D16Y8 EJ8 cons and pros?

[xcwizit]

Hey guys, im looking at purchasing a 98 Vti which I think is an EJ8 I know the engine is a D16Y8..

Anyway you civic specialists.. what are the goods and bads of it.
Thanks guys in advance!

[MikeyG]

good = vtec

shit = slow

[Mikecivic78]

good -

-cheap to run
-power windows
-ABS brakes
-sexy shape
-cheaper than vti-r
-Honda quality gearbox and drivetrain + reliablity
-VTEC- 93kw vs 88kw for non vtec gli/cxi
-power steering
-good boot size
-enough room for adults in the back seat
-maintainence required indicator (im running out of things lol)


Bad -

-Cant compare to vti-r
-earlier models dont have rear disk brakes.
-it is slow: Intake/exhaust wont let u get near as fast as twin cam model
-squeaky clutch
-soft ride/body roll
-seats lack adequate lateral support
-stock alloys look terrible- needs new kicks.

Thats all I can come up with atm. I owned one for 2 years and 30,000kms. A good everyday banger, but u need turbo or better engine to make it a car which doesnt just look sporty.

Hope that this helps.

[EK1.6LCIV]

good buys now adays, a mate picked up one for nearly 4k (auto, silver, clean history and immaculate service documentation)

apart from shit quality cv boots (like all civics)
crap electrical window motors (like all EK 2dr civics)
dull oem lighting (get brighter bulbs)
small oem wheels (buy at least 15" for cooling or you will smoke pads on long hill drives)

everything else is tip top and the car will outlast 300000ks like mine is well on its way of doing and I drive 25k a year daily, spirited, QLD-NSW trips, rain, hail or shine. Hell I only just had to replace the oem rotors at 220000ks and they couldve been machined still as Honda used the same heat process on the VTi's rotors as is present in the NSX, hence the price for replacements

theyre easy to fix, parts are pretty affordable, cheap to fuel (responds better to premimum unleaded), insurance is cheap, the paint is good (steer clear of Milano Red models, horrid color to maintain, Honda does not make a good red, tight arse clear coat)

just look for one with log books, receipts for major services

I won't be selling mine anytime soon as it will easily clear 500000 miles as they do in Northern America in the snow half the year lol

[SiReal]

I had one for three months, I thought they went pretty quick for a 1.6L.

Anyway, Pros:
- VERY fuel efficient
- looks great
- relatively spacious interior
- cheap to maintain

Cons
- supposedly slow (i found it ok tho)
- check your trailing arm bushes
- sagging front bumper

These cars look hot when done right, OEM styling, nice simply lip, lowered, 15 alloys and its sweet. I quite liked the interior, but i have to agree with the above that the front seats were a bit soft.. but great for long trips and daily driving.

I sometimes wish i didnt sell my ej8 for my dc2r, as the ej8 was a 'no worries' car. the dc2r is a bit princess, i.e. if shit breaks, it'll cost the world.

[dougie_504]

good -

-cheap to run
-power windows
-ABS brakes
-sexy shape
-cheaper than vti-r
-Honda quality gearbox and drivetrain + reliablity
-VTEC- 93kw vs 88kw for non vtec gli/cxi
-power steering
-good boot size
-enough room for adults in the back seat
-maintainence required indicator (im running out of things lol)


Bad -

-Cant compare to vti-r
-earlier models dont have rear disk brakes.
-it is slow: Intake/exhaust wont let u get near as fast as twin cam model
-squeaky clutch
-soft ride/body roll
-seats lack adequate lateral support
-stock alloys look terrible- needs new kicks.

Thats all I can come up with atm. I owned one for 2 years and 30,000kms. A good everyday banger, but u need turbo or better engine to make it a car which doesnt just look sporty.

Hope that this helps.


Well said.

[hisoka]

very modern looking car for its age

[Mikecivic78]

very modern looking car for its age

Very true: Look at the same age ('96-'98) models offered by other manufacturers. Almost all of them look much more dated than the EJ8, which came with stock body coloured bumpers without those damn black side mouldings.

[xcwizit]

thanks guys for your replies especially mikecivic!!
By the way since the EJ8's don't have an arm rest / compartment... can you get one off another EK and install it in the EJ8 ?

[EK1.6LCIV]

yep and by far the best mod for one, they don't sell them new anymore as of last year, but you can find them in vti sedans and most hatches

[dougie_504]

And I'm sure there's a DIY either here or on CRXAustralia that shows you how to do it quite neatly :)

[Mikecivic78]

thanks guys for your replies especially mikecivic!!
By the way since the EJ8's don't have an arm rest / compartment... can you get one off another EK and install it in the EJ8 ?

Its a worthwhile mod (armrest). Since ive lived without one in the ej8, i find it comfortable in the em1 for the everyday slog. I recon mine could use a re-upholdstering since the carpet is a little worn on it.

Very doable and easy mod. Just gotta source the parts.

[beeza]

It twas the very first mod I did to my car!

[tsg88]

I had a real hard time finding a 96 Hatch under 5k.. I looked at 5 (then got sick of looking at shitbox cars)... and all 5 of them had no log books, or a log book that had no log (this is the case with most cars :(). Damn people to hell! 2 of them were dealer cars, and they wanted $5999, more for a 98, I asked how far they could move... 'not much'. So I decided to stick with private. Had my dad with me too.

I ended up haggling down the bloke with the cleanest of the cars that I looked at (mechanically and physically) and bought the car... had it on the road and sorted way under my $5k budget with an entry level Alpine stereo and speakers (Honda one had broken volume and a blown rear). Grabbing some plastics off OzHonda to get my EK1 to a more appropriate stock state.

I spent months scrolling the car sale websites... and the Civic is by far the most appealing small car design from the 90's. I find Hyundai's ugly and very poorly maintained in most cases, Mazda and Mitsubishi look a bit girly, and everyone has Toyota. I was considering a Pulsar but my sister has one. Then you get into the Japanese 'sport' cars, which for a daily ride, can be expensive to maintain.

The red is hard to maintain, but I have seen some pretty shabby looking Green and Blue Civics around...

Atleast you get some VTEC yo, my D16Y4 doesn't kick in... no matter how much I dream! Power of dreams aye...

As for the slowness... if its a manual... I find my Civic to be quite 'nippy' gets off the line at the lights comfortably. Also gets to freeway speeds in no time at all. I spent most of this year driving my sisters 94 Auto Pulsar and my Dads Auto 4x4, so my car feels quite nice to drive. Maybe I'm thrashing it, I dunno.

[beeza]

My auto y4 sits me back in my seat above 4k.I mean she ain't no k20 killer but more than enough power for me!

[shurman]

I had EJ8 for my first car. The coupe shape is undoubtably the sexiest civic, or at least in my opinion.
no regrets here, except for selling it.

[xcwizit]

I had EJ8 for my first car. The coupe shape is undoubtably the sexiest civic, or at least in my opinion.
no regrets here, except for selling it.

Except for selling? What do you mean? Dont these sexy coupes get as much attention as an EK Hatch GLi would for the same price?

[tsg88]

I didn't realise how good the Coupe looked until I saw one done up really nice. Stock I reckon the Hatch's look the best. But a nicely done Coupe looks pretty damn awesome. I am not a fan of the Sedan shape at all but maybe that's just me.

[henrygiang]

Except for selling? What do you mean? Dont these sexy coupes get as much attention as an EK Hatch GLi would for the same price?

i think he means the fact that he doesnt have a coupe anymore is the regret.....correct me if im wrong?

[Mikecivic78]

Stock I reckon the Hatch's look the best. But a nicely done Coupe looks pretty damn awesome.

When I first started looking for an EK Civic, my missus said that the hatch was gay and told me only chicks drive them. Everytime we would be driving, she would point out drivers of EK Civic hatchbacks and they would always be chicks. When i found my 2nd honda (ej8), she said that the coupe looked much better.

Still, when i think of the classic EK civic, i think about a championship white EK Type R hatch :)

But I gotta say (being an em1 owner now) the Em1 coupe looks tough.
Thats my drunken .02 for the night.

[tsg88]

When I first started looking for an EK Civic, my missus said that the hatch was gay and told me only chicks drive them. Everytime we would be driving, she would point out drivers of EK Civic hatchbacks and they would always be chicks. When i found my 2nd honda (ej8), she said that the coupe looked much better.

Still, when i think of the classic EK civic, i think about a championship white EK Type R hatch :)

lol, you have a mean missus :eek: I have no problems with Hatchbacks anymore. There was a time where I would look at them and think 'why would anyone want one' but it really comes down to the fuel economy. I honestly wouldn't be driving a 4cyl car if Fuel wasn't so expensive now. Not in a family of Holden, Ford and 4x4 nuts. But that's the world we live in. When work picks up I plan to get myself something more 'sporty' or a 4x4 to go on trips with the family and friends.

2 of my mates drive Barina's and one drives a Charade lol, we're all uni students. Now those are some terrible cars right there lol. Still if there were any good Coupe's I would have bought one, but when I was looking there was like 2 of them... and one was dodgy as.

[shurman]

i think he means the fact that he doesnt have a coupe anymore is the regret.....correct me if im wrong?

:thumbsup:

[Mikecivic78]

2 of my mates drive Barina's and one drives a Charade lol, we're all uni students. Now those are some terrible cars right there lol.

Hey, don't knock the Charade, i used to have an old 1L '91 three door manual.

Sure, it was a basement budget car, but the engine was f**kin' bulletproof, reliable and light as shit. Could go for 100 kays on an oily rag. Piss easy to work on, i learnt a lot while I was at it too.

The Barina... hell, thats just a re-badged Daewoo. I agree with you there.

[tsg88]

Its an old bubble Barina, one of the re-badged Opel's built in Spain, but its the 2 door with 1.2ltr lol. My mate loves his Charade, it is one of the ol' squared off ones. Its hilarious though cause it is in such bad condition, but the engine powers on. Can't help but laugh when he rolls up in it or drives off, its got like hippy stickers on the rear window.

[paps02]

con - fkng power windows always fall off the rail!!

im angry cause i just fixed it again

[dougie_504]

Hey, don't knock the Charade, i used to have an old 1L '91 three door manual.

Sure, it was a basement budget car, but the engine was f**kin' bulletproof, reliable and light as shit. Could go for 100 kays on an oily rag. Piss easy to work on, i learnt a lot while I was at it too.

The Barina... hell, thats just a re-badged Daewoo. I agree with you there.


Know why they call it a Daewoo?

Because if it doesn't break down for a whole day ---> woo!

[EK1.6LCIV]

con - fkng power windows always fall off the rail!!

im angry cause i just fixed it again

just need to get in the habit of what I do, put them down until there's about 2inches from being fully down, haven't had them fk up since practicing this technique.

one of the many character features of the coupes

[paps02]

well my routine of down six inches press it up and repeat worked for a while. il try yours ryan

[EK1.6LCIV]

or better still upgrade to hatchback power window assemblies, they have a bigger motor

[nd55]

> better still upgrade to hatchback power window assemblies, they have a bigger motor

They still crap themselves eventually.

My list of must do's to second hand EK.

* New tailight gaskets. ($40 a piece + fitting). Might be a hatch only thing, but if there's water leaking into the tyre well, this is why.
* New distributtor, spark plug + leads. Check out Distributor King for a new dizzie. less than $500 all up. IMHO the original WILL crap itself and leave you with a huge bill using OEM parts.
* Power Window assembly + rubbers.


Admittedly, I havn't done the last one myself, due to the cost. Applying silicone grease to the window rubbers is a ghetto fix.

Nick.

[Mikecivic78]

Know why they call it a Daewoo?

Because if it doesn't break down for a whole day ---> woo!

nice. I like it.

Even though my missus is Korean, i hate K-cars. Jap or German are the best IMO

.

[Mikecivic78]

>
* New distributtor, spark plug + leads. Check out Distributor King for a new dizzie. less than $500 all up. IMHO the original WILL crap itself and leave you with a huge bill using OEM parts.


Ive heard that this is an inherent problem. Luckily after 40,000 km (ej8 and em1 combined) i havent had a problem. I heard that the distributor can cut out without warning. Fingers crossed it won't happen to me.

I'm planning to get some new leads soon. I was thinking Bosch... any other suggestions>?

[6thgear]

cant go wrong with bosch mate, they only ever make reliable gear

[EK1.6LCIV]

> better still upgrade to hatchback power window assemblies, they have a bigger motor

They still crap themselves eventually.

My list of must do's to second hand EK.

* New tailight gaskets. ($40 a piece + fitting). Might be a hatch only thing, but if there's water leaking into the tyre well, this is why.
* New distributtor, spark plug + leads. Check out Distributor King for a new dizzie. less than $500 all up. IMHO the original WILL crap itself and leave you with a huge bill using OEM parts.
* Power Window assembly + rubbers.

Admittedly, I havn't done the last one myself, due to the cost. Applying silicone grease to the window rubbers is a ghetto fix.

Nick.

new oem motors $450ea, rubbers $280 a door inside & $175 for outside pr guides (weather strips) for those keen lol

hatch motors never play up compared to the ej motors, haven't killed mine

[jks24]

they are a nice looking car for their age and very reliable and tough like most hondas.

I love my EM1 too much though and its very fun having the b16a under the hood. I prefer the EM1 tailights and another biggy would be the disc brakes on the rear.

Good to see you upgraded mikecivic78 :) EM1 <3

[hisoka]

cant go wrong with bosch mate, they only ever make reliable gear

amen~