All of a sudden, there are two new cars downstairs on stinky G4. First is the STI that you read about in our last issue (July '07 "Car Jacked"). Now, there's a brand-spankin' new Honda Civic Si sedan that we picked up from the Penske Honda dealership. And no, that isn't a typo. The car has four doors and is rocking the infamous Si badge on the back. With a tough decision between Taffeta White and Rallye Red, we chose the color that would get the most attention from cops.
For only a few thousand dollars more than an Civic EX sedan, you get the buff 2.0L motor that puts out 197hp and 139ft-lbs. of torque (EX has 140hp and 128ft-lbs. of torque) mated to a sexy six-speed tranny. Oh, and the redline goes much higher to 8,000rpm, compared to the 6,800rpm of the EX. So now, you can push the i-VTEC valve train to the limit.
Surrounding the driver is a rather sophisticated interior: racing-style seats, a digital speedometer and a giant tach with the bright red Si logo smack dab in the middle. To top it off, you get the space of a full sedan so you can lug around your deadbeat friends every time they bum a ride from you to pick up groceries. We're going to have fun with this one.
The Goal
We always hear people complain about how a dealer didn't warranty a problem with their car because they had aftermarket parts installed on it. That's not cool. Especially if the aftermarket parts aren't even related to the problem. With the Si, we picked it up brand-new, straight from Bryan Kobus and the crew at Penske Honda.
Since there are so many style and performance parts available from the dealer, we found it very hard to believe that a car can't be fixed up while under warranty at the same time. Some dealerships even sell aftermarket products in their parts department, so you can have them installed there. If you're going to trust someone to work on your Honda, it might as well be someone that actually works at Honda. We're going to start off by going through the Honda optional catalog and picking out some wheels, a body kit, and a stiffer suspension. You know, to see how far we can push the car to its limit while under the warranty. It's way better to work with the dealerships than against them. Once we're all maxed out with the Honda-approved stuff, we'll take it all off and start from the ground up with aftermarket parts that we're going to have the dealer install. In the end, we should have a pretty dope-looking car that's fast and still under warranty.