Get the Del Sol if it's the DOHC VTEC. Clean Del Sol VTECS are hard to get nowadays and will hold value MUCH MUCH better than a new Civic Si.

 

do the VTEC's have a lsd?

 

^^^ No LSD.

 

In order of what I think would be best

-Keep the DX and do a K20 swap
-Buy the del Sol and do a K20 swap
-buy the del sol and save up for the "affordable dream car"
-buy the Si

K20 swaps, while expensive, will probably run a lot cheaper than the Si if you do it in the DX (since it is a car you already own) and probably a fair amount cheaper depending on how much you get the del Sol for.

As far as saving up for the S2000 (or other affordable dream car), I wish I did that. I drove around my POS saturn in high school and college and the second I got a job bought an RSX Type-S. Great car...should have stuck with the saturn for another year or so and just gotten the S2000. And since you don't want to keep the DX, the del Sol is the cheaper option car (compared to the '06 Si) that will hold you over till better days.

The Si is a great car. If I wanted a new $20K daily driver, that would almost certainly be it.

 

K20! Hell yeah!

I need to do a K20 swap for my crx

--
Brian

 

I finally got the VIN: EG217 so it's definitely a VTEC The EP3 is still kinda on my mind too. The thing that bothers me is it's not what it SHOULD be and if I got one I would add an LSD and K20A2 and 6 speed to it, which would make the price awfully close to the new CSi, whatever its chassis code is. 4 I would look at a leftover '05 one anyway but the only one left in the area has the HFP kit on it and is stickered at over $24000, which is about as much as the 06 with navi and body kit. The Sol seems much more "right" from the factory and wouldn't give me the same bug to "fix" it.

Looking at autotrader for an EP3 back home (06360) shows me 3 priced 14k, 15k, and 16k. I don't know how much dealing can be done but at that price I'd rather spend a little more and get the far better engine and transmission and differential and so on, not to mention an actual NEW car. If you guys think the 16k one, which is in the blue I want, can be gotten down to the 10-12 range I might consider it. However, as it stands that gets a firm no.

I'm also looking to have something worth taking to Watkins Glen this summer with my friend and his (1975) Ferrari, not to keep up with him necessarily but at least have fun. I believed any of these could handle light track use with proper tires, brake fluid, and transmission oil. Am I right? I know lots of reviewers have taken the new CSi on the track and I believe the EP3 has been there also.

 

The K20 in the DX is not an option I'm going to take. I'm not happy with the lack of power steering when I have to parallel park, lack of a tach to help out my ears, lack of power windows when roaring away from the toll booths, lack of even a sunroof, and so on. My original plan, before seeing the new CSi and Mom finding the Del Sol VTEC, was to get an EP3 for a daily driver and then in a couple years pick up an S2k or MR2 Spyder and upgrade it like mad, However, when the Sol came along I realized it could be smarter to have the Sol as a daily driver, get to have the top off all the time in summer and a tiny car to park, with a built-in hardtop for winter, and get something like an S4 biturbo in a few years for track use and when I need to carry things. If I could get a blue ~40000 miles EP3 for 10k that might point me back at my original plan but I LOVE losing the roof; I feel suffocated in a closed car.

Ah well, off to work to pay for it for the next 8 hours. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

vtec delsol may be functional, there were so many different types of civic's back then so:

-ck the engine code stamped front top passengers side of the engine to verify its what you want
-run the vin number and at least get the free no charge description

 

The 2002 ep3 Sis, when they first came out, did not sell. Honda dealers ended up with tons of unsold ones. Many Honda dealers were selling them in the $15,000-16,000 range brand new. So it surprises me that used examples would have asking prices in the $14k-16k range today. If I had known in 2002 that I could buy a new Si for just over $15,000 and sold it 3 years later for that exact same amount, I definitely would have gotten one. ...no matter how ugly it is.

Andrew

 

Get the Del Sol. Do you really want to start out of college with a boat load of debt??

It sounds like your end game is really an S2K?! Get the Del Sol, get a good job, and start saving for what you really want.

Keep in mind, you could get there even faster if you suffer through with your current ride for a few more years.