speedydave
New member
- Location
- NorCal
I'm just about 19 years old and for the past year have been driving an '03 Civic Si (hatchback), bought outright at a dealership Certified Used. I'm approaching 44k miles on it (bought at 26.5k) and have quite a bit of the extended warranty I purchased left. It's been in twice for warranty work which is a little disappointing, but nothing man-made is perfect (BTW, once was for a bad SRS coil in the steering wheel resulting in an SRS light (no airbags), no horn or cruise control from the wheel, the other was for a bad/sticking throttle body).
I love the car, especially the versatility of the hatchback, but like Hondas are known for, I really hate the lack of torque. I've already done some mods to the car, which include Eibach Sportlines, Tokico struts, rear swaybar and camber kit, wheels/tires, head unit/speaker upgrade plus amp for speakers, and some small interior mods. The suspension does wonders for the handling and the ride isn't too bad, and the interior stuff makes my ~50 mile round-trip commute a little more enjoyable. However, I still want more power, and the only way to do that with any sort of acceptable reliability is a supercharger. Along with the SC, I'd be doing some minor brake upgrades (pads, fluid, SS lines), and I'd also like to install an LSD to help put the power down. Total cost for all of this would be between $3500 and 4500.
My second option is to return my Si to stock, part out the mods and sell the car. I've test driven several cars I'd be interested in replacing the Si with, but the most appealing, by far, is the GTI. To put it simply, the GTI is everything I wanted my Si to be from the start. It has power, it's refined and "grown up," the seats are bolstered perfectly for me, the ride is smooth and relatively quiet, and it has attitude and personality (so does the Si, though, which is one thing I love about it).
The major thing that worries me about the GTI (other than reliability, which isn't nearly as much of a concern now that the GTI is back to being built in Germany, I believe) is cost. I own the Si outright, so I don't make any payments. I'd put about $8k down on the GTI and finance the rest (unless I lease, which is an option). Insuring the GTI would be cheaper than the Si on the same plan, but because I'd need collision coverage on the GTI (took it off of my Si because it cost too much), my premium would go up. In addition to the added insurance costs and a car payment, I'd be starting fresh with a bone-stock car. I love the power of the car stock, but I would want to do some minor mods to it. On top of the base MKV GTI, I'm looking into Bilstein shocks w/either Eibach Pro-Kits or H&R Sports, some sort of mild exhaust, maybe the body package, maybe an LSD down the road and *maybe* a chip/flash (I just want to get rid of some of the TBW lag). The other thing that concerns me is voiding the warranty with these mods, something that is true with my Honda too, but I also have a lot more experience with Honda service than VW service.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt it was necessary to get the best replies possible. I've been lurking around here for a few days and it seems like there are some very helpful members with good heads on their shoulders. Any advice you could give me regarding my dilemma would be greatly appreciated. I know that you guys may be somewhat biased as this is a MKV GTI/Golf/Rabbit board, but hopefully you can look past that and help me make the smarter decision. Thanks in advance!
I love the car, especially the versatility of the hatchback, but like Hondas are known for, I really hate the lack of torque. I've already done some mods to the car, which include Eibach Sportlines, Tokico struts, rear swaybar and camber kit, wheels/tires, head unit/speaker upgrade plus amp for speakers, and some small interior mods. The suspension does wonders for the handling and the ride isn't too bad, and the interior stuff makes my ~50 mile round-trip commute a little more enjoyable. However, I still want more power, and the only way to do that with any sort of acceptable reliability is a supercharger. Along with the SC, I'd be doing some minor brake upgrades (pads, fluid, SS lines), and I'd also like to install an LSD to help put the power down. Total cost for all of this would be between $3500 and 4500.
My second option is to return my Si to stock, part out the mods and sell the car. I've test driven several cars I'd be interested in replacing the Si with, but the most appealing, by far, is the GTI. To put it simply, the GTI is everything I wanted my Si to be from the start. It has power, it's refined and "grown up," the seats are bolstered perfectly for me, the ride is smooth and relatively quiet, and it has attitude and personality (so does the Si, though, which is one thing I love about it).
The major thing that worries me about the GTI (other than reliability, which isn't nearly as much of a concern now that the GTI is back to being built in Germany, I believe) is cost. I own the Si outright, so I don't make any payments. I'd put about $8k down on the GTI and finance the rest (unless I lease, which is an option). Insuring the GTI would be cheaper than the Si on the same plan, but because I'd need collision coverage on the GTI (took it off of my Si because it cost too much), my premium would go up. In addition to the added insurance costs and a car payment, I'd be starting fresh with a bone-stock car. I love the power of the car stock, but I would want to do some minor mods to it. On top of the base MKV GTI, I'm looking into Bilstein shocks w/either Eibach Pro-Kits or H&R Sports, some sort of mild exhaust, maybe the body package, maybe an LSD down the road and *maybe* a chip/flash (I just want to get rid of some of the TBW lag). The other thing that concerns me is voiding the warranty with these mods, something that is true with my Honda too, but I also have a lot more experience with Honda service than VW service.
Sorry for the long post, but I felt it was necessary to get the best replies possible. I've been lurking around here for a few days and it seems like there are some very helpful members with good heads on their shoulders. Any advice you could give me regarding my dilemma would be greatly appreciated. I know that you guys may be somewhat biased as this is a MKV GTI/Golf/Rabbit board, but hopefully you can look past that and help me make the smarter decision. Thanks in advance!
