1999 Honda Civic VTi 1.8 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

High performance, but too noisy

Faults:

No faults.

General Comments:

Excellent performance and reliability marred by high fuel consumption, high tire wear, horrendous depreciation and excessive noise when travelling at speeds.

I bought the car 1 year with 5000 miles on the clock from a Honda dealer. The performance is superb - the car really flys above 5000 RPM, acceleration from 40mph in second gear is fantastic. The handling is superb, although the strong feedback from the wheel takes a little getting used to. Excellent brakes. On a windy country road there are few mainstream cars that can keep up with the 1.8 VTi.

Down sides are a basic interior, with a lot of wind/tyre noise at high speed, heavy wear of the front tyres and poor fuel consumption, particularly around town. Servicing is about £90 at 9000, 18000 miles and £270 at 27000. The real nightmare cost is however the insurance (UK group 16) and the depreciation which - my car lost 50% value in 18 months due to the new Civic coming out and the release of the Type R which has a lower new price.

Overall a high performance hot-hatch which is well made, but costly to run/maintain and too noisy.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th December, 2001

1999 Honda Civic LX Sedan 1.6 Liter 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

This is a great car, Hondas hold up, the engines are good, and the design is great

Faults:

One problem I had was getting up high hills in the winter... it isn't a 4WD, so what did you expect, you need to have skills, you shouldn't always rely on the car to do everything.

The second problem was with the starter, it would take 4-6 seconds to start sometimes, but if I applied just a little bit of gas, it would always start fine. The service people would fix it, cause they couldn't, but they said they would replace it if ever went out, or got too crazy.

General Comments:

My car was great (I was involved in a car accident, nd was hit on my passenger side head on, called a BROAD-SIDE impact). Anyways, it was great... good handling, fun, elegant, exactly what I wanted. That's why I bought the damn thing!

I did not change much at all, I was planning to put in a bezel frame around the dash, and change the white gauge faces... but I never got a chance to. I did however have nice Euro-Clear lenses, that looked lovely on my Silver LX.

I am trying to get this car again, possibly the EX Coupe for a different feel. The Honda 99's are a great line up, I do not like the changes they have made cosmetically to the 2000-2001, the Hybrid/Insight is intriguing though.

P.S. During my accident, the car held up nice, the body was totally smashed, but the frame was strong enough, that it held up, and it could actually be driven!!! The window frames were supported well too, the windows did not even smash = SAFE CAR!!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th May, 2001

1999 Honda Civic Si 1.6L DOHC V-Tec from North America

Summary:

A great high performance street racer!

Faults:

I had to change the spark plugs after about 15,000 miles, but what do you expect from a high performance sport compact car. If you have replaced the sparkplugs in yours yet you will know the high price for the only type of plugs it will run with (Platinum Plugs).

The Michelin tires that came stock got horrible mileage, I have already had to replace them since I have had the car. ALso the price for the Michelin's are EXTREME! I own an automotive service and repair shop and I get tires for wholesale price for myself and the price was still way too high for 15" tires. Thanks to Honda for putting a special sized tire on the car.

General Comments:

Overall the car is great, it is a good car to drive everyday and race whenever possible.

It could have been produced with more horsepower and especially more torque!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th March, 2001

29th May 2001, 09:46

I agree the stock tires suck and are way too expensive for what they are. The car is a great daily driver, but could use a little more power off the line.

Be careful, this car is a highly targeted theft vehicle, mine has been stolen once and recovered, and also it was broken into after that twice within the last month. My wheels were stolen and they are on back order for over 3 months, so now I have a set of steel wheels until the dealer can get some in stock.

Protect your investment!

12th Jan 2002, 06:29

"A great high performance street racer!"

Give me a BREAK! My '79 Datsun 280ZX is waiting for you! Honda makes a great car, but it cracks me up when I see all the bogus modifications the younger crowd is doing to them. High school Auto Shop must be teaching that stickers and HUGE exhaust tips create HP...wrong. Give the car to grandma.

Street racer.

28th Feb 2002, 13:41

If you think you Datsun can run circles around all these Honda's Acura's and Mitsu's that us "younger Generation" are driving think again. I am positive that we could keep up if not smoke the Datsun so we are waiting... I have friends with Supercharged Type R's that are quick but even better is my friend's 90 Eclipse GSX all wheel drive putting down 400 Hp to the wheels.. Even if the Datson runs 500hp its still heavier. Before you get all cocky pick up a copy of sport compact car!

3rd Feb 2003, 23:54

Listen I own an 86' 300zx, (much better than a wimpy 280z)!!

But to the point- Honda's are AWESOME and that's all that needs to be said!!! 160h.p. out of a 1.6 liter engine that's AWESOME Mustang-4.6liter=215 Horrible!!!

7th Aug 2004, 23:59

I think its just great how much horsepower you can get from 4 cylinders, but I still think the si should of been made with a 1.8 liter engine; the 1.6 is only producing 160hp and 111 foot pounds of torque; that's pretty pathetic.

11th Sep 2011, 20:16

I get 41 mpg with my 1999 Civic Si and it has 149,000 miles on it. 280Z's are mostly in the junk yard, and yes I will take on any 350 Chevy powered Z in a corner.