put a turbo in I/H/E is pretty much the concensus on first mods. for a 92-95 max 4k for 96-00 depending on year and milage maybe 6-8k max. If you can find out how well the car was taken car of by previous owner.

 

i was able to get my 96 ex for 4k in pretty good condition but i got pretty lucky. Most people wanted from 5-7 k for similar models. I love mine, and unless you plan on turboing (the easiest and cheapest way to add power) spend some money on intake, header, and exhaust. If you plan on going turbo in the future, dont bother with the intake and header as they will be replaced anyway. Good luck with your shopping!

p.s. I floor it everywhere and get about 29 in city just so you know.

 

no trying to get of topic but...HOW THE HE1L??? if i do tht i get lyk 15-17....

and Chimera has the perfect idea...i got a 98 EX coupeand it runs lyk a dream great on gas (dont get me wrong i let my car redline ALL the time and no problems), Intake/Header/Exhaust would be ur first mod to get BETTER gas milage as well as HP. these cars respond good to mods and r just a great car all around

-JP

 

so a EX edition's motor is generally more potent than the rest? or does it just have more potential? im not really looking to get 30 miles the gallon, if i could it would be kinda nice but anything that improves over my current 12mpg would be great

what about older model civics? i dont really have the cash to lay down 4k on a 98 model. so whats the word on a 88-92ish civic? any major problems? any advantages?

 

the older cars could have some rust and more engine problems cause the engines r much older but if u run it not to hard ull b fine. the older modles also dont have as much HP for stock engines but u can swap in a better engine cheaper.

-JP

 

woot! another XJ owner. post up pics of it. mine is in my gallery along with the bro's green one

 

you can find yourself a decent condition crx hf. great on gas, small, decent cargo room. its very slow but if your after gas milage a good tune up and you can get upwards of 45mpg.

 

i sold my digital camera for some rollerrockers on the ol' I-6 xj...

but its nothing special, yet. 2"bb, gutted interior, airflow snorkel, 31" dakota MT's, and i still havent decided weither to relocate the stock flares or just go with tj flares...

btw, very nice xj, im going to eventually go with cragers like you, shes very clean and well taken care of from the outside. nice flex too. now just go through some mud and rocks


im actually checking out a late 80's prelude by my house. the price is at 2300 with 120k miles. the body has minimal rust except on the rocker panels, so im going to use them as a selling point. the engine runs suprisingly well but the previous owner smokes, 'nother selling point, yay.

hopefully i pick something up soon, once the xj is out of commision its an excuse to stroke the engine