MY Civic Si

Jul 26, 2007 - Ups and Downs...

Have some time, so here's some more catch-up. So far I've had my Si for about 2 months now, and she has about 2,600 miles right now. After I got her out here to Colorado, I started to really have fun with her, and have largely been experiementing with performance, trying to figure out exactly what I can do. In short, it's been alot of fun, and as I mentioned previously, I love just going for a drive.

A few negatives... First, when I start having fun, mileage (obviously) deteriorated. I know Civic's are known for their economy, so I'll say this much: In spite of me taking full advantage of my baby's performance and 8,000 rpm red-line, I still am managing to pull about 27-29 mpg. So that's good, but not quite as nice as I've gotten on long stretches... oh well.

The more unfortunate bit is that one night while having that fun, a small pebble got thrown up and it nicked my windshield, leaving a small chip (about 2mm diameter). Unfortunately, it's large enough for me to notice and worry about when winter rolls around, but too small for them to repair with epoxy (or however that works). So I'm sorta stuck, hoping nothing too bad happens.

Oh, one other bad thing... I'm currently over in Germany right now, have been for the last 2 weeks, and still have another week here.... I MISS MY CAR!!! Especially since the only thing available to me are those large 12/15-passenger vans (Ford E-150, I think). I feel like I'm driving a bus, and every time I'm on these small, winding German roads, I miss not having my car more and more... She corners like a beauty, where as these things feel like they're gonna tip over on any turn if you're over 40 mph.

So yes, I miss my baby, and can't wait to get back next week...  Due to the Colorado weather (rain, wind, dust, etc. daily), she's gonna be REAL dirty, so I think the first thing I'll do is get her washed up real nice...

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Jul 25, 2007 - An intro

So let me first introduce myself and my car.  I only recently discovered this Blog function in CarSpace, so I'm going to have to do some catching up.

First, myself.  I'm 20 years old, and currently live in Colorado where I'm attending college.  I was born and raised on the island of Guam, a small island in the western Pacific.  While there, I came to appreciate the qualities of small, economic cars, and for a short stint I owned an '89 Mitzu Galant.  A real bomb, but as my first car, which I got for $1 from a family friend, it worked for me. .....Until the crash.  One day on the algae-covered roads during a rain storm, a Ford F-350 was trying to turn, and was already leading half-way into my lane during busy-ish traffic.  I tried to stop, started sliding, and long story short, that car was done-ski in a big way.
Sorry for the side-note, now to continue.  Guam is also home, thanks to our proximity to Japan, to a significant population of rice rockets (little Japanese cars that people pay $5,000 to buy, then spend $15,000 to amp it up.  And add those annoying exhausts to... blech...)  So that's my background -- like little cars (easier and funner to drive), but hate tricked-out rice rockets.  Think fun but economical, and you've got me tagged.

As a senior in college, I finally figured I should get a car, and started researching.  Again, looked for small, sporty, economical, and affordable.  That narrowed my field to basically 3 cars... Mazda Speed3, VW GTI, and Honda Civic Si.  In the end, the Si was EVERYTHING I wanted, so I went for it, and spent just under $21,000 OTD.  Bought it right off the truck with all of 5 miles on it (unfortunately, the dealer's technicians had to do some tests on it or something...), so I have the joy of putting essentially every single mile onto my baby.  I bought it in southern Oregon (where my family lives, happily saving $1500+ in sales tax), so I eventually drove it down to Colorado with a friend from Washington, whom I met in Boise, driving his 2000 C5 Corvette.  That drive was a proving ground for why I loved the Si.  Averaged 35-37 mpg, and was comfortable for every one of those 1600 miles.  I now have her at school in CO, and it's a joy taking her out anytime I get the chance. 

So there's a not-so-brief intro of me and my car.  More to follow later.  If any of you actually follow my blog, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts or swap stories.  Later, everybody... Tchüss!

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