87GT I THINK YOUR FRIEND HAS A BASE MODEL CIVIC WITH A ECONO 1.5(SOHC) ENGINE, NOT EVERY FAST AT ALL. CIVIC EX'S AND THE NEW 99' SI ARE PRETTY FAST FOR WHAT THEY ARE AND SHOULD GIVE YOU A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY.

the new civic's with the v-tech engine has 200 horsepower!., more then enough to open a can of whop-a** on the fiero(in the 1/4 mile that is) but as handling goes we kill most of the rice burners...:o)

Actually the new 99 Civic SI has 160 hp.

They are no faster then a v6 fiero for most intensive purposes. I have magazines where the car was tested in the low 16's. I have heard them going as fast as high 15's. I guess it will all come down to the driver.

These engines don't have much torque so the v6 should beat it off the line easily. If the driver in the Civic does not take it to 7300 rpm where the peak power range is then you can forget about the Civic beating the Fiero. Most Civic drivers probably won't take their car to that many rpms just cause it will sound like it won't hold togethor.

You're right, Shaun! In my '88 Coupe I recently lost a close race to a 2-3 year old Civic Si. He had his little coffee-can exhaust and lowering springs, but he was shifting at about 5000 rpm - probably had no idea what that little red line at 7000 means. From the look on his face, I could tell he was really trying, too. Had I had my V6 SE, it would have been no contest whatsoever. Bye bye, backward-hat boy.

Where do you guys live? shift at 5000rpm? Were they really try to race? Even so it doesn`t count!! It`s not race. They can`t even drive. A lot of my friends own Honda,and i never seen them shift at 5000rpm. some of them use up to 9000rpm. Fiero is fast,but Honda is fast too. You can`t lough at them unless your car can run 1/4 10sec.

Y'all are right about having to know how to drive to get the most out of your car, whether it's a Fiero, Honda or whatever. Like I said in another thread- take the 9 year old civic hatchback (with 140,000 miles)launch at 6500 RPMs and full throttle upshift at 7800. The car has a factory rev limiter- it wont go any higher! The later model v-tec will really turn it on, but their power band in above 4000, so if the guy is afraid to turn it up to the limit, it aint running. Now what is this about running the quarter in 10? Maybe with 500+++ cubic inches and 14 to 1 compression on alcohol- or a BUNCH of pressure from a turbo on a light weight rice burner, the point is: Speed is still just a matter of money and how fast you want to go.

I dont know exactly what model Civic it was. I just know this particular friend of mine once had a 85' Mustang GT and was always racing it. With that in mind, he always gets the fastest of any model that he buys. I shouldnt say the race was a blowout, he was at my rear quarter until about 35-45 mph, then I pulled away from him. Ill check and see what model he has for sure.

cooter,
i didn`t mean run 10sec with Civic.
i was talking about all import cars. In addition, alot of my friends in Japan(who drives nissan, mitubishi,etc) can run 1/4mile 11 to 10 sec.

Yellow,
You've struck again. Ain't no such animal, if you mean stock. I don't think you realize just how fast a 10 sec 1/4 is. If you want to be believed, make it believable.

Yellow85
I'd like to know what kind of hardware those guys have got for them to run 10's and 11's. I dug out one of my build-up magazines to check out a few things. One article tells of an acura v-tec GSR motor with all the goodies put out 477 horsepower. They dropped it into a CRX and it went 11.34 at 129 mph. That was in a race prepped, professionally driven, light weight roller skate, with no limit on the $$$$$$ it took to get to the track. Another article has a race chasis Maverick (Gross!) with a 598 cubic in. motor, nitrous and 4.10 gears that turns 9's and 10's. I dont doubt that it cant be done, I'd just like to know how.

I can't claim I know much about all these newer cars, but back in the muscle car era of Vettes, GTOs, 442s, SS 396 Chevelles, and screaming Z-28 Camaros, to run the 1/4 in the 12's was a major feat.

I am pretty sure the only place to find an import such as a Civic running 10s will be at a national level race. You will never see one on the street. My friend had a Civic that had been modified with a huge bumble bee exhaust tip and pretty yellow sparkplug wires. He said it was running 14s. I said "bullcrap" then he wanted to race for 50 bucks. I accepted, but he couldn't race right then(I guess he hoped i would back down)he had to go somewhere. A few days later I met him at a light,in my TRUCK,he was ready to race me then. The light turned green and I steadily pulled away from him. I have also beaten a Prelude in that truck,I think it was a 90. My Fiero will blow away my truck,a 94 S10.

As far as the 1/4 is concerned,I'm not too sure how they do. At the autocross track those cars do not do very well.

Sorry everybody, i should tell you guys something, well, as i mention, i`m not talking about friends in North America.
I`m talking about my friends and their car in Japan. I Know it`s really hard to make 11`s Honda. By the way, none of these guys drive honda. their car are Silvia turbo(240sx),Skyline GT-R,GTO(3000GT),Lancer,MR2 turbo,etc. most of these cars have 400&up HP. His GT-R has more than 700hp!! GT-R is 4wd and it has really nice trans system(control by computer to switch 2wd-4wd depends on traction). I am talking about these cars. In addition, all honda except NSX and Type-R are economy model(engine). In Japan, top model civic in Japan has 185hp with stock engine.

At last, i want to tell all of you that i like fiero and i think fiero is fast. I just want to tell chadMan and others that you can`t tell which car is slow or fast, cause car won`t drive itself right??
if you want to know, ask your mother or grandmother to drive!! do you think they can run your car faster than you do??

The deeper he went, the harder he shoveled to get out, and the deeper he went.

I'm not dissing Hondas, Yellow85, I'm dissing the poser-punk mentality. I know there are plenty of people out there who spend big bucks making Hondas fly, but here in Columbus, all we seem to have are people who go for the look and never touch the motor.

This kid I raced pulled up alongside and started blipping his throttle at a red light. I nodded at him, and when the light turned green, we both got a clean launch and were neck and neck when all of a sudden he shifts at what sounded like 5k. Because of his sorry driving, it took him more than 1/8 mile to get half a carlength ahead. If he spent as much time reading "Road & Track" as he spent reading "Car Audio & Accessories," he would have known he could have wound it out to 6800 in every gear and blown me away in the first 500 feet.

If your opponent is trying to the best of his/her ability to outdistance you, it's a race and it counts!

Honda's suck as a race car. Honda's suck period.

I would never own an import and I am not too fond of them either,but I respect the owners choice! Let's not turn this into a place for bashing.

Say what you want about a honda, I've driven one for 140,000 miles and have put one timing belt on the engine. I've driven my 60,000 mile fiero less that 6 months and have spent more to keep it on the road than what I paid for it. It doesnt matter what make of car you buy, there are good ones and bad ones from all auto makers.

I like all makes of automobiles. The only one I dont care much for would probably be Ford. We havent had much luck with them. I have driven Hondas before and I find them very nice to drive. The thing about the Honda I dont like is that I cant hear the engine running. My fiero now, you can hear it coming up the road from inside of my house! I like noise. 8-)

I'm not bashing Hondas. My brother-in-law has put 275,000 miles on one without doing any engine work, just maintenance. I own a Honda motorcycle, among others. My comments are based on skepticism. By my calculations, a 3,000 pound car requires about 590 hp to turn a ten second quarter, doing maybe 140 mph. That amount of power is not a street machine, sports car, or anything but an expensive drag strip car. That's fine. But Yellow, you talk as if the cars you describe are production models. THEY AREN'T, AND DON'T B.S. ME. They would require amazingly deep pockets to build, a hell of a lot of technical capability to know how to package it, and a lot of persistence to keep it running. I know it can be done, but it would not be an off the assembly line 3000GT, or anything even remotely resembling it.

And no, I don't have the hood released on my GT yet.

My last "hobby" car was a 94 3000gt VR4 (320hp stock). For me to get even 500hp out of that engine cost me more than a "brand new" fiero. I've heard of a Fiero GT with a 383 stroker that could pull 10's and I bet he done it for well under $60K. :-) With the right amount of $$$ any car can be made into a damn fast ride, but believe it or not, I enjoy driving my near stock $4k Fiero formula more than I did my $40k+ 3000gt. Theres not many cars out there that offer the kind of style, handling, and potential (ie..exotic rebodies) of the Fiero. Myself, if I really felt a need to spank the hell out of these "rice burners", I would just lay down the bucks for a Viper RT10 and be done with it. Forgive me if I seem somewhat confused with all of this "mine can beat yours" mentality, but I thought that the reason most people own a Fiero was for style and handling, rather than straight line performance.

I wasn't bashing, I do respect others opinion, I came onto the Fiero board, and spent 5 minutes reading this thread all about people's opinion of Honda's, so I told you mine. No offense. They are not sports cars, they are commuter cars and they LOOK like a commuter car. A Fiero LOOKS like a sports car! :-) I drive an Accord everyday, it rides nice, gets good MPG, and is really reliable. Just don't try to tell me how you spent $4,000 on intake, exhaust and a chip to boost it to normal HP. Later!

p.s. This wasn't aimed at SCCA.

Hey YO! You all take a chill pill.I have a import car also besides my fiero.Its a 3 cyld '92 GEO METRO and it "stink's" on power.One day I tried to race a guy on a trek mountain bike and he beat me for about the first 100-200 yards at the start.But my Metro gets way better gas milage then my 4 cyld fiero.Who the hell cares what kinda car we got hell just be proud of your ride and dont bash others rides because you dont like it!!!!! You all grow up !!!!!!!

I believe that says it all.

Hey!! What you want from me guys? All i want to say was that, i respect every body who drives and races. Do i sound like saying any **** about Fiero? I hope not.
Why do you think i`m here? I own Fiero and i love it very much!! I thought it`s bit childish to say "I am fast, they are sucks" kind of things.
At last, i want to ask everyone a question. We all have different opinion about cars,but we all love our car don`t we?

Honestly, a 95 Civic is at least 7 years newer then the newest Fieros. Technology has changed drastically in the 6 and 4 cylinders since then. I have plenty of import mags, which include articles on the Skyline, Delta Integrate,Vauxhall/Opel Calibra turbo, and so on. Funny thing is that the the Nissan Sunny GTiR is the fastest of the bunch( and that's with a four banger. The next fastest "foreign" car is the FORD ESCORT COSWORTH. Kinda funny how FORD is one of the fastest "foreign" cars. And world over, the fastest car for the buck is the Subaru( 4 DOOR ). Money can buy you speed. The fact that EVERYONE has failed to mention is that these imports can only MAX out so many times at these tremendous speeds. On an equal $ basis, with equivolent speeds...the larger engine( usually domestic) engines will last longer. You realize these 9-10 second quarter mile cars are rebuild after only a few runs. And a big block 502,454,426 Hemi, Dodge V-10 can all withstand numerous passes? If you want to be a "show off" and the money to back up your mouth...then go foreign. If you have enough for one racer...you better go domestic. By the way, I have 3 Fieros, a foreign motorcycle and lots of bad personal experiences with Hondas. My causin just got back from Japan...and said she likes the way the Japanese have their cars set up...but didn't see these super fast cars with the kids "with the rides" she hung out with. Sorry this was so long!!

I have seen one paticular honda that made me grin; it was one of the squarish,'85-'87 civics with an acura V6 in the back like our cars.Bodywork was box-flared like a Renault R5 Turbo,huge brakes, and the craftmanship was factory-like throughout.It was for sale for 12K.No grapefruit-shooter exhaust though.

I'm not mad at Yellow85. I'm just bitter because my 88 Coupe is so underpowered that I lost a race to a kid who couldn't drive worth a crap. But I'm too cheap to replace my Iron Duke with anything spunkier until the Duke blows up - which could be a while! No hard feelings.

"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" - The Christmas Story

Friday night my wife and I went to see Star Wars for the second time. The trip home turned out to be interesting....I noticed an Acura Integra at the upcoming light,I remembered this thread. I have beaten quit a few Honda's,so I figured I would be sure I could still do it. This car had some major dollars in it. It had some reallly nice wheels and tires and the paint was pretty cool too. I noticed the huge tach on his dash with the dummy light for shifting. It also had a huge muffler and tip. This car wasn't like all the other "wanna be" Imports running around. It was serious.

We were sitting at the light and I reved my 2.8 and waited to see what he would do....nothing. The light turned green and BAM he was gone. I had no clue that was coming. At the next light I was ready. I watched for the opposite light to turn yellow and got ready for action. He had his motor revving and I waited for the green. Then he started to idle again and just crawled along. I was getting mad about now. I was about to give up when I heard him coming....I clutched and tached and dumped so fast I lit the rear tires up for about 5 feet. We were neck and neck flying down a 35mph street at around 50 AND STILL accelerating! My wife wasn't too happy,but I was because I was ahead. I was in second gear ready for 3rd when he finally shifted to second! We finallly came upon traffic and had to shut it down.My wife says I was ahead when I shut down,but he shut down after me so I don't know who won. Fun either way.

The wife wanted to go home and sleep I decided to go back out and get into trouble. By the end of the night an 89 or so camaro and a 90 or so "Pimped" Accord fell under the "whooped" catagorie.

well i hope when you say foreign you don't mean european automobiles, the fastest and most classy cars on the planet. don't get me wrong i am a die hard fiero nut but when a 4 door lexus seden can do 0-60 in 5.7 that gets my head turning. don't believe me? go to www.lexus.com and check out the GS 400. I own numerous honda dirt bikes and they are exceptional. I also own a honda prelude which is headed for the scrapyard tommorrow. but it has lived a long life, with over 400 000 km on it and it would still start every day in -30 degree celcius weather. and just to make it clear, i have no problem with any automobile at all, its the drivers who make a car good or bad.

I am aware of the Lexus,but if I were to buy a car like that it would be a Cadillac.

I dislike the cars,not the driver. Although not all of the drivers. I helped the driver of a Honda Accord install a new motor. See I'm a nice guy. I even helped him rebuild that same motor a month later when it let go again. The motor didn't let go because we didn't know what we were doing the guy has been a mechanic for 25 years,I more or less handed him wrenches.

I just don't like imports(Japanese imports). I believe in buying American cars. I don't bash these cars,I just don't want one.

I do however own a Suzuki LT250R. When an American company makes a good sport bike it will be up for sale. I ride in the sand dunes and a Polaris just won't cut it.

So,I guess I'm still wondering why people trick-out,or attempt to,Japenese commuter cars here in the US.The cool ones are only sold over there,they make sure we can't get those,and the people that own those cars here probably don't even know about the asian market only cars.Maybe it's "bad" testosserone,caused by genetics,who knows.

I've been into cars for a long time,my"other car" is an old VW Jetta,I really don't like Japanese cars,especially the interiors,the motors and electrical systems are neat,but not the rest of the car.
I don't bother racing those guys,usually ill mannered drivers,pass you in innersections after you dusted 'em,etc,probably wind up wrecking somewhere,I don't want to be there,or have anything to do with trying to compete with that mindset.

Hey lowCG:

Yes, we Honda owners do know about the Japanese market cars. In fact, that's where we get the motors that bolt right into our "commuter cars", to make them fast as hell. Just go to http://resource.crx.org and look around. Check out the discussion forum to find out what we are all about. There should be some links to hybrid honda sites(motor swap sites) and other performance honda pages. And for those of you who still don't think that hondas can be fast, I know of dozens of CRX owners that have their daily driver into the 14's and even 13's.

Just ask any insurance company what they classify a CRX, Prelude, Integra, or Civic Si as, and they will tell you it's a sportscar. It just happens to be very good as a commuter car as well, and it may not always look like a sports car.

This was not an attack on anybody, just wanted to give my opinion since I own a Fiero and a Honda CRX Si. I love both of em equally, just for completely different reasons.

Peace.

Nick- I totally agree with you

Thats funny that you own a Fiero and a CRX Si. My brother had a 91 CRX Si and I am the one that has the fiero. We would go out and race out in the middle of nowhere and it was always pretty even. I usually got the best of him. Anyways, he wrecked his Honda about a month ago and now it is no more. Too bad, it was a neat little car.