Laying the smackdown on a Honda Fanboy ;)

[MassSupra89]

Taken care of in the right way and an there is no reason an NA supra wont last 200,000+ thousand miles. I completely agree with swaq, I hate taking low speed corners in my FWD DD and feeling the front end plow down into the corner, not a fun feeling at all but... it's reliable, and gets me where I need to go every morning.

 

[Kai]

I've always preferred RWD to FWD, cornering in an FWD is just plain scary at high speed, whereas in an RWD, you can kick the tail and sliiiiide

My supra as it stands now would probably roll well past 200,000 miles, although the warning light problem is another small niggle - the major mechanicals are all good and have been looked after. Sure i've had to do the clutch, front brakes and tyres - but thats nothing special. I have yet to encounter a major engine problem and after the monumental amount of money that the previous owners have spent in a dealership on this thing, i doubt i will for a long while yet

 

[MassSupra89]

Sure i've had to do the clutch, front brakes and tyres - but thats nothing special.

That can be expected of any car though, they're wear parts and will need to be replaced during a cars life.

It's not like numerous engine swaps are a common thing with MKIII's... wait, crap.:biglaugh:

 

[suprastanger507mgte]

But....but....CIVIC?! :nono:

How could anyone advocate a Civic over a Supra?! It's blasphemy!

Ummm..Civic is definitely more reliable than the MKIII is. That dude is correct.

 

[Kai]

That can be expected of any car though, they're wear parts and will need to be replaced during a cars life.

It's not like numerous engine swaps are a common thing with MKIII's... wait, crap.:biglaugh:

Aah - but how many swaps are because of engine failure?

 

[swaq]

I completely agree with swaq, I hate taking low speed corners in my FWD DD and feeling the front end plow down into the corner, not a fun feeling at all but...

My family once owned a 1993 Honda Accord SE. It was a decent car, but I hated the FWD (and that it was an automatic). One day when it was raining I was stopped at a light and going to turn right. I floored the car and turned and instead of going around the corner the Accord pretty much just slid forward with heavy heavy understeer. I completely let off the gas to get it pointed in the right direction and I ended up in the far lane instead of the closest lane I was trying to turn into. I haven't driven an Integra but I can't imagine it being much better, besides being a little quicker.

 

[boost PSSH boost]

Stock civics are reliable, not modded civics. I'd use one for a DD.

How are modded civics unreliable? Maybe if you put a 16g turbo on a stock D-series and expect it to take 14psi...but that is not a reliability issue with the car, it's an issue with the user. You have to know the limits and mod accordingly. It's not a supra where you can throw 500hp at it and it doesn't even sneeze.


Yes, FWD is horrible for cornering. That's where modding comes in. The gigantor aftermarket makes it easy to reduce understeer, brake harder, and fly through corners like nothing. It really helps having a car that weighs about 2200 lbs, too. There's a reson the CRX is an awesome autox car....it's fwd, but it weighs 2 lbs soaking wet and has very good suspension.

Another thing about hondas is that you can get upgrade off other hondas. Rear disc brake conversion? Go find an integra and go nuts.


/the DD autox'in honda fan boy in me.




My supras :love:

 

[Yellow 13]

I was takin an 80's civic sedan on some windy backroads in my auto Scion xA about an hour ago. The guy couldnt drive, but Im sure if it were a better driver I mighta got passed.

 

[foreverpsycotic]

"cornering in an FWD is just plain scary at high speed"
thats not true. i would trust my 02 altima with cornering more than my supra. its all about knowing the limits to your cars, and when you can bend them a little bit. ive taken corners@2x the posted speed, and had no problem sticking the whole way through, no tire squeal whatsoever(might be the 245 radials all the way around). maybe when i get new shocks, tires and lowered springs on my supra, ill change my oppinion, but the altima is my choice for twisty roads, and the supra is my choice for strait line and sideways fun.

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

How are modded civics unreliable?

That's point a pre modded civic is unreliable since you have no idea what has been done to it. In my experience many of the people who do mod civics half ass even worse than some of the supra guys. Their stock half shafts break soo much simply because they can't handle the power change. Simple things like that.

 

[ChadMKIII]

Kai, can we get the thread starter's original post? If the guy is looking for something to have fun in and doesn't mind dropping some time and money into it, the Supe is the way to go.
But, there are many people that wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Front and Rear Wheel Drive and their deciding factor for a car is amount of time spent in a shop. They don't care at all about capabilities, as they will never come close to any car's limits. If this guy is like that, as much as it pains me, the Civic is the choice for him.

 

[supra90turbo]

Subaru FTW. Cheap, reliable, AWD.

 

[boost PSSH boost]

I read your comment as if it said "modding a civic makes it unreliable." My mistake. You're right. pre-modded civics are generally unreliable because of the "half ass" attitude of the previous owner. They don't replace things they should, they just go straight for the ebay intake, etc.

I didn't have any problems with my halfshafts...because I did the right thing and got new ones during the swap. first a 40hp increase over stock from the swap, then another 40hp on top of that from the turbo. If they were the original ones, I'm sure they would have broken...but the key is preventative maintainence. If I have a motor out, I replace belts, gaskets, bearings, rings, halfshafts, motor mounts, water pump, clutch, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, bolts/hardware, etc. because it makes sense to do it while it is out.

 

[Kai]

The thread has now been closed unfortunately, he's gone for either a Mazda MX-5 or a Ford Taurus :nono:

 

[GrimJack]

...asking for a car in the $3k to $4k range thats both durable and fun to drive.

This car is a figment of his imagination. Remember the rule: Reliable, Powerful, Cheap. Pick Two.

Civics are nice reliable cars. Are they fun to drive? Not even close. Further, they look like they took the runner up prize in an axe fight.

On the other hand, I wouldn't steer anyone towards a Supra unless they have a good budget or are fond of working on the car themselves, and possibly both.

 

[Kai]

Hehe - i like that - runner up prize in an axe fight - classic

 

[SupraMario]

IJ how can you say thats true.
Civics being more of them, are beat to death more than Supras are.

but the rest is true, if hes not lookin for proformace, then Civic.
A to B car.
Supra.... is... well... A car I love to drive around in, cause I can afford the gas and maintence.

 

[Troyota]

Honda's make damn good daily drivers. For the most part, Supra's are the exception to the Toyota rule of running them into the ground on minimum maintainance. They are High Maintainance. I'm kinda looking forward to the MazdaSpeed 3 though...I hate FWD, but this car seems to have potential.

 

[Clip]

the mazdaspeed3 is definitely built to take some track abuse, i like the balance of it.

as for the issue of supra vs. civic, id take the supra (NA of course). i think that's what it should have been narrowed down to, eliminating the turbo. each car is reliable (at least from what i've seen of my NA) and both aren't too bad to drive.

again, its mostly driver/owner error. ive known plenty of adults that have owned and taken care of mk3s, and a load of kids who've used and abused their hondas. it could be the other way around, but im one of the only two kids who has a mk3 in the area (2-3 hr drive). the other kid has a turbo, and the poor guy just keeps having problems with it (all user error, id love to rescue the car but hes asking 4k for a car thats worth 2)

 

[lanky189]

Reliability...

Supra's by their nature and the cost of spares aren't well maintained and even when they are they have inherent flaws/faults that will cost $$$ to correct.

Anyone that thinks they can buy one for a few K and just drive it are deluded, I've seen it here so many times in the past few years it's sad really.

"Little Johnny" gets his "new Supra" is all excited and says "Whoa dude Supras for life" a few weeks pass and it's "Supras suck big hairy donkey balls" after it goes BHG or Rod Knock, both of which are easily preventable.

unless you buy a mk2. hehehe...