I slid my old open diff beater Miata around just fine.

Interesting. Definitely agreed on the Accord’s suspenders better matching Grandpa than G-Force. Ideally, finding a nice used TL-S 6MT would be sweet, but those things are like unicorns, or have a serious price premium that can’t be justified.

This is actually why I bought my Civic Si sedan for a daily. I would have liked one of these, or an Accord V6, 6-speed, but they are tough to find in the used market these days!

In stock form: E46 M3 with 6MT (get that SMG garbage out of the gene pool!)

In LA, diesel is about $3/gal, and regular unleaded (87 octane) is about $3.90. I agree, wish more cheap, manual, fun-ish diesels were on the market.

Only two Spice Girls on this list? For shame, Jalopnik.

I dig it. Very classy.

With small, no power cars, the name of the game is momentum and clutch abuse. Clutch kick your way to victory, little Daihatsu!

I’m guessing “PNW” means Pacific North West? Your statements also seem to accurately reflect SoCal.

Not his car. Tell @Matt Farah to invest in some polish and sandpaper to restore those lights.

Gas prices just shot up hard in Southern Cal. Gas over $4/gal again. Went up about 70c in two weeks. Not amused.

2010 Civic Si sedan curb weight: 2959#

True as that may be, the honest answer is that in this case, the K20Z3 is a touch underrated from the factory, while the FA20 puts down a more honest figure when it comes to WHP vs. advertised crank horsepower numbers. It’s not uncommon for K20Z3 to lay down in excess of 175-190whp (depending on dyno) in stock trim.…

Wait...woah, woah, woah.

Also, I would like to note that on a closed circuit, we lined a stock manual FRS against my stock Civic Si, and the Civic pulled away, despite the Civic’s weight disadvantage of several hundred pounds, and having less torque. Apparently, 200 horsepower goes further with Honda than it does a Toyota/Subaru engine.

My real gripe with the car is the engine, and as you’ve touched on the gearbox/clutch interaction. I can deal with a 200hp, torque-less 2.0L, my DD is a 2010 Civic Si with a K20, which has almost the same exact stats. The thing that irks me is the character of the engine. The K20 is revvy, and frenetic, and VTEC makes…

Came in here to say ‘Speed3, left satisfied. This car has the ballsiest power delivery, especially if you throw a tune at them. The power band is super narrow, and hits you harder than a brick to the back of the head. I’ve had way too much fun driving various ‘Speed3 over the years.

Tie, between exploring the best (and often abandoned) back roads that the country has to offer, and tracking/AutoX. The need for faster lap times is a real addiction. It’s manic, and frenetic sustaining (and sometimes surpassing) a vehicle at it’s limits of adhesion for 20 minute sprints. Traversing this country’s…

I’ve been there before! Remember that road on my cross-country trip back in Summer ‘11. Good times...

Are you NorCal or SoCal? I’m at every CalClub SCCA AutoX with my 1’er. Try to knock out at least a half dozen track days per year as well. Hope to see you at Buttonwillow. ;)