I was looking at these cars because of the HS Autocross changes thinking I could find them cheap because they are a civic and they are all like $12000 in my area, the cheapest 2006 is like $10,000. For an 8 year old civic that seems crazy to me. My first car was a Mazda Protege with the BP, which I consider a similar car for it's era, and that cost me $2000 when it was 8 years old. Are used car prices on newer cars this crazy now?
How are these cars anyways? Seems like something that would be competitive in HS so I was thinking about buying one and actually trying to run to win instead of run for fun like I used to.
calteg
HalfDork
10/6/14 8:08 p.m.
Some of the earlier ones had issues with the 2nd gear syncho going out and grinding. To me, sub $10,000 seems like a bargain for what they are, though I suppose that's relative.
I'm not a cone dodger, so I can't speak to their autox prowess.
The reason why they pique my curiosity is that they have similar power to a Fiesta ST but have a limited slip and you can probably put Mugen parts on them and get a stiffer suspension. IDK much about Street rules but i'm assuming that's allowed
They are great autox cars. I'd look for 08-11 if I were you. They figured out all the bugs by 08 and 09-11 got updated front bumpers that look better and upgraded interior materials that don't wear as much.
Throw a decent set of rubber on them with a big rear sway bar and you'll have a great HS car. They are a blast to drive and revving to 8k with Honda reliability is always fun. It's a Civic so there is always a big aftermarket.
The four door does have better handling than the coupe also. I wish I never got rid of my 8th gen (i say this about every car I feel). The 9th gen is great as well but the 8th gen just had a more visceral experience. 8k redline proper sport seats, huge tach and red faced guages, plenty of room to haul stuff, etc. Just think WRXs and STIs from 04 are still fetching 10-22k....with 100k miles.
DirtyBird222 wrote:
They are great autox cars. I'd look for 08-11 if I were you. They figured out all the bugs by 08 and 09-11 got updated front bumpers that look better and upgraded interior materials that don't wear as much.
Throw a decent set of rubber on them with a big rear sway bar and you'll have a great HS car. They are a blast to drive and revving to 8k with Honda reliability is always fun. It's a Civic so there is always a big aftermarket.
The four door does have better handling than the coupe also. I wish I never got rid of my 8th gen (i say this about every car I feel). The 9th gen is great as well but the 8th gen just had a more visceral experience. 8k redline proper sport seats, huge tach and red faced guages, plenty of room to haul stuff, etc. Just think WRXs and STIs from 04 are still fetching 10-22k....with 100k miles.
This is precisely the kind of specific info I was looking for, thanks.
Dirtybird hit a lot of the high points so look at mine as an addendum. All I can say is that they hold their value surprisingly well. I waited over a year and half for their value to drop but values hardly budged. I eventually caved and picked up an 07 sedan (because of car seat) in june for a decent price, but had to travel to get it. So far I am enjoying it quite a bit. It is fun enough to autocross gets decent enough mpg and has proven trouble free.
When I bought it I fully expected to be a GS underdog and now it is highly likely that it will be somewhat competitive in HS.
Regarding autocross, pros are
-the limited slip
-reasonable power
-Adjustable toe
Cons are
-2nd and 3rd gear synchros. They can grind.
-lack of front camber,
-too much rear camber in stock class(I managed to get 0.6 camber -ve front and about -2.0 rear),
-Rear toe adjustment affects camber iirc
-lack of torque,
-non ideal 2nd gear ratio (about 57mph in mine I hit the limiter) for national level courses and
-weight (The sedans will most likely be over 3k pounds in stock autocross trim with a driver.)
AFAIK the mugen parts will not be allowed in HStreet. The mugen stays in GS.
My plan next season all things being equal--and auto ADD doesnt get the best of me--is to begin to prep it for HSTREET. So far I have a progress 22mm rear bar. Next year i plan on installing koni sports, drop in filter and I should be good to go locally.
I will spend next season learning to drive it and 2016 I will shoot for better tires and attending 2 national level events; 1 regional and then the national championship.
Just drove an 09 from Texas up to Rallycross Nationals, ran it in PF (where the owner won) and then drove back. They are way better than I expected. I'm kind of shopping for one now.
The site that listed the mugen as HS looks like they retracted it after I read it:
http://www.solomatters.com/street_category_moves_for_2015
This generation of Civics really hold their value. I sold a 2006 Civic LX, with a suspension problem, 2 bald tires, hail/acorn damage, a dent in the hood (deer) and 160k miles for $3500. The dude flipped it for $5k 
.
You're right that $10,000 is crazy for an '06, at least in my opinion. Unless it's particularly low miles or something. Also, they have the good K20 that everybody wants to swap, so that boosts prices some.
Biggest issue for autocross is the lack of front camber (an issue on almost all modern MacPherson strut cars). For that reason, I'd fore go the rear bar and find the biggest front bar that you can, hopefully adjustable. If you start lifting the inside front, you'll defeat the mechanical limited slip (it's helical). Having a big front bar will help keep what little camber you do have while cornering.
They are shockingly good cars otherwise. People always moan that Honda doesn't make great enthusiast cars anymore, but the '06-Present Si is a pretty fantastic fun daily driver, especially in Sedan configuration. For autocross, you want a Coupe though, as they surely weigh a good bit less.
For some crazy reason, I started scoping out the earlier Si's, you know the breadvans. Anything that is nice is way overpriced. Anything cheap or reasonable has riceboy all over it.
They also have some of the best ergonomics I've ever encountered and with how high the digital speedometer is mounted one could almost call it a HUD. 
Vigo
PowerDork
10/8/14 4:50 p.m.
My first car was a Mazda Protege with the BP, which I consider a similar car for it's era, and that cost me $2000 when it was 8 years old. Are used car prices on newer cars this crazy now?
The main problem is that you consider those similar cars. I think the civic in question is approximately 4x the car (as delivered) to the BP protégé. Granted, they cost MORE than 4x as much but a lot of that has to do with age. Take out that element and a 5 year old civic Si is probably a better deal in today's dollars than a 5 year old Protégé was back when protégés were 5 years old.
It's not much of a stretch to say that the engine out of an 8th gen civic Si is currently worth more than the majority of protégés ever built are now worth as a whole car.
LainfordExpress wrote:
You're right that $10,000 is crazy for an '06, at least in my opinion. Unless it's particularly low miles or something. Also, they have the good K20 that everybody wants to swap, so that boosts prices some.
Biggest issue for autocross is the lack of front camber (an issue on almost all modern MacPherson strut cars). For that reason, I'd fore go the rear bar and find the biggest front bar that you can, hopefully adjustable. If you start lifting the inside front, you'll defeat the mechanical limited slip (it's helical). Having a big front bar will help keep what little camber you do have while cornering.
They are shockingly good cars otherwise. People always moan that Honda doesn't make great enthusiast cars anymore, but the '06-Present Si is a pretty fantastic fun daily driver, especially in Sedan configuration. For autocross, you want a Coupe though, as they surely weigh a good bit less.
When I see that car for $10,000 I know I can get a 350Z for that price because I sold my 350Z for that price a few years ago.
Vigo wrote:
My first car was a Mazda Protege with the BP, which I consider a similar car for it's era, and that cost me $2000 when it was 8 years old. Are used car prices on newer cars this crazy now?
The main problem is that you consider those similar cars. I think the civic in question is approximately 4x the car (as delivered) to the BP protégé. Granted, they cost MORE than 4x as much but a lot of that has to do with age. Take out that element and a 5 year old civic Si is probably a better deal in today's dollars than a 5 year old Protégé was back when protégés were 5 years old.
It's not much of a stretch to say that the engine out of an 8th gen civic Si is currently worth more than the majority of protégés ever built are now worth as a whole car.
Well I consider them similar aside technological advancement. Modern cars are way "better" in a few ways than cars were back then in general. Like a Genesis V6 is probably better than a MK3 Supra i'd wager however I consider them to be, for their respective eras, near identical much like I would consider a 90s camaro and today's.
I was really interested in them until I realized a first generation CTS-V goes for the same price.
