should i buy a 1987 (fist gen) Crx si ? or even bother looking at it...

[chris1zz]

i know this isnt about a celica but.. since you guys are all avid autocrosserz i figured you would know... if the the first genr CRXsi is a good soloII competitor? I have a friend who has one sitting in his driveway. It doesn't start due to a broken starter. There are a few other things wrong with it too. Are these CRX's very good handling cars? I know that this one is pre-double wishbone frt. and has twistbeam torsion bar rear... Hmmm.. Any notes/ideas are welcome here. I really don't know jack about Hondas. What class would it be in?


Thanks guys.
:werd:

[B1mmer]

The CRX Si is a good car. It would be in this year's GS. It depends on where you plan on running it if it will be competitive. Locally, it'll fair well. Nationally, the '85 is the one to have due to it's the lightest in weight, and even then it needs to be prepped to the max and driven extremely well (Rob Carpenter is the best one nationally, although Jon Krolewicz is damn good too). As for the handling, they're pretty nice, with a go-cart like feel. The turn in does lead something to be desired as compared to the Celica. I owned an '86 Civic Si. Good car, decent power for a 1.5L. No camber adjustment makes for wearing tires quickly in stock, although you can offset some of that with the front suspension. The front suspension in that car is Torsion bar, not the rear. The rear, if I remember correctly, is a solid axle. Off the shelf single adjustable Koni's are available. The '86-'87 CRX si came with 14x5" wheels, where as the Civic Si came stock with 13x5". 14" tires are more expensive, and the wheels are a bit heavier. With the 13x5", you can do like I did (and also Rob) and use '83 Accord SE wheels. They're 13x5" and weigh about 10 lbs a piece. The way I look at it, as long as the car is solid from a rust perspective (check the floor pans, the rear trunk area near the spare tire, and the rear wheel wells), it should be a fun car at worst to shoot around town. - Aaron