Originally Posted by Jkan2001
People that say they'd rather drive a civic over a M series BMW or AMG mercedes SIMPLY CANT AFFORD ONE
:ugh:
Originally Posted by Jafro
Reliability? Are you shopping for a race car or an economy car?
Bottom line of this thread = you get what you pay for. If you want real performance, it costs money. I don't think there's anything at all that's EVO-like about any new civic's handling. That's just ludicrous. Brakes? NO! Wheels? NO! AWD? NO! Turbocharged +276hp? NO! ANY standard racing parts? NO! Discounting its power just means you completely missed the greatest aspect of the whole car and aren't willing to admit it's actually far superior. Whether that's because you don't need it or you're afraid of it, I dunno.
There's also such a thing as a fun-to-drive economy car and a taxing-to-drive race car. So I have to say I disagree, to the average Joe, the greatest aspect of the EVO shouldn't be it's turbocharged 276+hp, but it's enjoyable nature. (And this is even after I admit to never having driven an EVO)
CivicEX, I don't beleive you are too old to have fun in a Civic. In fact, I think there are two problems with the repsonses from Jkan2001 and Jafro.
1.) Drag racing is in their blood. They both had/have modified turbo cars that they've put a lot of time, money, and effort into. I'm not saying they don't live for corners but their hearts are in the quartermile and/or beating the guy in the next lane.
2.) They are also on the defensive. For one thing, you criticized your DSM and for another you criticized expensive "luxury" car owners. And as you've already seen, you can guess what they each drive.
Comparing a civic to a much more expensive sports car may seem ludicrous but comparing the fun you have driving a civic to the fun you have driving a sports car isn't. There's one thing that impressive numbers in magazines and brilliant ad copy can't measure for you, and that's the plain ol' fun of driving the car yourself. I know what you mean about how nice the weight transfer in a civic feels.
Just to say, I agree with Jafro here:
Originally Posted by Jafro
I think it's important for anyone that considers themselves a connisseur of performance (at least enough to preach about it) to keep an open mind and drive everything they can. I think a car is important to your own experiences, and who cares what anyone else thinks. Driving different cars is like trying on a different suit or getting a new hair style. I don't care if it's a Daewoo or a Diablo. A Ferrari or a forklift. It gives you a new perspective. And you're the only person who will feel any kind of exhileration from driving it.
In fact, the question may not be what car you drive but where you're doing your driving. After reading your descriptions...
Originally Posted by CivicEX
The civic responds to my feet and hands. Turn the wheel, and it bites in and turns. Lift a little in a corner, and the tail gets looser... squeeze back some throttle, and it washes out again... do it right, and you're in a nice drift. If the civic had 210hp, it'd be more difficult to handle under power, but turn-in would still feel snappy.
...
It's interesting: whenever we drive into town (a 15 mile drive), we take all the twisty backroads. It involves lots of right and left turns, some twisty parts, some straights. And we invariably ALWAYS take the Civic, simply because it FEELS faster. You can toss it around interesections like a toy, heel-and-toe into every corner, wind it out down the straight. The eclipse, OTOH, wallows and complains every time I try and turn it. Sure, it blasts down the straights... but I live for the corners
...I've gotta ask, have you tried autocross or HPDE's/open trackdays?