That's because Canadian Z cars spend half of their lives in a cryogenic freeze... A thousand years from now, the only two signs of our civilization that will be left will be Walt Disney's head... and Canadian Z cars.

Rod.

 

I don't know much about engines and everything, but wouldn't a 4 cylinder weigh generally less than a 6 cylinder, which in essence would give 4 cylinder hondas an edge in weight?

 

Yes, but kightweight/no power still = SLOW. Honda's with alot of mods can be very quick but stock... no.

Rod.

 

Then you still have the whole FWD handicap and the fact that all the power of the 4 cylinder is in a rev range the L28 wont even reach Conclusion: A 300HP Civic weighing 2800lbs will be slower than a 300HP Z weighing 2800lbs Even though they have the same HP and weight the Z will have the advantage of the weight distributing to the drive wheels (rear) upon acceleration and that it makes torque much lower in the power band.

 

well I essentially just meant, that the way he was saying that the hondas weigh less would probably come from the smaller engine. Where as if they had a 6 cylinder engine, they would weigh probably closer or more than what the Z weighs.

 

That's the problem, they don't weigh less. A stripped to **** civic may reach 2100 pounds. Carbon fiber hood, fenders, and trunk lid and no interior. And I mean no interior what so ever, besides a seat and steering wheel. A Z can reach the same weight. A full bodied, full interior is Civic is right around 2600 pounds. I think the Z is a little heavier, maybe 2800 or so. But that is nothing. Find a dyno of a high horsepower Civic, all the power is in the top of the graph. Find 1 of a Z and see where the power is. It comes on sooner and lasts longer than any B16 or B18. And like stated above the FWD thing sucks, trust me. My 3KGT is a bitch to find traction. There is none, my first 2 gears are useless. I'm running a 10 to 1 motor with twin turbos and just about anything and everything you can pile on it. And I'm stuck in the low 13's with a all most 120 mph trap speed. With that trap I should be way lower in the 1/4. But no traction off the line, no traction kills my times. No one has found a way to make a FWD stick like a RWD. It is just against the laws of nature

 

civic was designed as an econobox. z was designed as a sports car. thats all there is to it.

 

The newer Civics aren't all that light compared to what they used to be. The early generation Civics were extremely light. But year after year they just kept piling on the pounds. Now a first gen CRX stripped to nothing, thats a lightweight car. But it's still FWD. And unless your name Rado you're going to have a tough time making one stick.

 

So what year car are we talking about? Do you have a slick top, t-tops, auto, manual?

How about your rear differential. That can make a significant change on short accelerations. 4.11 rear R200 would be fun for the street.

 

i bet you could find a used nitrous kit, or piece one together for $250

 

J is correct. The current Honda Civic SI weighs in just at 2900 lbs. The 1990 Civic SI weighed only 2174lbs and the CRX HF was a very slim 1967 lbs.

So, the Civic has grown nearly 1000 lbs in the last 15 years. FWD requires a very different driving style to make it hook up and most 'kids' don't know how to do it yet.

RWD is much easier to learn how to make it hook up.

As Entropy said earlier, the Civic was designed to be a reliable, fuel efficient econobox.

The Z was designed to be a reliable, fuel efficient sports/touring car. I like to give some people a hard time about how fast my Civic is, but when I want to enjoy the ride, I drive a Z. When I want to get 34 mpg in a 132 whp FWD econobox, I drive the Honda.

I have a friend that's a physics geek and drove his 1990 CRX Si for two light seconds. Anyone care to guess how far that is?

He sold it for $2k with an Earl Scheib paint job.

Anyway, most people don't realize how much power they can regain from their 25+ year old Z car by doing a major tune up with some minor 'technological' advances.

0. Clean and seal EVERY electrical connection with dielectric grease.
1. Replace every questionable part including all vacuum hoses - vacuum leaks will kill your cars performance.
2. Spark Plugs: Standard NGK BPR6-ES (exotic metals and configurations are a waste of money in my opinion - with the exception of iridium)
3. Plug Wires: NGK 'Blue' or Nissan OEM (also NGK Blue)
4. OEM Cap
5. OEM Rotor
6. TIMING!! (Verify your vacuum advance is working! Most aren't after this many years)
7. MSD Blaster 2 or an ACCEL Super Coil - They're a b!tch to mount, but they actually work.
8. Crane or MSD ignition - it won't really improve your cars performance, but will improve it's cold start and <3000 rpm driveability and you can get rid of the old factory ignition module that costs $200 to replace. If you're short on cash, I would put this mod off until your factory IM fails.

I know you've already done some of these, but when you mentioned the split fire plugs fixed/helped the miss you were having, that told me there was something else wrong with your engines tune (timing/spark/fuel mix) that the split fires are simply helping to cover up. Fix what's broken and you'll get more back than the split fires are making.

 

There's just something thats not right there. Maybe it's the RWHP combined with FWD

372,565 miles

 

ding ding ding! We have a winner! The crazy thing is, he sold it for $2k when he was done with it after a $250 Earl Scheib paint job...