I bought this car in April 1999 with a genuine 40,000 on the clock. The Vtec engine is as sweet as a nut. It has 113bhp max. But feels a lot more, although the power is in the upper rev range, (4700 to 7200rpm). No low-end torque means more gear changes in medium to slow moving traffic but not too bad Gearbox is smooth and precise and the pas is light but not twitchy at speed and has good feedback in corners. The handling was a little poor with the factory fit road wheels (bad understeer on wet and dry roundabouts), so fitted 15/7" alloys with Dunlop SP9000 195/50 sport tires, now it corners on rails Good second family car, lots of space inside but as with all two door hatches, it has long doors so needs a fair bit of space in car parks to get children in and out of the rear seats All services done at normal intervals and fluid levels checked regularly (not that they need topping off usually) hence fuel economy good, 40mpg if driven sympathetically, a little less if you like using the Vtec engine, all in all an excellent car It also seems to be a rare model, as I havent seen many about and the good thing is, it qualifies for the lower road tax rate being below 1500cc but still has that sporty feel of a 1.6 or 2.0ltr car. If you find a good one with right mileage I strongly advise buying it. |
