The 1999/2000 Honda Civic Si

    The 1999-2000 Civic Si was the first coupe version in the Honda line to don the B16A engine.  This little four cylinder engine pumps out 160 horsepower and 111 ft/lbs torque from the 1.6L DOHC VTEC engine.  That is 100 horsepower per liter.  Also amazing is the high redline of this little four banger at 8250 rpms.  Included with this package is a very short gearing to keep the engine in the correct rpm range to use the VTEC effectively.

    The differences between the Si and the Ex are somewhat different.  You can only get the Electron Blue Pearl in the Si, only comes in a manual transmission, has special 7 spoke Aluminum wheels, rear disc brakes, sport tuned suspension, rear sway bar, front upper strut bar, front lip, and side skirts, carbon fiber look gauges w/Si on fuel/temp gauge, Si badging, leather wrapped steering wheel, leather wrapped shift knob, and different cloth interiors.  The compression (of course) is higher on the Si (10.2:1) from the Ex (9.6:1).  But the weight is higher too 2513 for the Ex and 2612 for the Si, which is mostly engine weight.

    After owning my Si for 21 months I would have to give the car two thumbs up.  Not only do I get great gas mileage (30-32mpg), but I also get lots of performance from the little screaming banshee.  The only thing holding back the car are the stock tires, but that is easily cured by replacing them with some stickier rubber.

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