Hey guys, I currently drive a '94 Civic LX and it's been really great. Gets me from A to B while sipping fuel. However, I was thinking about moving up to something faster.

I know a guy selling a '92 Civic VX with some mods. The car isn't much to look at (plus he's selling it with steelies) and a different color hatch, but he says it's fast. He says he'll give me a break on the price since I know him, but I honestly never owned a turbo car before so I'm not sure if this is a good buy. Below is what he lists:

"kyb fully adjustable suspension, traction bars, poly urethane bushings. the motor is a jdm ls with about 35,000 miles on it with a NEW 6 puck act clutch and 9lb fidanza flywheel. the transmission is a 99 jdm b16 last week dave and i replaced the syncros in it and welded the diff. the turbo kit is a garrett 60 trim with a xs blow off valve and huge front mount. it also has dsm 450cc injectors and a chipped computer. it now has a side exit exhaust.car is on 14lbs of boost and does high 11's. the car had a dent in the back of it wen i bought it and they tried to fix it with bondo"

Here are some pics:









So what would be a fair price for the car?

 

It is not a good buy. I wouldn't give him more than $1500 for it. He slapped a cheap motor and turbo on it and put an ECU on it.

If you do not know what you are doing with a turbo set-up I suggest you to read up on it until you do understand it. I would be leery of the trans work since he could have just got a replacement b18 trans for cheap. Also not sure what welding the diff is a positive. Is that some sort of make-shift LSD? Tranny problems are not fun to deal with.

Off the top of my head

-Check the condition of the turbo
-Find out what brand waste gate is installed
-Replace the blow off valve since XSpower is a cheap "eBay" brand
-Not a fan of DSM injectors
-"Huge" front mount doesn't necessarily mean anything (an intercooler could be "too" big)
-Side exit exhaust will probably not pass NJ inspection (not 100% sure since i don't live there)
-Ask for receipts regarding the tune
-Does it have any gauges (A/f, boost, oil psi at the least?)?
-I doubt he is going fast enough to need a rear diffuser
-If you think you can handle the body work, that's a plus I guess
-How do you know him?
-Why is he selling it?
-Don't worry about the wheels, those are either Fit wheels or Civic SI (02-05) wheels; they are ugly IMO.
-Clean title?

 

I'm surprised the build is that bad. I'll admit I never heard of the XSpower brand. Though for what it is, I figured it'd be worth around $2000 to $3000. It has a name brand turbo and a (somewhat) upgraded engine. It's no 10 second car, but I figured it'd be a fun replacement to my '94 stock LX Civic .

 

A welded diff is no longer a diff...and if it wasn't done right it will destroy the tranny quickly. It basically locks the wheels together (aka no diff function at all). That only should be done on drag-only FWD cars and good luck cornering in that. It's horrible for the street.

 

Spool + FWD = good luck turning.

I have a RWD car with an LSD that locks up way too early and taking tight turns sucks... I can't imagine trying to take a tight turn on a FWD car and having one of the front wheels hopping its way around said turn.

Anyway, I wouldn't even think about buying that car. He has the cheapest B-series money can buy, he pieced a turbo setup together, and he turned the open diff into a lincoln locker. Things don't exactly look good.

 

i had a fox mustang that had a spool in the rear a couple months back STAY AWAY! it will corner terrible and it tires up really fast..that is not something meant to be driven on the street....car will not pass NJ inspection either with the side exhaust it needs to exit behind the rear wheels...i pulled up with dumps and they wouldn't even inspect the car like that