EP HFP in Road and Track "Speed Magazine"

[Slip_Angle]

Anyone see the HFP EP in the Road and Track "Speed" Magazine? It was in a shootout with the Focus SVT, SRT-4, Mazdaspeed Protege, Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, Nissan Nismo Spec V S-Tune and Toyota TRD celica GT-S.

The Si finished 6th out of 7 in front of the Mitsu. It was praised for it's handling and had the 3rd best slalom time - ahead of the SVT, Mitsu, SRT-4, and Sentra.. ".3mph" behind the Mazdaspeed. It also turned really good lap times, again only .32 seconds slower than the Mazdaspeed. They were critical of the Si's braking and power of the engine...and stated that it was the Si's brake that really let the car down..

Just goes to show there is way more potential than superficial magazine articles show.

[EtherGhost]

Who won?

[vasi]

Our brakes suck ass. That is a fact.

[YooShin]

Brakes are under powered. The car is slightly under tired (would help the braking issue), and needs a good 10-15 stock hp to make it more spirited. the EP has the best driving enviro out of all of them: The seats, dead pedal, shifter, wheel, front and (oh) rear seat room, utility (wank, wank), & overall reinfinement. Last but not least: very obtainable high performance potential. I love my POS EP.

[Dunrick]

the svt focus gets crap for gas mileage too

oh and yeah, were really jacked on the brake power - we should have got 11" rotors


the engine i could care less about - its plenty for autox

[swrdply400mrela]

HFP rims also weigh 23.5lbs a piece.

[SiR Medic]

The HFP kit is NOT worth the $$ IMO.

Heavy wheels, body kit, and lower springs. All for $4K. Better to buy your own set of light rims, good tires, and springs. Than upgrade the engine.

The lousy braking was probably caused more by the heavy wheels than the lack of brakes. A non-HFP Si has similar braking to the SVT Focus, despite the skinny rubber.

[seattlecivic]

HFP blows TYPE R away.














































sike:*

[Slip_Angle]

Winner was the TRD Celica.

Tires on each car -->

SRT-4: BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW
SVT: Continental ContiSportContact
HFP Si: Yokohama ES100
Mazdaspeed Protege: Bridgestone Potenza RE040
Lancer Ralliart: Bridgestone Potenza RE92
Nismo Sentra: BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KD
TRD Celica: Yokohama Parada Spec-2

[Dunrick]

Originally posted by SiR Medic

The lousy braking was probably caused more by the heavy wheels than the lack of brakes. A non-HFP Si has similar braking to the SVT Focus, despite the skinny rubber.

svt has brakes like the RSx-S - or closer to than us

[BlasTech]

Originally posted by CDN-SiR-02
Winner was the TRD Celica.

Tires on each car -->

SRT-4: BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW
SVT: Continental ContiSportContact
HFP Si: Yokohama ES100
Mazdaspeed Protege: Bridgestone Potenza RE040
Lancer Ralliart: Bridgestone Potenza RE92
Nismo Sentra: BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KD
TRD Celica: Yokohama Parada Spec-2

In my experience, this is what played the biggest role in slalom and braking contests, and in 1/4 mile to some extent. If all the cars had the same tires...no matter which tire, the results would have been more accurate.

[Dunrick]

what were the standings? celica top, then what?

[BlasTech]

I dont see how a SRT4 with KDWs could have lost.

[Dunrick]

neither can I - LSD, KD's, crapload of power/weight/great brakes

[PAPITUYO326]

Originally posted by Dunrick
neither can I - LSD, KD's, crapload of power/weight/great brakes

i have a magazine article where they go into detail about this....apperantly it suffers from horrible body roll....like some uber wagon. It was in an article comparo between

svt focus 3
mazdaspeed 2
and srt 1

they took all three on the track and said that the only thing that kept the srt out of last place was its beastly engine

[BarracksSi]

I was happy to hear all the good things R&T had to say about the Si. The brakes & the engines relatively low redline held it back, but they liked everything else -- including the important stuff that you actually deal with regardless of speed, namely the cabin & controls. The brakes & engine can be modified much more easily.

[Slip_Angle]

1 Celica TRD GTS
2 Nismo Sentra
3 SVT Focus
4 SRT-4
5 Mazdaspeed Protege
6 HFP Si
7 Lancer

I'm not sure why the Celica was in the comparison since it was almost $4000 more than the second most expensive car -- the HFP Si..

And, yes R&T did praise the Si in many ways which was suprising.

One thing I found really intersting was that in another section of the magazine they tested an Si with a JRSC and estimated the 0-60 would be 7.5 seconds..Considering they got 7.9 in the HFP Si test, you would think they would know that 50 extra HP would make more difference on a car with smaller wheels.. Strange.

[BarracksSi]

I don't find it surprising that R&T liked many aspects of the Si. ;) Actually, the magazine reviews I've seen praise everything about the Si except its stock tires and low redline (which directly drops its 0-60 time).

Speaking of redline, that's probably what's keeping them from estimating an even lower time for the JRSC-equipped Si. If the redline were higher and allowed the 2-3 shift to happen at 63 mph instead of 57, it could probably be a third of a second quicker to 60 -- and have a faster 0-100 km/h time, too. People like to compare numbers, and Honda didn't seem to be too concerned about that one.

[GrahamBo '02]

Hey, just curious, but should the Focus even be on this list? I mean didn't Ford ax SVT?

[televated]

Originally posted by CDN-SiR-02
Just goes to show there is way more potential than superficial magazine articles show.

Yeah, who really cares about power and braking in a performance car... Even if the Civic Si was a performance car.

[BarracksSi]

Originally posted by televated
Yeah, who really cares about power and braking in a performance car... Even if the Civic Si was a performance car.

I'd rather have a car come off the dealer's lot that won't have interior pieces start rattling after 10,000 miles, or a new TSB every month, than a car that goes like stink and is built like stink.

My Si is fast enough to get me a ticket (I have them to prove it), but doesn't feel any looser than it did 24,000 miles ago. Sounds like a good car to me.

[goy091]

anyone wanna help out and scan in the article. im having a hell of a time trying to find the new magazine.

i find that the Celica GT-S is in there kinda odd. i mean maybe they should have put the RSX Type-S? or even a WRX in there. price wise the GT-S is about the same as those cars. $23k for the GT-S and $25k for the action package. or just not have included it at all?

[televated]

Originally posted by BarracksSi
I'd rather have a car come off the dealer's lot that won't have interior pieces start rattling after 10,000 miles, or a new TSB every month, than a car that goes like stink and is built like stink.

My Si is fast enough to get me a ticket (I have them to prove it), but doesn't feel any looser than it did 24,000 miles ago. Sounds like a good car to me.

That's why you drive a Honda Civic. Wow, you have tickets, pat yourself on the back. But you can get a ticket in just about anything so that doesn't say a whole lot for the Si.

[Skunk2ner]

they also didn't add the crash test ratings...

the sentra, focus and lancer all have bad side impact ratings.

honda is rockin' the accident aspect! :cool:

it's all preference. i see focus' and sentras and celicas and proteges everywhere. how often do you see a new hatchback civic?
plus the shifter is rad. ;)

[Tenacious G]

Originally posted by televated
That's why you drive a Honda Civic. Wow, you have tickets, pat yourself on the back. But you can get a ticket in just about anything so that doesn't say a whole lot for the Si.

wow, what climbed up your ass? the guy is just giving his opinion on why he likes the EP. chill.

[BarracksSi]

Originally posted by televated
That's why you drive a Honda Civic. Wow, you have tickets, pat yourself on the back. But you can get a ticket in just about anything so that doesn't say a whole lot for the Si.

My point is exactly that -- you can get a ticket in just about anything.

So, then, why bother bickering over which one goes a couple tenths faster than another?

The Si could use a higher redline and/or 40 more horsepower, and better brakes -- and that's about it. They enjoy everything else.

[eurosteez]

One of R&T's earlier test drives of the Si gave the car a .89g slalom rating. I'll try to find the issue but thats pretty damn good.


damn our brakes. would upgrading the pads help or do we need bigger rotors?

[Slip_Angle]

Upgrading the pads makes a big improvement. I threw on a set of Hawk HPS pads in the front and it stops fast, real fast. unless your racing at the track, I don't see why you would need anything more. I use these for street and autocross.

[siver-SI]

I am going to upgrade the brakes and rotors this year. My new rims and tires may have to wait till next year. I might just get some better 15" tires and keep it at that. What is the point of doing a lot of upgrades if I can not stop to keep them intact.