GRobinson324@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hello guys,
>
> I just wanted to share a little bit of my story of tuning these
> wonderful vehicles. Back in 2003, after graduating high school, I was
> able to secure a nice paying summer job at a local amusement park. I
> worked long hours in the 90 degree heat. The only thing that kept me
> going all those months was my dream. This dream was to own a 2000
> Honda Civic Si. My room walls were a collage of all types of Honda's
> in various states of tune. I would awake to pictures of Honda's and go
> to sleep to them.
>
> After working all summer I had saved up about $4000. Sadly, I was
> unable to find a 2000 Honda Civic Si locally, So I put a down payment
> on a Black 1999 Civic Ex 4 dr. I was so excited the first day I bought
> her home! Over the next few weeks my love for this automobile grew and
> grew! The first part I purchased was an AEM cold air intake. I had
> never worked on a car before, but once it arrived I eagerly ripped
> into the packaging. I quickly begin to try to get this thing on my
> car. The instructions said an estimated install time of 2 hours, it
> took me more like 8!! But after successfully getting it installed by
> myself, I was hooked. My addiction to car tuning had taken hold.
>
> The next few years saw many more upgrades; cat back exhaust, shift
> knob, sound system, lowering springs, 18's, projector headlamps, and
> racing seats. By mid 2006, I had just begun to save up for my body
> kit, when the unthinkable happened. My baby, while parked unoccupied,
> was TOTALED by some jerk showing off in a Publix parking lot!! All
> that work down the tubes in a few seconds. I was devastated.
>
> It's all good because my insurance company sent me a nice sized check
> for the Civic. The Honda pictures are back up on the wall, and right
> now I'm saving up for another Honda. I'm leaning towards a RSX,
> Prelude, or 6th Gen Accord. I learned many lessons from my first car.
> With my new car I'm not going to waste any money on bolt-on goodies,
> I'm going straight for a built engine and boost. I plan on making a
> huge down payment so I can have low monthly's, to free up a lot of
> money for tuning. I keep these hopes and dreams on my mind everyday.
> It really helps, since been riding a bike since the accident.
>
> In my spare time, I run a blog devoted to Honda Tuning. It can be
> found at http://hipohonda.blogspot.com. Check it out, I'm sure any
> Honda fan will feel right at home on the site.
>
> Anyone else have any stories about their Honda tuning adventures?
>


I haven't done anything to it yet, and will probably just do
maintainance instead of tuning, but I recently bought a '95 Civic EX
sedan, and I'd like to warn people looking for a 'sporting' Honda to
avoid the EX sedan. It looks sporty, handles well, but between the
outrageously tall gearing and lack of power below 5000 rpm, it
definitely *isn't* a car to drive fast. Fortunately for me that isn't a
priority, but I still marvel at how much slower this 125 HP car is in
normal driving than my 91 HP 1986 Civic Si. It's more like a Ford Tempo
four when I'm trying to merge into freeway traffic...

So if you want acceleration, get the Si. Don't be fooled by the
looks of the EX.