1994 Honda Civic SiR from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Oil sump had a leak at approximately 75,000 kilometers. Easily fixed.

Minor issues such as bulbs needing replacing.

No serious faults.

The VTEC engine is fantastic. The particular variant in the SiR is the famous B16A. The variable valve timing system does wanders for such a small displacment. The engine revs higher than I've previously experienced. It is strong enough to handle regular abuse with shifts above the sky high 7000 RPM range.

The great thing about the VTEC engine is its versatilty. It acts as an economical and modest engine in traffic, but can double as a race engine in the weekends.

The greatest benefit of this car is its economy. However, it only produces power at high rev ranges. Low down, the car is under powered.

Unfortunately, the interior is bland and plain. Honda let us all down with this one. The seats offer little support, and the dash board is a dull grey in colour. The white gauges are a pleasing attribute however.

The SiR really handles. Another great thing about these civics, is the selection of after market parts available at relitively low cost. VTEC controllers, suspension, body kits-you name it.

My latest dyno run offered power figures of 122kW @ 6500 RPM. A little down on power, but this is to be expected on a car approaching 100,000 kms.

A final hint to all civic owners: they respond fantastically well to a simple performance air filter, and exahust system.

Hi, I'm looking to buy a replacement for my current car (an 87 XF Falcon) in around a year for somewhere up to around 7k - 8k at most, and I'm considering a 91-95 civic Si. Because I'm a student, my funds are limited, so I have a couple of questions.

I've heard a lot about Honda parts being extremely costly compared to other common manufacturers (Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Holden, etc) and I'm just wondering how much more they actually are. Also, if you know of any common problems that could be a headache?

Secondly, would you be able to give me some idea of the type of fuel consumption that could be expected?

Finally, what standard features do the cars have (power windows, mirrors, central locking, etc)?

You can contact me at crimson_stallion@hotmail.com.

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers,

Pete.

This is in response to the recent inquiry about mileage/features of the 92-95 Civic.

I live in the US and own a 94 EX coupe 5 speed, but should be able to answer your question pretty well nonetheless.

The 1.6 sohc vtec engine that I'm running, found in most ex/ es civics (d16 variant) gets around 35 mpg mixed. I've heard of people getting around 40, maybe that's what I'm getting on the highway; I haven't stuck to the highway enough to know what kind of consumption I would get just on the highway... gas mileage does go down a bit with more aggressive driving (i.e. high revs).

The b16 engine found in the civic this review treats and later si variants I have heard gets around 30-35 mpg, but I would check through reviews in here and on edmunds. com (which deals with mainly us cars) to see what the general consensus is. the si with the b16 was sold in the us in 99 and I think 2000.

The d15 non vtec engines (and the vtec one found in the vx hatch) get higher mileage than the d16 and b16 vtec engines. most people cite at least 40 mpg for the dx/lx engine, and around 50 for the vx engine. the cx hatch engine (less powerful than the dx/lx engine) it seems pulls around 40-45 mpg. The vx engine is even less powerful than the cx engine, but is designed solely for gas mileage. the gear ratios reflect this on the non-sporty models, especially the cx and vx which are geared pretty high, like many european cars (like the 1.2 litre vw polo I rented the other day in spain...).

As for features, in the us, ex models were fully loaded (sunroof, ABS, cruise, tach, ac, pl pw pm...), and most si models are too (especially 99 si, but some of the earlier si hatches came stripped down). The lx has everything, but ABS and a sunroof (pretty much), the dx is pretty much barebones other than a clock, mirrors, hubcaps, stereo (I think that was standard) and maybe power steering and optional ac, the cx and vx I am pretty sure were both totally stripped except for a clock. the non-power steering has a nice direct feel that is not felt on the models with power steering (such as mine). the lighter weight of the hatches and especially the stripped-down cx and vx civics makes them ideal candidates for tuning (i.e. b16/b18 swap)...

I don't think I could have summed that up any better, and it was nice to be reminded about all of the differences between the various models and engines. I totally agree about the non-power steering benefits of the lower model hatches. I drove a 94 CX hatch and it felt much more direct than the steering on my 94 EX coupe. The gearing was also higher on the CX, even on first gear. The EX I am driving is geared pretty low compared to most if not all manuals I've driven. I hear the jeeps are geared much lower, though.