Please help me decide quickly. ('99 Accent vs. 89 CRX)
 

Hey guys, I have been in dire need of a gas sipper immediately since gas has continued to rise. I found a couple of things local that I am going to look at today. I would appreciate any feedback to help sway my decision.

In the blue corner we have a 1999 Hyundai Accent (1.5 liter 4cyl.) 2dr 5 speed with 101k on the clock. Guy said it runs and drives fine, but he has stripped a lot of the interior out of it. He has also installed headers and a full exhaust. It has a 2" drop on the front via new springs and struts. He is asking $950 for it.

In the red corner, we have a 1989 Honda Civic CRX. It is a 1.6 liter 4 cyl. mated to a 5 speed. It is not the HF model. The guy said he put a newer stock motor in it that has about 50k on the clock, but also said that a bearing in the trans was going out and needed to be fixed or replaced. He says the car will run and drive, but the trans makes a high pitch noise. I told him it sounds like a throw out bearing and thats what he thought it was but upon investigation it was not the throw out bearing. He is asking $1000.

I have looked up the fuel economy on both of these vehicles and the Hyundai is a winner by a small MPG margin. I would like all members feedback on this as well.

How hard would it be to just swap that trans in the CRX?

A rushed purchase is rarely an economically sound purchase. If you can take the time to do the research and wait for a great deal to come along, you will be happier with your decision and will save money.

I don't have experience in a 1989 CRX, but the Accent will have an OBDII port if that matters to you. I'd probably lean newer if it were my decision, especially if the Honda has an unidentified transmission problem.

I agree with you completely on the rushed purchase being unwise. I am pretty decent at determining a cars value once I have driven it, and being that I have looked at several over the last few months I don't intend on buying something just because. I am going to look at both, but not necessarily buy either one.

the OBDII port will allow me to change some things about the fuel to air ratio as well as other things yeah?

Trans swap in the crx is a piece of cake. Probably needs a new input shaft and countershaft bearing, also easy to do if somewhat mechanically inclined. I'd go for the crx, although I'm a bit biased. (screen name) With the hf transmission, the crx would get way better mileage than the other car, 40 plus easy with 50/50 driving.

I would go with the Honda as well, mostly because it is going to be a better built car, chaning the transmission takes about 5-7 hours and is not hard, it would take alot less time if you had a lift of course but it's a tiny transmission, I've done two of them and there is nothing weird that you curse at, just unbolts and bolts back in.
Off the top of my head for the CRX I don't know the gear ratio, but you could put a transmission with better ratios in and improve your gas mileage that way, for that sporty feel you would have to down shift of course, but you have that option.

Go Honda. Better parts support, better build, just plain better period. You will not regret it.

thanks for the quick replies guys! I was sitting here contemplating this CRX when I checked craigslist one more time and found a true gem...

I found a running 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit LX pickup with the 1.5 liter diesel mated to a 4 speed stick. I am going to look at it tomorrow!

That CRX would be a decent car, that is if this guy knew what he was doing when he screwed with it. About the tranny - They are pretty cheap. An HF Tranny (I would suggest - Higher gear ratios) isn't to bad in price. $250 - $400 bucks. Plus, maintenance is cheap and easy... I love my CRX already.. Haha

As far as my research has gone, The HF tranny is the highest geared ratio tranny, even better than the VX tranny...

The OBD2 port would be for a good fuel gauge. I am normally partial to Hondas, but in this case the Hyundai. The exhaust... he chose to do that to a simple little car like this for performance? Any sense of how well chosen the system was? And he dropped only the front 2" or front and back? Nonetheless, seems like the better buy.

The Hyundai sounds like it was driven hard with all those mods but with 10 years newer tech, I'd go with that one.

This is a little off topic, maybe, but do you know the ratios for the VX and HF? I wonder what compatibilities there are across generations. I doubt much, but I wonder because I have heard Honda designs for that. I drive a sixth generation '98 Civic.

Any D series transmission wil bolt to a D-series engine, b to b, etc.

If your 98 has a D series, either the HF or VX trans will bolt in, with one or more caveats (always something...) The HF has a cable actuated clutch linkage. The hydro setup won't blt on, but it can be modified easily to work reliably.

Axles- the Trans sides, I believe, are ask the same for 5 speed D Series trans, but if they're not, you may need to swap inner cv joints. I strongly believe your axles should fit right in.

Mounts- the bulk of the engine/trans weight is supported by the trans, which has 2-3 mounts, where the engine only has one. Your existing mounts may bolt to the new (older) unit, or not. I can't remember.

Clutch- Your original might work, and the pressure plate/diaphragm definitely is ok, but the friction disc may not work, depending on which trans you get. 88-89 HF have a different spline count in the input shaft than 90-91, and no idea about the VX trans.

I have heard that the HF axles are thinner than the others.

A trans swap in a CRX is not horrible, but it wasn't my favorite project to do. It took a couple of days of farting around to do it. The "b*tch pin* that holds the shift linkage to the trans is very aptly named; I wound up pulling half the linkage with the trans and driving the pin out with everything out of the car already.

If the car started as an Si (the only US-spec CRX with a 1.6L motor), the gear ratios will be very short and quite horrible for MPG. Look for about 30 MPG in a mix of city-freeway without hypermiling. The DX transmission was better (same gear ratios actually, but taller ring and pinion) and the HF the tallest geared of all. Those are a bit hard to find, though.

The ability to use a Scangaute or an Ultragauge in the Accent would be a significant consideration to me. With the CRX, you will have to wire in an MPGuino yourself. I still haven't gotten around to installing mine.

If you don't need a four-seater, the CRX is a decent choice. It is not as safe as the later larger car; the CRX will fold up more than the Accent will. Assuming you do not avoid the accident, of course.

Rust is a potentially big problem in CRXes. The rear fenders love to rust out. The sunroof panels on the Si cars almost always have at least some rust bubbles. Another big potential problem is stupid owners who don't maintain the car or put very questionable "mods" on it because they think it's cool.

I probably wouldn't get a CRX for $1K that needed a transmission. And it sounds like this one does; that is most likely a rattling input shaft bearing (ISB) which requires transmission disassembly to replace.

-soD

Not sure if the axles are physically thinner- but the number of splines on the axles is smaller than on non-HF axles.

Civic/CRX axles - The HF and STD versions share the same hub size and spline count outboard, while auto trans have a smaller inboard stub.

The axle is physically the same size/length, iirc. Just the cv ends that are different. I also believe one can swap ends, but could be mistaken there.

The EG 92-95 USDM axles will fit EF/ED 88-91 "basic" models, although the newer models are a different p/n, and physically look different.

We found from Wonderboy's experience that HF/STD hubs share a spline count with Geo Metro axles. The Geo axles are a bit long, and require washers. The inners are not the same count as any D-series trans.