Question for those of you who drive vehicles with "low power" engines

[niky]

My current car is on the heavy side for a 1.3. About 1.2 tons.

The motor supposedly made 85 horses when new. If I had to guess how much it makes now... I'd say... uh... forty?

Takes forever to hit 60... about fifteen seconds with a dump-clutch start.

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Doesn't matter. I never have issues merging into traffic.

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My previous service vehicle was worse. A two ton diesel truck with about 75 horses. Half-a-minute to 60 mph. Could not overtake anything on a two-way two lane.

Got great mileage, though.

[Fingie]

My first daily car was a 170hp '94 Celica. I was quite the overtaker.

The key is not accelerating, but maintaining the speed

Now i drive a 75hp, one-ton Russian crapbox with a final drive of 3,4.


but yeah, patience is a big helper here.

[seifrob]

My car is 1.5 litre small diesel with approx. 65 hp. Driving these cars is, how they say, " expression of life attitude" (citing one local automag).
"You are never in a hurry with this car." is my second favorite phrase from the review.
I must admit acceleration isnt strongest point, but so far it was sufficient. No problems with merging so far. One has to weigh the risks more carefully when overtaking, but thats all. I have no highways nearby though, and traffic situation here probably differs from yours.

[janas19]

Thank you for the awesome feedback. From what I'm reading 70 HP on a lighter Civic should be sufficient especially with a manual. Not fast, but not insufferably slow. I've never driven a Honda Civic before, that's why I asked for your feedback. This has been extremely helpful.

[Fat Charlie]

Enjoy!

[wumpus]

It looks like I have to disagree with the common wisdom here. I moved out to Frederick, MD and live along US Route 15 (which turns into I-270 heading to the DC beltway).

This is not a road for wimpy* cars. Basically, you will see turns rated for 15mph, and short on ramps to 70mph traffic with *very* small spaces you are expected to fit into. Down in 270 you can expect situations nearly as bad (don't ask about the Urbana-I270 exit where you get to merge up a relatively steep incline). Also expect some of the worst drivers in the US, where tailgating is even more popular than college gameday.

Of course, this is the worst of both highway (high speed) and cityish (high traffic) together. If they aren't combined you can get away with such things (such as going East-West on I-70, the local highway with a much higher speed limit).

There's still a reason for the electric engine in hybrids. I can only hope that some car makers see that all you need is a [gas] engine like a Prius and the electric can be be as powerful as anything Tesla makes (this might take ultracaps or LiFePO4 batteries).

* an old 2l Focus has more than enough power (similarly a 90s 2l Breeze). I just can't imagine using the 1970s econoboxes that I learned to drive in, much less a classic beetle or similar.

[Xist]

Somewhere I have a picture of "Welcome to Maryland. Please drive gently."

Ask any Honda boy, Civics are fast!

[wumpus]

Originally Posted by Xist

Somewhere I have a picture of "Welcome to Maryland. Please drive gently."

Ask any Honda boy, Civics are fast!

Most civics are. I'm less sure about the CVCCs (what do you use for fuel?) that competed with the Datsun Honeybee I learned on. I suspect you might even survive with a CRX HV (50mpg! before hypermiling!), but I think I'd want modern safety standards on these roads (although for some reason it's I-70 between Hagerstown and Frederick (i.e. not the traffic nightmare I'm describing) where people die.

[PaleMelanesian]

A low horsepower car with a manual transmission is fine. A low horsepower car with an automatic is the slow one.

My current ride has 117 hp, but I'm almost never above 3000 rpm so I'm only using (very roughly) half of that.

[samwichse]

My current DD is a MT 04 Civic Hybrid... 88hp on tap from the gas engine. Much heavier than your earlier Civic.

I just checked, and the 0-60 times for both are nearly identical.

It's not a fast car, but at no point have I ever thought "this is dangerous." Plus, yours should be more fun, since Honda used the VTEC on mine to do valve-closing-on-coast. It just kind of wheezes out over 3500 rpms. You should get a nice extra kick around 3000k rpms and keep pulling much higher.

Sam