Civic Si vs. RSX vs. Tiburon

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kompressornsc

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Okay, wife wants a new car. Based on looks / price range, she's narrowed it down to these three. Haven't driven any of them yet. Figure some other people have been comparing these three, any thoughts? Pros? Cons?
 
Si sedan will be out by the end of November--not sure if that interests her.



Si if you want the new car, RSX if you want the dealer service--Tiburon would not be on my personal radar. :D
 
Her preference, without driving them, is for the Tib (probably the least favorite of mine). That's based purely on looks. Did I mention this is for my wife? :)



I guess the Si's are pretty much special order, although my dealer did just get one in that someone is not taking, so there is one available. He said they only get two a month. My first car was an Ingegra ('86- first year of Acura), and I have a Honda now, so I am partial to those two to begin with before even driving them.



And she definitely wants a Coupe. It's replacing an '00 Ford Focus 4-door. :spot
 
If you can put up with the Honda service (perhaps it's just poor in my area??), and can buy the Si without dealer mark up/the HFP BS, the SI will be the clear winner after driving.....*I* think.
 
I loved my RSX-S and the service was always great. I have a Honda S2000 now and have not had any service issues as of yet. I am looking for a second car and have narrowed down to a similar set as your wife. Right now though the new GTI is leading for me followed by another RSX and Si in 3rd. Is she against the hatch?
 
Basically, she wants something small & sporty - she's tired of the 4-door & @ 33 years old feels it's a last ditch effort to get away with driving something 'young'. (okay, just realized I can't let her read this thread!) :bolt



No kids, no large pets, and I have a truck so hauling anything isn't an issue. We want to spend somewhere between $20-$23.
 
The new civic si is very nice. It won Motor Trend car of year for this year.



Not to mention the manual with an LSD, sounds like a fun car to drive around town to me :)
 
Tiburons styling are very nice, I actually read a rumor that the newer designs 03+ we're designed by Ferrari. I found them a little small though, and I'm not sure how they are reliability wise. Someone at work was just telling me Hyundai is 3rd in reliability behind Porsche and Lexus from JD Powers.



I own an 02 RSX base and I'm very happy with it; but it's far from perfect. The cabin noise on highways (50+ mph) is very annoying, as well as the 1,945,590 dash rattles in the colder months. Those are my two main compliants with the car though, and I've learned to live with it.



I can't say much about the Civic Si. I'm not really a fan of the styling, but that's up to your wife. The RSX-S and Civic Si are extremely similiar so it would come down to styling and preferences to make the decision.



I would make sure to give whatever you get a good test drive on the highway and city streets without any music and annoying salespersons.
 
i owned a 2003 tib briefly before my 2003 rsx-s...the tib was fun to drive...just much different than the rsx-s. out of those three:



--Tiburon is a larger vehicle..."feels" fast from the V6 torque...but still slower than the other two. best warranty of them all.



--rsx-s ...most expensive...conservative styling...probably best interior of all three.



--Si ...get this if you want an rsx but don't want to pay for the rsx-s (and definitely if you are considering the base rsx model)



my choice would be the rsx-s again. great motor...fun to drive...and you may get a good price on it since it's going out of production. acura service has been excellent in my area as well.



.02
 
04LemansZ said:
I thought I had read at one time that the RSX was being discontinued...could be wrong though.
Click to expand...





Yep, it is going bye bye.



Chris, LOL--I just assume that every RSX is the "S" model. ;)
 
04LemansZ said:
I thought I had read at one time that the RSX was being discontinued...could be wrong though.
Click to expand...



Yes thats correct, after this year Acura isn't producing them anymore. Apparently it was too "cheap" to wear the "A" logo and they'll be making a TSX coupe to replace it.

The RSX was also a little repetitive since the new Civic Si produces about the same HP as the Type S with just as many options, if not more.
 
JohnnyDaJackal said:
Yes thats correct, after this year Acura isn't producing them anymore. Apparently it was too "cheap" to wear the "A" logo and they'll be making a TSX coupe to replace it.

The RSX was also a little repetitive since the new Civic Si produces about the same HP as the Type S with just as many options, if not more.
Click to expand...



Yep, not to mention NAVI and LSD......
 
I would also opt for the RSX-S becaus it is the last year :( i wish the shifter on the type s was as short was it was on the 2nd last gen Lude



she could also look at a CSX, which is also a rebadged civic
 
I had a 2004 Tiburon for about a year. I got rid of it because it just couldn't handle a New Hampshire winter very well. I got into a Hyundai Santa Fe after that. So I've owned two Hyundai's and my mom has an Elantra. I can say for sure that the Tiburon is a few steps above all the other hyundais in terms of interior quaility. It felt like a comfortable car with plush leather seating and lots of fit and finish inside. The santa fe had "leather" seats. I put that in quotes because they felt like a vinyl tarp. It also had cheaper plastic parts. I'm not saying that the Tiburon is a luxury car by any means, but the interior quality is well above what you would expect from a Hyundai.



The Tiburon felt fast, even though it wasn't. It is a VERY light car, so 190 horses go a long way.



Someone else on this thread said that hyundai is rated third in reliability. I haven't heard that, but I do know that they measure initial quality by counting the number of reported problems per 100 cars. Toyota is the best with 101 problems per 100 cars. Hyunda and Honda are tied for second place with 102.



It terms of looks and styling, I agree with your wife. Get the tiburon.
 
I would definately recommend driving all three cars. You never know. The car the seems the best on paper may not fit your wife the best. I also think you really need to experience the new dashes on the Civics first hand. I prefer the RSX interior layout over the Civic interior. The dash on the Civic is H-U-G-E and the LCDs take some getting used to. The other thing I don't like about the new Sis is the fact that they look just like every other 2-door Civic. Not that the Type-S is different than the base RSX, but that was one thing I liked about my Si (it was totally different than any of the other Civics).
 
nonMedia_Si_Sedan
:woot2:
 
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