Topic: 2008 Civic Coupe DX - aka Sh!tcar

[Great_Big_Abyss]

My Coupe DX memories:

I got one of these once as a service loaner. Same generation, automatic white coupe, same wheels and shod with Chinese winter tires I had never heard about. They rode rough and hard, so I was a bit worried. Since it was winter, before getting on the highway I drove unto a deserted parking lot, covered with compressed hard snow, drove up to 40 km/h, veered to the left and yanked the handbrake. The result would have least have gotten me an 8 in a figure skating event.

To be fair, that's hardly the fault of the car. 

But yeah, anytime we get a decent amount of snow, I'll likely be breaking out the truck.  No point in having a beast 4x4 truck with great tires if I'm not going to drive it when appropriate. 

That being said, we got a couple of centimeters last night, so it was a slippery drive to work this morning.  The Civic handled it just fine, despite the craptastic all-season tires that are on there now.  I'm leaving them off for the rest of the seaon, but the Hankook I-Pikes that I got with it aren't on the level of Blizzaks, or X-Ices.  They're probably what I would call 2nd tier tires, but still, they're better than chinese tires, and certainly better than all-season tires.  Considering the purpose of the car, I'm sure they'll do just fine. 

[Blueprint]

My Coupe DX memories:

I got one of these once as a service loaner. Same generation, automatic white coupe, same wheels and shod with Chinese winter tires I had never heard about. They rode rough and hard, so I was a bit worried. Since it was winter, before getting on the highway I drove unto a deserted parking lot, covered with compressed hard snow, drove up to 40 km/h, veered to the left and yanked the handbrake. The result would have least have gotten me an 8 in a figure skating event.

To be fair, that's hardly the fault of the car. 

But yeah, anytime we get a decent amount of snow, I'll likely be breaking out the truck.  No point in having a beast 4x4 truck with great tires if I'm not going to drive it when appropriate. 

That being said, we got a couple of centimeters last night, so it was a slippery drive to work this morning.  The Civic handled it just fine, despite the craptastic all-season tires that are on there now.

Just a fun memory! My own '95 Civic was not that good in the snow. Civics were well-known for poor traction for some reason, but tires improved since then too.

I just picked up a 2020 Silverado High Country Duramax 4x4 - on 22" snows - I'm ready if we get a "last call" dumping thus week.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

My Coupe DX memories:

I got one of these once as a service loaner. Same generation, automatic white coupe, same wheels and shod with Chinese winter tires I had never heard about. They rode rough and hard, so I was a bit worried. Since it was winter, before getting on the highway I drove unto a deserted parking lot, covered with compressed hard snow, drove up to 40 km/h, veered to the left and yanked the handbrake. The result would have least have gotten me an 8 in a figure skating event.

To be fair, that's hardly the fault of the car. 

But yeah, anytime we get a decent amount of snow, I'll likely be breaking out the truck.  No point in having a beast 4x4 truck with great tires if I'm not going to drive it when appropriate. 

That being said, we got a couple of centimeters last night, so it was a slippery drive to work this morning.  The Civic handled it just fine, despite the craptastic all-season tires that are on there now.

Just a fun memory! My own '95 Civic was not that good in the snow. Civics were well-known for poor traction for some reason, but tires improved since then too.

I just picked up a 2020 Silverado High Country Duramax 4x4 - on 22" snows - I'm ready if we get a "last call" dumping thus week.

Well, Civics are quite light.  What makes them so fuel efficient and fun to drive when dry, is exactly what counts against them in snow. 

[Blueprint]

My Coupe DX memories:

I got one of these once as a service loaner. Same generation, automatic white coupe, same wheels and shod with Chinese winter tires I had never heard about. They rode rough and hard, so I was a bit worried. Since it was winter, before getting on the highway I drove unto a deserted parking lot, covered with compressed hard snow, drove up to 40 km/h, veered to the left and yanked the handbrake. The result would have least have gotten me an 8 in a figure skating event.

To be fair, that's hardly the fault of the car. 

But yeah, anytime we get a decent amount of snow, I'll likely be breaking out the truck.  No point in having a beast 4x4 truck with great tires if I'm not going to drive it when appropriate. 

That being said, we got a couple of centimeters last night, so it was a slippery drive to work this morning.  The Civic handled it just fine, despite the craptastic all-season tires that are on there now.

Just a fun memory! My own '95 Civic was not that good in the snow. Civics were well-known for poor traction for some reason, but tires improved since then too.

I just picked up a 2020 Silverado High Country Duramax 4x4 - on 22" snows - I'm ready if we get a "last call" dumping thus week.

Well, Civics are quite light.  What makes them so fuel efficient and fun to drive when dry, is exactly what counts against them in snow.

My last beater - an '86 Alliance - was tin-can light but a beast in the snow. Gearing is part of the equation there.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Oh, I spoke to the previous owner's boyfriend over the weekend, when picking up the tires.  He took pretty good care of this Civic (at least mechanically), because he's a Honda fanboy, and a car-guy like us.  He showed me his 98 Civic SI that he has stored in his carport.  It looks like its in great condition, although apparently needs a bit of mechical work, like wheel bearings, etc.  His is the one with the B16A2 engine that revs up to 8200rpm and makes 160hp.  I'm going to encourage him to get it running again and drive it as a weekend car.  He's going to help me change the wheel bearings on my Civic, so that he knows how to do it on his.

It looks very similar to this one, same colour:

[Seafoam]

I thought Helidriver had one of those before his GTI ? Someone on this forum in the past had one.

[HeliDriver]

I thought Helidriver had one of those before his GTI ? Someone on this forum in the past had one.

Yup, fantastic car. Still like it more than the GTI in a lot of ways. Think I sold it with 270K km on the clock and it was in perfect shape. Got a few emails over the years from the guy I sold it to, and I think he had around 350K on it and it was still going strong.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

As far as I'm concerned, the 6th gen SI was peak Honda. Maybe second to the Prelude, depending on how you rank things.

[dirtyjeffer]

As far as I'm concerned, the 6th gen SI was peak Honda. Maybe second to the Prelude, depending on how you rank things.

yea...i was a fan of both.

[HeliDriver]

Yes, that Prelude was really nice as well. Never seriously considered it when I was shopping back in ‘99, though.

IIRC, the Prelude was around the same price as the Integra Type-R. I didn’t wan’t to spend the extra $$$ for either, but if I did, it would have been hard not to choose Type-R.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Ordered an engine air filter and cabin air filter from Amazon.  Both filters are filthy.  The check engine light may just be a MAF sensor out of range, which means air filter.  I've had that happen before.

Check Engine light went out today, after I replaced the air filter yesterday.  As I suspected, it was MAF out of range.   

And, I had to cross town and back this evening.  I Probably burned a mere $3 of gas doing so.  I'm liking this compact car life.

[dirtyjeffer]

And, I had to cross town and back this evening.  I Probably burned a mere $3 of gas doing so.  I'm liking this compact car life.

a little better than the Tundra on gas? 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Just a little.

This thing was literally designed to sip gas.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Well, Coronavirus hits again.

Partsource has suspended their loan-a-tool program.  I can't do the work without either borrowing the tools from them, or buying my own (slide hammer, and hub adapter).  I would still need to buy my own bearing puller kit, as that doesn't seem to be available for loan anywhere. 

So anyway, with their loan-a-tool program being suspended, and not knowing when it will come back, I just want to get the car safetied and get the ownership transferred.  I dropped the car off at the mechanic who did the safety, and he'll do the work on it (both front wheel bearings, left lower control arm), then resafety the car.  It will be fixed and safetied tomorrow.

[dirtyjeffer]

Well, Coronavirus hits again.

Partsource has suspended their loan-a-tool program.  I can't do the work without either borrowing the tools from them, or buying my own (slide hammer, and hub adapter).  I would still need to buy my own bearing puller kit, as that doesn't seem to be available for loan anywhere. 

So anyway, with their loan-a-tool program being suspended, and not knowing when it will come back, I just want to get the car safetied and get the ownership transferred.  I dropped the car off at the mechanic who did the safety, and he'll do the work on it (both front wheel bearings, left lower control arm), then resafety the car.  It will be fixed and safetied tomorrow.

sucks (the pausing of the loan a tool program), but at the end of the day, the mechanic gets paid to keep his business going and saves you the hassle.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

The Civic is fixed and safetied.  The mechanic came in $50 cheaper than he estimated.  The car drives so nice now.  Previously it was clunky going over bumps, and when letting off the brake, due to the control arm bushing.  And the wheel bearings were noisy.  Now it's quiet, and, well, not clunky.  I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it drives like a new car, but it certainly doesn't feel like a car that has 318 000kms on it. 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

So, the paint on 8th gen Civics is really, really bad.  It was the first generation where Honda started using water-based paints for environmental reasons, and I guess they didn't have the formula down just right.

Anyway, I was at the wand wash the other day, and this happened:



Yeah, that's the paint peeling off the body of the car, revealing the primer underneath.  The spot pictured is the worst, but there are a few other fingernail-sized spots where it started happening. 

Well, I guess no more wand-wash for this car.  I wonder if the high pressure car washes will have the same effect?  It's a good thing I don't care too much about the aesthetics of this Civic. 

It's a joy to drive.  I wish it was a stick, but then my wife wouldn't drive it, and that would defeat the purpose.  But the engine, what a great little 4-cylinder.  It's so smooth, torquey down low, and the powerband is linear and smooth, and it sounds good when pushed a little.  Honda makes great naturally aspirated engines!!!

By comparison, the 2.5 in our Altima wasn't nearly as refined, and although it was more powerful (being larger), it didn't enjoy high revs as much as this Civic.  It sounded more like it was being thrashed, while the Honda 1.8 remains smooth. 

[Seafoam]

Honda had a bit of clearcoat problem with that generation of civic. I've noticed many in my area as they get older. Especially noticeable on the roof and hoods.

[ktm525]

Looking good. You also discovered that Honda made good engines. Yes they did until they started making these blown mini ones that mix fuel and oil.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Looking good. You also discovered that Honda made good engines. Yes they did until they started making these blown mini ones that mix fuel and oil.

I always knew they made good engines.  This is my 3rd Civic.  I had a 2002 Civic LX with the 1.7, and a 2008 Civic Si with the 2.0 when I was younger.  This is my first 1.8L.

I'm not a fan of their little turbo engines.  Honda has lost their way.