2000 Acura 1.6 EL 1.6

Summary:

Overall for my first car I don't think I could have bought a better car

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with car was the driver door actuator went on me. It cost 180 for the part and 100 dollars to install, it's worth it to have my key less working though.

General Comments:

I was very surprised when I bought this car. It gets incredible fuel economy, I get about 500 km on one tank in the city!! Those are reasonably hard kilometers, I hit redline or close to it often.

It has good power for a small car around the city it's great. Even passing on the highway it does alright.

Sometimes I will drop down to third gear to pass, but that usually is not needed. Before I bought this I drove around Chevy corsica and that was a joke. I timed it from 0-60 mph it took 17 seconds, what the hell it that! The el does it in 8, that's a bit quicker.

It is also very comfortable. I have a bad back and I find it fine for short or long trips. The seats could be a little more supportive when you start to push it hard.

The dealer that I went to was extremely nice. I have never seen a dealership that was this good, they are just like your friends.

This my first car and I love it. I have never driven an import before this car and I will never go back. Everything is better about them from the smooth reliable power to the high resale value.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th October, 2004

3rd Feb 2008, 23:08

I love this car.

14th Apr 2008, 16:09

Wow, your first car and the previous one was a corsica. hmm...

30th Sep 2009, 02:31

Wish I would have saw this car before I bought a 2002 Mazda Protege... damn rubber plastic timing belt, not much for the parts, but comes to 700-800 dollars with labour.

2000 Acura 1.6 EL SE 1.6

Summary:

Great bang for the buck

Faults:

Front left strut needed replacing at 145k

Cylinders "wash" when car sits for a few days. That means gas enters the engine too soon, washing oil off the cylinders. You end up with no compression and you can't start the car. It's an easy problem to avoid, if you remember, and it takes about 10 minutes to remedy the situation.

General Comments:

This is a great car. I've driven it from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles (2000km) 5 times and I never tire of this car.

I've done several modifications to the engine and suspension. It is much quicker now, running 16.05 in the quarter mile at 87.4mph.

I highly recommend this car over any other car for the price. You can't go wrong and with 45mpg (sometimes 50) on the highway it won't cost much to run this car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th October, 2003

17th Apr 2006, 00:02

What kind of mods did you do to it, to pull off that time? I ran a 16.8 stock.

24th Apr 2006, 19:55

So how did you remedy the wash situation? I've never heard of this problem before, is this the technical name?

15th Jul 2008, 16:41

Not to nitpick, but there's just no way you're getting 45-50 mpg highway. Simply impossible. The car has an EPA rating of about 38 mpg highway, and even this is a stretch as EPA ratings are very unrealistic and virtually no cars attain their rated fuel economy (in fact, most cars deliver 10-15% less).

I have an EL, and I love the mileage it gets, but let's be realistic here. It's not as if we're driving a fuel-sipping diesel or hybrid.

5th Oct 2009, 11:56

If you drive it right, it's not impossible to get mileage like that. If you keep it under 3000rpm you can easily achieve incredible fuel economy. Because the engine is so small, when it hardly revs, it isn't going to use a lot of fuel. And it isn't a far stretch to keep it under 3000rpm, as a student there are weeks when I'm low on cash and can get to school (taking highways, etc) without taking it over 3500rpm the entire 40 minute commute, and I get 600km or more to a tank.

In reply to 15th Jul 2008, 16:41

5th May 2016, 18:34

My guess about the mileage thing is that this author is from Canada (like me). Gallons in all countries except the US are Imperial or 4.5 liters compared to 3.8 liters in American Gallons. So the MPG calculation he was giving makes sense with the larger units.

I JUST bought a 2000 1.6 EL 5sp with 116,450 km on it for a song and get 8.3L per 110Km or 28.3 MPG (US) in all city driving (seriously no highway travel at all!). Although the rest of the world has gone metric... I still use US MPG as my benchmark.

2000 Acura 1.6 EL

Summary:

Well engineered and efficient vehicle

Faults:

Brake pads at 50K.

General Comments:

The best "bang for my buck" with any vehicle I have ever owned. Has the lines and reliability of a Mercedes 190 at half the price.

The 1.6 litre engine is quite responsive for 127 horsepower. ("Engine noise" can be excessive given the high revving V-tec engine.) Love the 6500 rpm shifts...

Only complaints are poor cupholders that do not allow for large coffees and a gas gauge that does not remain consistent over different inclines.

Given the 1.6 EL's *price* and little refinements above the Civic, it has made for a well engineered and efficient vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd September, 2002