Was the ep3 ahead of its time???

[RedSiBaron]

I think the 5th gen civic is what really brought hatches into the limelight here in the states. It was light, and the 3G gen teg and the 5G hatch were basically like legos. Circuit racing with hatches grew 10 fold, and everyone and their mom owned one. I don't think you can even find an un-modded 5G hatch on H-T anymore!

I've owned 9 Hondas, all hatches. 2 EPs, 2 EGs, and 5 EFs. I got my first in 1993 so I've seen first hand the evolution of hatches and their popularity. I can't say I attribute the EP to changing anything. If anything it showed Honda that there was no point in releasing a hatch in the US in their next design phase. The EP was a horrible seller compared to Honda's other hatches which are pretty much everywhere.

the eg might have been big in the tuner scene, but the 3g had been mopping up in road racing (still is) since it came out in 84 and mugen was winning races along with jackson racing and kingmotorsports (in the us)...after that the ef continued that...sorry eg, not special either, its just a jelly bean that weighed more than the previous civics and didnt get the engine it was supposed to (huh, reminds me of another car we might all know...)

[MugsyTheGr8]

My point from before was about WRC and using CF for weight reduction its not priority.

Subie has offered a wagon form of Impreza 2.5 and WRX, But never in STi.

The new STI wing kinda looks like a the EP3-r wing

Ep are awesome though

And the Fit sucks

And its common knowledge why hatches rocked always.

not true, you could get the sti variant on the gc chassis in all three body styles, including, le 5-door wagon

and, you could have gotten an 02 bug eye in sti wagon form too, just not in the states. to reiterate what is being said all throughout this thread, the ep did not influence manufacturers to make wagons or hatches. this is just getting silly.

[superhatch]

the eg might have been big in the tuner scene, but the 3g had been mopping up in road racing (still is) since it came out in 84 and mugen was winning races along with jackson racing and kingmotorsports (in the us)...after that the ef continued that...sorry eg, not special either, its just a jelly bean that weighed more than the previous civics and didnt get the engine it was supposed to (huh, reminds me of another car we might all know...)

What you say is true, but I disagree that the EG wasn't special. Sure you had the 3G's and the 4G's but the 5G was the hatch that really started the movement to the track IMO. The CX was rather light, and you could pull parts straight from a teg, or use stock ITR parts to improve the car in so many ways. The 3G and 4G (which is still a staple in Auto-xing all over the country) are great cars in their own right, but when it comes to really changing the makeup of hatchbacks on the track, or being modded in general I would say the 5G civic did that in numbers the 3 and 4G's couldnt. I'm looking at this from a non-race team perspective. I know far more people who track 5G's than 4Gs, and I don't know anyone that tracks a 3G.

I do know a TON of people who still track CRX's though

[RedSiBaron]

What you say is true, but I disagree that the EG wasn't special. Sure you had the 3G's and the 4G's but the 5G was the hatch that really started the movement to the track IMO. The CX was rather light, and you could pull parts straight from a teg, or use stock ITR parts to improve the car in so many ways. The 3G and 4G (which is still a staple in Auto-xing all over the country) are great cars in their own right, but when it comes to really changing the makeup of hatchbacks on the track, or being modded in general I would say the 5G civic did that in numbers the 3 and 4G's couldnt. I'm looking at this from a non-race team perspective. I know far more people who track 5G's than 4Gs, and I don't know anyone that tracks a 3G.

I do know a TON of people who still track CRX's though

the same thing with the integra applied to the 3g, my father did a full teg brake swap on his 84 dx in 90 just by lookin under peoples cars...and there were atleast 3 3g hatches in the runoffs this year, i see far more track 3gs at the runoffs than egs, and i dont remember seeing any egs...im sorry but im just going to dissagree on that...plus i have a track 3g in my garage right now being built, and thats a gtlite spec car...

i love the eg...the 3g was developed as a racing platform for honda (yes i know its an eco car, but honda always based its company around racing and they intend to race the cars they develop, look at all the civics, tegs, all at the very least raced in touring car series) and the 4g was the followup vehicle to take its place, i dont know the specific history of the eg so i wont claim it was or wasnt built for that purpose, the eg was the refinement of that small lightweight hatch honda started with the 3g, im sure its just as great on the track if not better...and lets be honest, the ep was hondas attempt to recapture this, sure they made it bigger and heavier, but it did just as great on the track...

how bout we just agree that the e-chasis hatches did great on the track yay!

[SiR R8TD]

I've liked hatches ever since I first saw the EG back in 92'. When I saw the EP for the first time, I didn't like it that much. But when they introduced the HFP kit for them, I fell in love.

[RedSiBaron]

I've liked hatches ever since I first saw the EG back in 92'. When I saw the EP for the first time, I didn't like it that much. But when they introduced the HFP kit for them, I fell in love.

actually thats when it got my attention was in 04 and i saw a vbp full hfp si, and just thought it was badass

[willy_akino]

ive always love the ep3...even though its a civic...i just fell in love with the body style

[wh03lse]

i think ur seeing a repeat in history rite now cause the new STi is getting alot of heat for changing the body shape to a hatch... that thing is droppe dead hot... if the gas mileage were even close to our hatches id totally jump ship haha

[RedSiBaron]

i think ur seeing a repeat in history rite now cause the new STi is getting alot of heat for changing the body shape to a hatch... that thing is droppe dead hot... if the gas mileage were even close to our hatches id totally jump ship haha

heh i was still on the fence with the new sti until i saw one from a balcony in colorado driving through a lot with snow on the ground and the person driving it was sliding it sideways and i just new it was correct haha

[superhatch]

how bout we just agree that the e-chasis hatches did great on the track yay!

That I can do!

I wasn't sure about the EP until I saw it in person, and the same goes for the new STi. I have yet to drive the new STi though, so I'm still not 100% sold on it, and from the video and written reviews it seems to have lost some of its edge.

[PuMpKiN_Ep3]

you better believe it... the ep is in..

by the way... mmmmmh....!! i like the new HB STI.. i think thats not good..

[renovator]

I agree with the above.

*To sum it all up, the EP is one of the most if not thee most unique Civic to date. Everytime i drive mine i feel good knowing that im in a cult car...the few...the proud...the mini van owners!

thats why i love my ep. the only other Civic that would be more unique would probably be the del Sol.

last of the mohicans, that's a good one. lol i was at a light yesterday coming back from work and this dude who pulled up in a B16 (generation, not powered) Sentra commented on my car and told me that his white EP got stolen the night before and was telling me to be careful. nice guy. never ran into a bad EP guy yet.

[Jsoto517]

So its agreed. Our ep3 are the shitt. Excellent

[tech9]

hatches were never hot here in the US so ill say no to ep3 being ahead of its time

[Windchaser]

the ep3 was a fatass and still is a fatass.