S
sttl013
I've owned my Protege5 since mid-June, and sold my '95 Honda Civic to aquire this car. So I felt I'd share some comparisons, the good, the bad, and the neutral, and invite others to share theirs.
Driver's "cockpit": the P5 feels 10 times better than the Civic. White face guages, cool steering wheel, and with a little modification, a nice shifter. My Civic was really plain, with crappy seats that hurt on long trips. The only thing I liked better was that the shifter in my Civic didn't move around at all, and the one in the P5 moves all over, when I accelerate or engage the clutch.
Power: we all know the P5 needs more power, but the stock Civic vs stock P5 are really equal. Once parts start becoming more available, it should be about the same results.
Looks: not even close. The first time I saw a picture of the Protege5, I knew the Civic was gone.
Suspension: I think it needs a little more work than most people do, but then again, I'm a road-course guy. My Civic had an independent double-wishbone setup, and in my opinion was the #1 attribute to the car. It's gonna take a little work to match up to that. The Civic also used a limited-slip differential in the transmission, and the P5 uses and open diff. This means the inside and outside wheels react differently to each other in a turn than I was used to, and took a little getting used to. I prefer the lim.-slip.
So, really all around it was definitely worth changing up to the P5. Let's hear your comparisons and opinions!
Driver's "cockpit": the P5 feels 10 times better than the Civic. White face guages, cool steering wheel, and with a little modification, a nice shifter. My Civic was really plain, with crappy seats that hurt on long trips. The only thing I liked better was that the shifter in my Civic didn't move around at all, and the one in the P5 moves all over, when I accelerate or engage the clutch.
Power: we all know the P5 needs more power, but the stock Civic vs stock P5 are really equal. Once parts start becoming more available, it should be about the same results.
Looks: not even close. The first time I saw a picture of the Protege5, I knew the Civic was gone.
Suspension: I think it needs a little more work than most people do, but then again, I'm a road-course guy. My Civic had an independent double-wishbone setup, and in my opinion was the #1 attribute to the car. It's gonna take a little work to match up to that. The Civic also used a limited-slip differential in the transmission, and the P5 uses and open diff. This means the inside and outside wheels react differently to each other in a turn than I was used to, and took a little getting used to. I prefer the lim.-slip.
So, really all around it was definitely worth changing up to the P5. Let's hear your comparisons and opinions!