Officially in possession of my Civic Si! ETA until I drive it: 6-9 weeks 

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 09/20/2020 at 11:31 • Filed to: None

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I did not intend for all of my neighbors’ cars in the background to be silver Hondas

Yesterday, after my dad drove me to an MRI appointment to give my wife a break, he helped me remove a couple small bits and bobs like wheel spacers from my 335xi. Then the dealer drove my Si to my house, we did the paperwork in my garage, and they took the 335xi back with them.

I have a small bone to pick with them because even though I told them I wanted no front plate, edge guards, or any other shit stuck on the car , they put a damn dealership sticker on the trunk. I didn’t notice it until after the internet sales dude had already left my house, because only then did I scoot around the back of the car to show my wife the silly HDMI port exhaust tip. I saw that sticker and almost shit a brick.

If I had picked it up myself I would’ve told them to take that shit off immediately. But instead of calling them and bitching about it, today after my dad drove me to a rapid-turnaround pre-op covid test, he and I vanquished the sticker with a combination of my wife’s hair dryer, Goo Gone, Simple Green and quick detailer. That part of the trunk is now pristine. Whatever. I also let him take the Si for a spin and he approves. 

The surgeon said it’ll be something like 6-9 weeks after surgery before I can drive again, but to be on the safe side at first I’m going to try my wife’s CX-5 because it’s automatic.

I *had* made an appointment at a tint shop before this whole injury nonsense, but I may have to cancel that unless I can finagle my dad—or preferably a friend so my dad doesn’t grumble at me spending money on frivolities like window tint and blacking out chrome trim—into driving the Si over there.

It’s not going to stay in the garage the whole time I can’t drive, but my wife graciously insisted that my shiny new toy get to stay shiny in the garage for a while before we (a.k.a. my stick shift driving dad or friends) put it outside for her to use the garage. She’s a keeper.

Just Jeepin' > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 11:37

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Speaking as someone whose brand new (to him) LJ went into the body shop for 6 weeks just a couple of months after he bought it: these will be the longest 6-9 weeks of your life, especially given the rest of the craziness this year has brought.

But, you’ll have a hoot after. Good luck with your recovery!

Shane Moore > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 11:46

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That really is a great looking car, congrats!

RacinBob > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 11:55

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I bought the first ‘07 Si 4 door in town. I remember when it came out, the enthusiasts had a fit that they made it in a 4 door. My guess is today 90% are 4 doors and it is probably the car that saved the Si brand. I sure like mine.
Heck, about the only time I see 2 doors is on the race track.

Now here’s the interesting question. Honda has a DSG on their bikes, I wonder if they will do one for the Si or ILX?.... The purists will howl, but I bet having an autobox would grow Si sales 10 fold.

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 11:56

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You can still sit in it and make vroom noises until then.

Don’t worry, we won’t tell.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 12:02

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Congrats again on the purchase, and I wish you the best for a speedy recovery.  Hopefully the recovery time goes by fast!

Textured Soy Protein > RacinBob 09/20/2020 at 12:08

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Being a comfy practical Civic sedan is one of the big reasons I bought the thing. Maaaybe if the coupe (or hatch if it existed) were significantly better looking than the sedan I’d compromise on practicality, but I happen to think the sedan is the best looking body style of this current Civic generation.

The ILX already has a DCT. Mechanically it’s a previous-gen Si with the K24. Both it and the K24 TLX have that transmission, while the TLX V6 got the crap ZF 9 speed (which is surprisingly crap given how good the ZF 8 speed is).

Textured Soy Protein > Chariotoflove 09/20/2020 at 12:11

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Hey, that might happen!

At some point before I can drive it I’ll have to personalize all the settings for various safety nannies and other things like walk-away lighting. The sales guy gave me a checklist for setting all that stuff up. Normally their process is to go thru that with the customer because Honda surveys customers on if their sales person did the checklist. I told him don’t worry about it, I’m a super tech-y guy and I’ll set it up and say he did the checklist if I get a survey call. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 12:13

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And many hours will be spent sitting in it making vroom vroom noises. 

RacinBob > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 12:24

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What worries me is the Si is a high cost/content car with minimal volume at a dirt cheap price. T he 80's/90's tuner days are over. Kid’s aren’t buying Si’s, 40 to 60 year old adults are. I just worry that sooner or later leadership will decide to skip a generation of Si’s and that will be it.

When mine was new, I had professional friends who were really interested in my sedan until they found out it was a stick. Yep, the purists would howl, but look at BMW, they sell more sedans than coupes, more auto boxes than manual’s. The M brand survives.

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 12:32

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Yeah, they place a lot of importance on getting perfect 10s.

Textured Soy Protein > RacinBob 09/20/2020 at 12:34

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Without knowing the sales numbers, I think the Si still sells pretty well. Also, both it and the Type-R are kinda halo cars for the other upper Civic trims. I’d be willing to bet that plenty of people think about either of the performance variants and then if they hesitate about living with the stick, the sales folks steer them over to a Touring or Sport or whatever. “This one still has a turbo, and it’s automatic!” In fact, my next door neighbor has a Civic hatch, I forget the trim, but when I mentioned to her that I was getting an Si, she said she thought about an Si for herself but went for a regular one instead.

Honda has already confirmed the next gen Civic will have an Si, but they didn’t specify when exactly it will arrive. The new ’22 Civic will come in May 2021. The Si has several upgrades over the other 1.5T Civics , but not so so many that it’s super complicated to build. That said, Honda said the Si is taking the ’21 model year off so they have a little less manufacturing complexity while they convert the factories over to the new car.

Me personally, I decided now was the time to exit my 335xi, while used car values are over-inflated and before any more money needed to be spent on it. So I decided to jump on a 2020 Si before they went away.

(And I’m a 38 year old adult for whom one of the main appeals of the Si is nostalgia for my younger stupider Honda tuning days when I had a ’92 GSR.)

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 13:25

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There’s an Si and Type-R parked outside that I see (and fantasize about, shhh ) whenever I take the dogs out.

Doesn’t help that my car is over due for a bunch of work, including new shocks and a roof.

Amoore100 > Textured Soy Protein 09/20/2020 at 15:41

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Tint is very practical, nay a necessity here on the West Coast, just tell your dad that you’re trying to avoid skin cancer! I really wish there were good windshield clear tints because driving in Arizona with the sun on your thighs gets really toasty, but they’re of questionable legality and even the clear ones mess with the view too much I’ve read. Great choice on the car. T he Si is such a sweet spot between fun and useful, I’ve always wanted one.

Textured Soy Protein > Amoore100 09/20/2020 at 15:49

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Here in DC it’s not an absolute requirement to deal with the heat, but I love a not-dark 45-50% tint to clean up the looks without looking like I’m hiding behind it and can’t be seen.

When I had my 335xi tinted, the shop at the time said they often do 90% crystalline film on windshields to help with heat rejection. I didn’t do it because I was already paying to have terrible tint removed from the 3 rear windows in addition to having all except the windshield done with good stuff. But it was just regular quality 3M film with no crystalline/ceramic to help with heat.

I was tempted to do something like that to the windshield on the Si, but I’ve read that even a relatively clear tint on windshields can interfere with active safety systems which my car has. So my plan is/was to do 45-50% crystalline on everything except the windshield. Don’t want to roll the dice on messing up that Honda Sensing.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Amoore100 09/20/2020 at 16:19

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Just make sure its ceramic otherwise its doing fuck all except for aesthetics and making it hard to see at night. My tints even at 50% work wonders for heat reduction since they are ceramic. If only california didnt have stupid tint laws, then I would do the windshield and more like a 20- 35% instead for looks.

Amoore100 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 09/20/2020 at 18:25

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Yeah, between price and legality I’m not planning on it. Besides, it’s only a real issue once in a while when I’m actually driving long distance as I don’t really commute when the sun is at the prime thigh-baking angle so it’d mostly be a gratuitous luxury. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Amoore100 09/20/2020 at 18:49

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I’d like to get my windshield done with a 90% Ceramic basically clear but the heat reduction would be nice. It was quoted to take an extra day and like $200+ so I passed. I guess they can charge what they want for illegal tints since they can’t advertise it really lol. I do worry about my sun glasses doing the rainbow shit out the windshield though. It’s definitely apparent out the side windows but I don't spend my time staring out those so it's fine. Still debating it, on the list of nice things to have if I run out of other stuff I want to do first.