1997 Honda Civic HX from North America - Comments

Actually I have a 99' HX with the same specs. I DYNOed it at school and came to about 120 with no mods. (to the brakes) so about maybe 90-100 to the wheel. D16Y5 engine with 98k on it, changed oil every 3k miles. I'm looking at about 38 city and about 41-42 highway. Filled up and went from Arlington to Austin (200 miles approximately) and back no problem.

Hit up to 125 and RPM governed back to 90. Thinking about maybe turbo and having a ecu expert friend of mine look at it and raising the governor to about 130-140. Maybe take the RDX turbo into my HX. RDX turbo is a GREAT design.

Overall, Excellent car. Wouldn't trade for anything.

Just got a 97 Civic HX with many mods. It has headers, cold air, v-tech controller, LSD transmission, t3/t4 turbo with all piping and intercooler, also oil cooler, skunk 2 intake manifold, MSD ignition, and hondata hookup computer upgrade.

Pushing 220hp to the wheels. Oh yeah.

Civic boy out.

I love My 97 civic HX 5 speed. I have owned it for 5 years now and have had no problems with it yet... topped it out at 118.

I have had my 1997 Honda Civic HX (Manual) from new. I have had no problem with it. It currently has 126,000 miles on the odometer. I love the gas mileage and the power when you punch it. I would love to see Honda bring back this HX model on a current Civic. I would be the first to buy one!!!

I bought my 97 Honda Civic HX new in 97, and it now has over 200,000 miles on it. Still drives like new, and I still get over 40 MPG. I'm so glad I chose this vehicle.

The legend of all honda's is what I call the hx. Had it since 97 and 160 thousand miles later it still runs perfect. Hx rules : p.

The HX isn't worth the money and trouble over the other versions. It has no torque and tall manual gearing combined with High RPM HP, meaning your going to have to shift a lot to grab at the horse power that is waaay up in the RPM range. So if you're like one of those people in SUVs that like to do everything else but pay attention to the road, this might not be a good choice as this is a slightly more "technical" ride.

Put another way, if you live in a very mountainous area or do a lot of city driving, "Zippy" or "peppy" high RPM cars are not as fun. All the great gas mileage people are talking about is lost when you're in the mountains as you are either shifting constantly to maintain speed with the rest of traffic (no torque) or, like some people, get lazy and keep it running at high RPMs. And as far as hitting 100 miles per hour, who cares. Delorian's are known as "fast" cars, but they're not. They may go 160 miles per hour but take forever to get there. This is the case with the Civic HX.

For the $100 you save in gas in one year, you will make up for it when the oxygen sensor goes $400-$500 vs. $90 for an oxygen sensor for the other Civic versions. Further, as with any specialty engines, as I have owned many cars over the years, parts are rarely in stock and you are now stuck waiting a day or two to get then from some storage facility out of state, and paying the shipping fee. Further, O2 sensors for this car are hard for most mechanics to figure out. Let me save you a lot of money: When you engine arbitrarily cuts out and it has high mileage, it's because the heat element in the O2 sensor is going. Most mechanics will miss this as they are not used to testing the heat element and will want to replace something else that doesn't need to be replaced.

If you can find an HX priced the same as a LX, with a recently replaced OEM (not aftermarket "up to OEM standards") Oxygen sensor and the car is in good shape with rings and valves that are in spec, and the AC works well, go for it. Also only bring this thing to Honda dealerships, as with all specialty engines you going to pay to train your local mechanic to work on a car he sees maybe once in 5 years. Even the Honda mechanics struggled to find that my engine cut was because the heater wire in the O2 was shot. Local mechanics aren't going to have a rare, spare car like this on the lot to swap out parts with till they can identify the problem.

Also, this car is super light by design to further reduce gas consumption. Don't buy the k-mart "I'm cheap tires". Get high performance tires (meaning have two sets of tires) for the summer and winter. And just so I can say it "I told you so". This car slides like there is no tomorrow and is in need of very grippy tires. Having ridden on the crap the previous owner had verse the extra money I paid out, the difference was beyond night and day and they saved me from a couple accidents.

Lastly, after owning a Honda, now I can say that these cars are on par with American cars as far as "low maintenance and lasts longer". Nothing special, just make sure you're not comparing a supercharged Mustang to a Civic. Obviously the charger is going to beat on the car more. I have had to replace all the things that one usually has to change with age. Don't let your dumb co worker who ignored the yellow engine in their Ford play it off like their engine just blew up out of no-where. These days American cars are on par and in some cases better in the body-roll and steering response department. Just be smart, take care of any car as reasonable and remember that "Positive thoughts" won't save your car from what happens when you ignore that yellow engine light. It's not trying to tell you it loves you.

I bought a 97 HX (5speed) about 2 weeks ago. I've had a 98 EX (auto) but I sold it for 4,000 when I only bought it for 2000. My HX has all 4 strut bars, AEM intake, 18 inch Katana Inspire chrome rims, drilled and slotted rotors, and it's silver.

This car runs great. It has 206,000+ miles on it.

The check engine light came on recently, but I think it's because my air filter is disgustingly dirty.

I've ordered a skunk short shifter, a Type R shift boot, a Type R shift knob, heat wrap to keep the engine bay cooler, and I'm planning on buying an MSD SS package.

I don't like the idea of the manifold and converter in one. I can't buy a high performance header because it's impossible.

I have big plans for this car, but until the motor blows I'll keep driving and upgrading.

The 0 to 60 on my HX is about 7.5 seconds. I've done it with a stop watch about 20 times, and so have my friends. I haven't had the car over 90, but I'm sure it will do 125 like the rest of them.

I put high test gas in it (2.29 a gal) and drive 240 miles, and I'm paying about 8 cents a mile.

This car is great. It also has halo headlights, fog lights, tints all around, cat back (all the way to the converter), I've been thinking about gutting the converter BTW!

I too am the proud owner of a BLK 97 Honda Civic HX, manual, and it's at 178K, cool running like a Jamaican. I feed her synthetic oil and premium juice. Keep my psi up, only mod is a KGN intake, and I get great speed and performance with amazing 40+ mpg.

-g8ost.

It actually is possible to put a header on an HX even though the cat is built in. Dumb design if you ask me, but if you plan on keeping the O2 sensors from setting your check engine light off, I wouldn't bother with the header.

Another thing about the HX is the CVT transmission, which has extremely tell gears as was previously stated.

Overall, if you are looking for a Civic to mod, don't go with the HX. You will spend a lot more money in the long run than if you had just went ahead and got an Si.

I own a 97 HX and have put every mile on it currently 313,200,5sp, AEM cold air, powercore header thermal research and development exhaust, powercore high flow cat, neuspeed strut bar and rear swaybar slotted rotors.

The only problems I've had are O2 sensors, and yes the header primary O2 is costly, and brakes, fuel gauge, 2 timing belts (I do all the work).

I still have the original alternator, clutch, radiator and hoses, car runs great 43-46.6 mpg 450-510 per tank of reg 87 octane gas.

The one thing I've found is the EGR valve and ports on the intake manifold need to be cleaned out or mileage will suffer, and the check engine light will come on. There's a cover 5-6 bolts right behind the fuel injectors. You have to pull the fuel rail off to access the cover, can cause misfire problem, 100,000 miles clean it out. Run full syn. Valvoline oil engine and transmission.

I have a 98 Honda Civic HX. I definitely know it will do all of 130 without any problems. I need to know though if it is vtech? It should climb rpms faster after 4000, right? But mine doesn't really feel any different. Any suggestions on to why my vtech doesn't work or what?