Drove a new DX recently, and having raced Hondas many moons ago, I was shocked by how **** poor the quality was. The interior plastic was hard and hollow. The tranny was uninspiring and the ride just sucked. I couldn't believe how much worse it was than the ones I used to race.

The Civic si has 139 ft lb torque, not 193:

http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-*...x?feature=vtec

The motor may be little, but it winds up to 8000 rpm...note it makes max hp (197) at 7800 rpm and max torque at 6100 rpm.

The OHC / VTEC is going to provide whatever torque that little 4-banger can produce across a wide band.

It does have LSD

Don't forget gearing... I guarantee my top gear, part-throttle acceleration on the 92hp 1.5L is WAY better than the good ol' LN3. Cause I'm in the midrange of the rpm'* on the highway

ill say this.

i played with my friend who owns an 06 Si, against my 02 SSEi [unmodded], had him until vtec kicked in and then he walked me.

that said. Si, hands down.

EDIT: he did have a couple of mods, though. high-flow cat being the only one i remember.

SI'* run 14'*, the only issue for power, is getting through the first 4-5k of revs, but once you're in the powerband, the 6 speed keeps you in it.. In an L36 you will be seeing civic tail lights after a few seconds. There'* not much between an SI and my GTI, the GTI has more low rpm torque, but the civic is a little lighter and has an LSD. Both are geared great for their motors.

"Torque makes things happen" isn't quite the truth. It'* more about area under the power curve, gearing, weight, etc. Look at LeMans, both high strung rotaries (Mazda 787b), and torque monster turbo diesels (Audi R10) have won in prototype groups, it'* all about making it all work together.

Although in a street car, power everywhere is nice too Hence my new car...

Just get a GTO with a LS2 and blow it away

But just look at how heavy our cars are. A Grand Prix would be a much closer race, and the Pontiac might even win.