Forgotten Honda or?

So a friend comes to me, interested in getting a DD/autocross car. Must be hardtop. Four seats preferred. Must be reliable. $3k max initial budget, which will leave him another grand or so for tires/shocks and what not. My first thought is civic/Integra or E30. He says that all cheap Hondas are riced out, and is afraid that old Bimmers will eat him on maintenance. So I got to thinking - there are so many Hondas out there. Are there any with good performnance that the ricers shun for whatever reason? Preludes? Are there any other rides he should consider?

Alfa Milano? Mine has been very reliable.

Maxima/Protege/Crown Vic.

Problem solved. Set up and ready to go for ST and under his $4000 budget. I know the car and the owner. Its a killer deal.

http://www.baautox.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=7664&start=0&rid=195

Accords aren't usually riced out, and the 3rd and 5th generation cars are decent performers at a decent price.

the 96-00 civic HX that utilizes the d16y5 lean burn engine is shunned by the ricer crowd. Interestingly enough, it has the highest lift primary cam lobe (in 16 valve mode) and lowest friction valve train due to the gorgeous roller set-up. It used essentially the same block, head, and intake castings as the v tek yo! d16y8 found in the ex. The biggest difference in US spec cars is that the Y5 has the very restrictive cat on exhaust manifold and smaller injectors and a low nox map, bumping the power down from the y8's 125ish to 115ish. In austrailia ands new zealand, the y5 is rated at the same 125ish hp. The HX is couple only, and were heavy on options, which I count as a negative. When the price of gas goes up fast enough for the frogs to notice they are boiling they get pricey, otherwise they are pretty cheap and generally less molested and come with 11lb 14" enkei wheels and the same lovely honda double wishbone suspension that expired in 2000.

Since ricers like to swap out y5s you can sometimes get the drive trains cheap. I picked up a complete drive train sans axles for $50. Same with the heads, people will swap out the y5 head for the y8 and nearly give it away. The EX headers bolt right up- people give those away too. The down side of all the 96-00 civics is the obo 2a (96-98) and obo2b (99-00) ecu's and the interface with your states emissions regulations and proper tuning.

I put a y5 with all the proper bits in 96 hatch replacing the non v attack y7 (105ish hp) and the car is quite a bit quicker and gets 8-10 mpg better mileage on the freeway. The ex headers were 15$, the stock 99-00 Si cat back exhaust was $20, the head was off of the $50 drive train. I port matched and cleaned up core shift on the head and has a radius valve job done to it and bumped the compression to 10.5 to 1 from 9.4 to 1. The stock SI airbox was $10. Still on the OEM ecu abd passes Oregon smog which is on the more stringent side of the game. You get the picture. Cheap ricer discards.

I picked up bearly used Koni sports for $250, new ST sways fort $250, used eibach sportline springs for $100, SI brakes (bigger front disks and disks in the rear) for $200, 195 55 14" Dunlop star specs $400, the SI master cylinder for $40, HP+ pads in the front, super blue, some bushings... this and that. A clean 3K 96-00 HX, 1K in parts, and a fair amount of time would make for a very entertaining and economical car.

like this

I don' t know why the Prelude doesn't get much love, but they seem a good alternative to me. The Del Sol was available with the 160hp motor IIRC, and they seem to be the redheaded step children of the Honda community. One series of Accord was noticeably smaller then the rest and seems like a good alternative to a Civic Sedan as well.

As for BMWs, read this months GRM!!!!

The "they're all riced out" argument generally means "I'm too lazy to look on craigslist, will you do it for me?" Assuming your buddy lives near you, this appears to be the case. All of these were on the first page of their respective searches, btw.

CRX's:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/2068482686.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2064608589.html

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2060196151.html

Civics:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/2068873068.html

Your sleeper awaits:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/2068483274.html

Clean '98:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/2068480496.html

6 berkeleying hundred dollar 91 Si:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/2068318625.html

Tell your buddy he's welcome, and owes me a lunch break.

I don't agree that you can't find a $3k honda that isn't riced out. I just bought a really nice '88 CRX-si that isn't riced at all. They are out there, you just have to work a little to find them.

If Eric doesn't buy this one, I'd be tempted to!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2060196151.html

He was Jonesing for a GTV6, but unless it's been real well cared for, I'd be concerned about costs

Thanks!

In reply to kreb:

What kind of intake is on that car? At first glance, I thought it wasn't an si, because it looks like it has TBI like the non-si's. But it does have the si sunroof. ???

it looks like it has TBI like the non-si's.

Good eye.

It's possible. I got a 94 CX for 2900 bucks last year. I'm thinking about planting a b-series in there but I like the idea of using a high compression d.

3-4 years ago I got a 96 civic hatch for $2300 with 66k miles on it.

The deals are out there. The lady I purchased it from was a teacher and said to me "your email wasn't the first I received but it was the first I could understand." Apparently she didn't speak ricerdouche. Knowing english is a key to snagging a good one.