1989 Honda CRX from UK and Ireland - Comments

Absolutely nothing! Have replaced air filter, fuel filter, oil, HT leads, spark plugs, but only out of being totally bored! Now modified!

I bought the CRX 6 months ago from a 70 year old owner who had it from new, in mint condition! A cliche yes, but it is the best car I have ever owned! I thought being nearly 17 years old it would need some money spent on it, but it has cost me nothing, but fuel bills, which have been perfectly accepted considering the performance! 32+ even if you have been hammering it! I got 47mpg on 250 mile trip, mind I was driving like an old granny!

The D16A9 under the bonnet is perhaps the best engine ever built, except from the B16A1 of course, but I find the D series more drivable in the real world!

When carrying 2-4 people in the CRX, the performance is still there, but only when you're by yourself and with no fuel, and you hit 5000rpm, do you see the real potential! It is more like a 2 litre plus turbo than a 1.6 N/A!!! Manic top end shove!

Other so called hot hatches don't come close in a straight line or on a fast B road i.e. Golf GTI's and yes VR6s, Pug 205 GTi's. Only a Sunny GTi can have it in a straight line, but then on a bend the CRX wins again!! A personal hobby of mine is embrassing REP's on my daily commute to UNI. In their Golf TDI 150s they keep up to 5000rpm, but then they just disappear!!! Great fun.

I have now had some mild engine work done and it's now pushing out 185bhp! Now 1993-1996 3.0 (not evo 3.2) M3 territory, from a 1.6 - NGK-R Spark plugs, Magencor Racing leads 8.5mm, AEM cold air intake, 4-2-1 DC sorts exhaust manifold, Mugen ECU with raised rev limiter to 8000rpm, Full mongoose exhaust, FSE power boost valve and bored out throttle body!

As for comfort, I am just 5'9", but I can drive for up to 5 hours without a break and feel fine. People complain about the noise at high speeds! Isn't that the point? Why not buy a Vectra then?

Fitting upper and lower strut braces front and rear, and dropping it 40mm has made it the best handling car I have ever driven!

All I can say is this has to be the best car of the 80s and early 90s! I rest my case - double wishbone suspension front and rear in 1987!!!

I totally agree with everything above!

Fantastic with no limits whatsoever!

I must ask though where did you get your Mugen chip and exhaust manifold from as I'd like to chase bigger cars now too hehe!

You will find out the Best Hot-Hatch's of the 80's and early 90's is the 205 GTi 1.9 and Golf GTi 16v! Sure they are not as fast in a straight line, but the overall package's make them Classics!

But then each to their own I believe! :-)

The astra gte and civic, crx are the best hatches from the 80's, golf gti's are too slow, and peugeots are french, end of.

The Golf and 205 are LEGENDS! Straight line speed ain't everything!

What make's a Classic Hot-Hatch is the fun factor, which I'm afraid the Civic doesn't have!!

You class the GTE as a classic, whenever was that?

You clearly don't understand anything about GREAT cars!!

End of!!!

If you think a 1989 CRX Si isn't fun, then you clearly don't know the definition of fun. And, unlike the VW and the Peugeot, it was and is actually reliable. One of the greatest cars ever made.

Just compare the engines, the crx is a 1.6 160bhp

astra is about 150bhp

no way can the golf or pug produce that sort of power

its just not straight line speed handling aswell.

What makes a classic is how people view them, and most people would veiw the GTE and CRX as classics.

I agree with guy who say's the Golf and the 205 where kings in the 80's!

The CRX looks weird, and the only thing its got going for it, is its engine!

The Golf and 205's overall package's rightly make them classic's the minute they stopped making them!

The CRX is good hatch, which is a good buy for people (not my taste),but can't be classed as a classic.

I think the CRX looks gorgeous, and by the way they are worth quite a bit now; a lot more than the 205 and GTI.

Nice review, but how do you carry "2-4 people" in a CRX? I've driven an SI and an HF from the early '90s, and I can't imagine squeezing more than one other occupant in. Maybe one more with the rear hatch open, but 4 people?