Performance- good for a 1.6 liter but if you want more power go for the Si Build Quality- Excellent my car is 15 years old but still is mechanically solid and burn no oil. Appearance- I still think this is the best looking body style of all the Honda civics, and the interior is really pretty stylish Cost of Ownership- Other that oil changes and other preventative maintenance I have had no major issues in my 3 years of ownership. Fun Factor- Although this isn't a powerhouse it sits so low to the ground that when you through it around a bit it can be a lot of fun.

I would go into the reliability factor of the car and the good gas mileage, but seeing as how those are already the top things you expect from a Civic it seems like it would be a waste of time. What I can say though is that it is also a very comfortable and roomy car (for its size) that has proven itself on many long-distance drives. It's also a fairly decent crap hauler for it's size. It's certainly no truck, but it is in that class of small cars I like to call "compact sports trucks", sedans and coupes that have exceptional hauling capacity for their class. Once again, this has been put to the test as I've used it to haul small furniture and it served as a moving van once. It's also a very nice car to drive, as the acceleration, breaking, and handling are all very responsive and make a car that's speedy and fun to drive on the open road and easy to to maneuver in heavy traffic or mountain roads. While I originally wanted to rank the performance one notch away from "Amazing" because I have driven cars with better performance, I felt the Civic also deserves extra credit for how well it handles driving in harsh weather conditions. I've taken it through things that any sane person would know you do not attempt to drive a car through, particularly nasty blizzards, and it handles fine for the most part. And the car is starting to have a few issues as of late, but I still rated it solid reliability because even at 14 years old all the problems it's having are just minor maintenance issues. And considering the abuse that thing has taken, I'm amazed that it still has yet to require anything major. And when I rate the appearance low that is speaking of my specific car, because it has many scratches and dents on it from heavy abuse. The only real downsides to the car are it's size and that it's a 2-door, both of which aren't even really flaws with the car so much as they are things I personally should've thought about more when I got the car.

Lots of acceleration and power, easily walked on a 5.0 Mustang Fastback, never needed repairs, Handling was best ive ever driven, once took it 130 around a slight curve heading to eastern washington speedo topped out and felt like I could go faster and still take the corner. Gas mileage was amazing, it was purple but it was sick, had 2000 si wheels and jdm amber corner lights & window visors. car was really fun to drive

performance - has very bad torque and no low end power with 1.6 SOHC VTEC, handling is quite responsive, brake has been changed, so its good. build - its a honda...its as good as a honda car appearance - the reason i got the car in the 1st place, fell in love 1st time seeing at fast and furious. interior is average. cost - very cheap to run and maintain fun - mmm...if i have money to burn on new engine like F20C, hell it'll be one heck of a car

Anybody that knows honda vehicles knows this car is one of the best cars made. From the factory it comes extremely under powered but a simple drop in, bolt in motor swap makes it a very fun car to have.