I got my 91 civic while I was on my first job. That was 8 years back. Back then I wanted a reliable car which would be easy on my pocket and not give me huge maintenance headache as I had seen many of friends have those issues a lot. I did not have enough funds to go for a new car. Hence this car seemed the best choice. I never thought that I would be writing about this car after so many years. It has been my best purchase till now. Still works great and I am currently using it as my daily driver. One of the best things about this car is its maintenance free ride.
Whatever minor issues I have had till now I was able to fix those easily because of easy availability of inexpensive parts. I have taken my 91 civic off road and driven it on almost all sorts of roads and still there has been no issues. Since my purchase I have added 110,000 miles on the odometer on top of the 120k miles which were already there. One of the best cars and I would suggest it to all those who might want to get an inexpensive car with good mpg and low maintenance requirement.
A nice demonstration of the B16A1 engine with Turbo Vtec in 91 civic.
Review:
1. Performance (8/10): This is a great car. One of the reason I have given it a higher performance rating is its easy tuning ability. I have seen my friends achieve very high hp from these after doing engine swap and few other parts change. Without it also it is a very good ride and you would not feel the need for extra horses in a 91 civic even on freeways.
2. Comfort (8/10): It has got good space. I have gone on long trips with my friends in it and we never felt cramped in it. Although it might be a bit tight as a family car but if you want to zip around as a bachelor with few other friends this is a great car.
3. Fuel Economy(10/10): I get 33mpg on highways and 29 in the city with my 91 civic. This after the car has driven for 200,000 miles is pretty good. You can increase this a bit more with few simple part change.
4. Fun-to-Drive (9/10): This is a great car when it comes to experimenting with the car. I have been able to beat on the car entire day long and it would still start without fail the next morning.
5. Design (7/10): The exteriors look a bit old especially with the boxy design. This also causes a bit more drag in the car than the next generation of civics. The interior is pretty ok and does not feel cheap at any place.
6. Build Quality(9/10): The engineers have done a great job on this and have taken lots of things into consideration for this car. The entire build of the 91 civic is great and the car is meant to be a long lasting one.
7. Reliability(10/10): This is the most beautiful part of the car. It will never leave you stranded in the middle of the road and would not be a reason for you getting late to office.
Tuning:
The civics are by far one of the favorites of car enthusiast and one of the reason is the huge number of possibilities it gives them for tuning the car and improving its performance. Also the main reason for this is the cheap availability of modding parts and body kits.
Engine swap from D15B2 to D16Z2 in civic.
You can do the following things on a 91 civic :
1.Engine Swap: This is one of the most powerful of all tuning options. You can boost the power of the car directly by 70-80% by doing this. I have seen many of my friends go for this option. However also keep in mind that this is a bit expensive option and one requiring skill and a bit more long term management. For those who want to convert the car into pure performance car this is a must option however for those who would just want to add a few hp to their car without sacrificing the reliability and within the budget this option can be avoided.
2.Exhaust: This is another vital part of the car. It is the part taking care of throwing out the exhaust air from the engine. The car also works like a normal breathing organism. If the part of throwing out used air is not good the entire performance suffers. You can either go for a 4-1 setup or a 4-2-1 setup.
3.Intake valve: The intake valve does the very important part of controlling the flow of air and fuel into the engine and then releasing the exhaust gases after combustion. While going for an upgrade the one simple rule that all of them follow is to give extra oxygen to allow for better combustion of fuel thus allowing the fuel to release more energy. Doing this mod would give a good boost to the car's horsepower.
4.Turbo: If willing to spend a bit extra this is one option which many people go for. It gives the car greater air for burning the fuel and gives a good increase in performance. However you would need to reduce the compression ratio of the car to prevent detonation.
You can get good information about tuning your 91 civic while searching on "torquecars" and "hondatuningmagazine".
Parts:
The civic gives you a wide range of options for changing or upgrading parts and the most important thing is that these are easily available and are relatively much cheaper than the parts of other car makers.
You can always use ebay for general parts or your local mechanic.
If you want to go for tuning or modding a 91 civic you can look up the internet on "procivic", "japperformanceparts" or "hondamarketplace".
Price/Sale:
The civic has a good resale value. You can try it in your local dealership or through internet or a private seller.
Make sure to check the car history on "carfax". This can give you good idea if the car has been through a major accident or used as a rental car or similar things. If so do not buy the car as it can give long term maintenance issues.
You can purchase a 91 civic on internet from following sites:
lemonfree
Autos.aol
Besides civic you can look up following cars also:
Toyota Corolla
Mazda protege
Volkswagen golf
Following is the comparison of the above 3 vehicles with 91 civic:
| Name: | 91 Honda Civic | 91 Toyota Corolla | 91 Mazda Protege | 91 Volkswagen golf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Price | $2,235 | $2,050 | $2,050 | $2, 050 |
| Private Party Price | $1,460 | $1,325 | $1,325 | $1, 325 |
| Estimated Payments | $43 /mo @ 4.99% APR | $39 /mo @ 4.99% APR | $39 /mo @ 4.99% APR | $39 /mo @ 4.99% APR |
| Gas Mileage | 29 mpg City / 33 mpg Hwy | 24 mpg City / 30 mpg | 24 mpg City / 33 mpg Hwy | 22 mpg City / 29 mpg Hwy |
| Engine | 4-Cyl, 1.5 Liter | 4-Cyl, 1.6 Liter | 4-Cyl, 1.8 Liter | 4-Cyl, 1.8 Liter |
| Transmission | 5-SpdManual | 5-Spd Manual | 5-Spd Manual | 5-Spd Manual |
Overall this is a great car and my most favorite of all the cars I have had the chance to drive.
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