Honda Civic Si Sedan or Seat Leon 2.0T FSI?

[Belatti]

A friend of mine is trying to decide wich of these two cars to buy. Both are arround USD 32K, have 5 doors, 6 speed manual gearbox, 2.0L engines and 200HP (SEAT has Turbo, Honda has Vtec)





I like the Honda and its 8000rpm, but many others like the Turbo.

What do you think?

[modbaraban]

I'd go for the Honda. It's more 'bulletproof'. Seat Leon is also criticised for dreadful roadnoise and ride comfort. On the other hand Seat looks better and the VW 2.0 TFSI is said to be great.

Personnaly I would also consider Mazda 3 MPS (known as mazdaspeed3 in some countries). It costs as much if not less and has a 2.3 turbo with around 260bhp (manual 6) and diff to keep all those horses on the road. And quite good kit. Also mazdas are known to be very reliable and handle very well!


The Focus is on the same platform as Mazda3 so perhaps it's worth looking at the ST version as well



pistonheads.com: focus st-2

[Belatti]

Thanks a lot Mod, but unfortunately those two cars are not available down here

[modbaraban]

Thanks a lot Mod, but unfortunately those two cars are not available down here

Well on the other hand you're lucky because the hottest Civic we get is the european Type-R hatch (UK production) but at the back it has torsion beam axle instead of the sedan's double wishbone layout, which is quite...

[Belatti]

jajaja
That "smelling sh*t face" from Jeremy Clarkson is hilarious.

We are even more lucky than what you think, cause the Hottest Civic we can get are these:

[modbaraban]

Oouch! That's too hot!

[benjabulle]

don't know about the Honda but I own a Seat Altea with the TFSI 200 Cv and the DSG gearbox. Very good choice for the price, the engine is strong enough (for me), the sound is really nice and the DSG a good choice with this engine.

[Belatti]

I would appreciate somo more votes, come on you people!

[HKS]

Belatti, I have heard the road conditions in Argentina are bad. Is it true? If it is true. The Japanese car could have suspension problems and has to be handled with care. I have driven the Honda Civic 1.8 VTec, it's good. As far as I have heard about SEAT it's good. but again Honda Civic is a saloon, so I would rather prefer a saloon over an hatchback. .


And afterall it's Honda.

[Belatti]

I have heard many manufacturers modify suspension for imported models sold here. Generally they increase ride height and strengthen some suspension elements, but I´m not sure which.

Road conditions may be bad somewhere but you would not use a Civic Si to travel all across Patagonia where there are BIG distances in gravel roads. Believe me that the BEST car you can choose for that is a Peugeot 504:



In large cities, access freeways are in acceptable conditions and so do avenues. Another thing it´s downtown, where asphalt condition may vary.

After all, the ones who own a Porsche or a Ferrari here have to take even more care

[HKS]

I have heard many manufacturers modify suspension for imported models sold here. Generally they increase ride height and strengthen some suspension elements, but I´m not sure which.

Surely they might. But still the Japanese cars are meant for roads without potholes and would surely suffer on these roads. I have myself seen a couple of cases.But at the end of the day, all cars have some kind of problem. I would myself prefer the Honda Civic as I'm one big admirer of this car.