New car recommendations
 

I have a 07 tc, and while I love the way it looks I don't like the lack of power, fule consumption that is about the same as a v6, not able to produce good power with bolt ons and the locked ecu. I'm looking for something around 10 grand. I'm 6'2" so the tc is a little cramped for my legs. I've been looking at the si, but is there anything else out there for that price?

I have had an 07 Saab manual wagon (not sure if you are looking for a coupe, sedan, or wagon), they do make a sedan. If you don't mind the name, and either handy or live near a good Saab Indie, you can make that thing fly with all kinds of aftermarket reliable tuning software and addons.... When you feel like taking it easy you can get over 30mph, and when you need to pass someone, 3rd gear will give you one of the best grin for the buck!

Oh I want to play! I had a 2008 boosted tC (purchased brand new), and got rid of it for an 8thgen SI (purchased used with 45,000 miles or so) - this was about 3 years ago.

The SI hands down is a better car than the tC (I still like the tC, no hate here!) but it comes with a factory LSD (I had the TRD LSD in the tC), 200hp, and depending on what year you get (there is a big difference between the 8th and 9thgen, and enthusiasts love the 8thgen more - its a higher rev motor, and makes more power, easier, and better, than the 9thgen SI does).

IF you have any questions about the SI, please ask - I've spent years on the forums and might be able to help you. If you add a simple intake, header, exhaust and tune - your right at 230whp easy. I'm making much more power than that, but I'll be honest - I miss my N/A setup because SI's with quality NA parts sound amazing, and of course they hang in the upper RPM's longer since they are not blowing right through the rpms like you do when your boosted. I wouldn't go back to bolt-ons, but the cars for the most part are ultra reliable, and really are a blast to drive.

2008 Honda Civic SI - Nighthawk Black Pearl
OEM HFP body kit, HFP full suspension, HFP rims, Yokohama tires, Mugen short shift kit, Hondata Flashpro, Kraftwerks Supercharger (12psi), 1000cc injectors, DW65c fuel pump, Hasport mounts, Skunk2 Alpha header, Q300 exhaust. I am missing a ton of stuff, but here is my sleeper (no stickers/decals, and the car is quiet until you hit 5000rpms, and runs out to 8600rpms. Can drive "stock" when you want it, but once you put your foot in it, the boost is instant. Tuned at IMW - making just a hair under 400whp, and weighs in at 2860lbs on track scales. Runs 12's all day without changing a single thing from the street to dragstrip, but the real magic is the 30mph-160mph+ rolls.

I'd blow right past 425whp if I switched to e85 and a retune, but the car runs so damn smooth I don't want to mess with it. I've smashed on some really really nice high end cars - best kill was a 06ish M3 (that was my absolute closest race) but my coolest "kill" was a SRT Ram V10 truck (viper motor, in a truck). Just due to the rarity of the truck.

My tips for you would be:

-DONT buy a black SI - black is horrible to keep clean and I would never, ever buy a black car again even though I love my SI. I'd suggest the 2008 Mugen Edition sedan.

-Get the 4 door if your undecided if you want a coupe or sedan. You will kick yourself later when you find out the sedan weighs about 80lbs more. I have a coupe, and after riding in other peoples sedans, sort of wish I would of gotten the sedan.

-There are way more "exterior" upgrades if you get the sedan, and not as many for the 2 door coupe. I only like factory body kits, so this wasnt a big deal for me.

-check out 8thcivic.com for peoples builds. That particular community is way more active than scionlife.com is (SL used to be active 3-4 years ago).

-You can have a custom tune done via email for the SI (as with other newer cars too!) so you don't need to take your car to a custom tuner.

-Stick with something under 65-75k miles IF you can. I paid $11k for my SI with 45k miles 3 years ago.
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Keep this in mind about the SI.
The SI while they are nice, they have a undisclosed Transmission issue in the 06-current one where the Throw-out bearing wears early.. Get a warranty.. You will notice in Vtec you can't get into 3rd gear while on it, as it will grind. Also they require Premium fill, so even through you get 32MPG, you will have to spend the extra money on fuel.

Performance cars used are generally a REALLY BAD IDEA..
Usually they are traded in because people beat the ever living crap out of them and now want to get rid of them before they die, or after the warranty is gone. So unless you are prepared for some repairs, i would stay away from them.. Another thing is that Performance and Gas mileage aren't in the same category. Generally you can't have both, unless you spend more, and get a Tesla, or something electric.. Heck even a Volt will walk a BRZ and get 100+MPG, but they aren't sports cars..

So what does that leave you..
It leaves you sedans..

For 10grand i would look at a sedan or wagon, or even van.. as they tend to be family owned, and taken care of, because who wants to put kids in a car that has issues?

Also,
Don't buy cars with no miles on them.. If the car is a few years old and has less than 10K miles driven per year, you are asking for issues.

Personally, aside from the performance aspect, if there isn't anything wrong with your TC i would keep your TC..

But if you are set on another car..
Performance:
Mustang's either a 2011 or newer V6 or 2010 - 2005 GT
Camaro - V6
Genesis Coupe
XRS - Corolla (2zz under the hood and with the super charger, and Lotus ECU on stock internals is good for 300HP)
XRS Matrix, Generation 1.
Celica GTS
Toyota MRs (I am 6'3" and i fit in it, but couldn't in a Miata)
High mileage Mazda Speed 6 or 3
Older WRX

Wrong. That transmission problem only lasted a couple years, and it's fully backed no matter how many owners. But if you do get an 8th gen, get an 09-11. And the problem does not continue into the 9th gen 2012+. And also, wrong about the fuel. It's not required, it's recommended, and that's only for fuel mileage purposes. The car runs fine on regular or mid, but premium shoots the best for that fuel mileage. Plus, it's not "extra money". If $2.00 a fill up more is breaking the bank, you need to get a job.

Like Al, I have a boosted sI. 515hp. If he would only listen to me and go turbo and not supercharger, then he'd be up there with me, but that dang blower will keep him dragging for the rest of his life. "Oh no, Tom, I spent all this money on bolt-ons and I wanna keep 'em!!, so I have to go supercharger!!" Pshh.... ___ HAHAHHA:rofl:

The book in the 07 I owned said "Premium Fill required" Not recommended.. You can run Regular, but it is really bad for pre-detonation of the fuel, so yes you will get worse gas mileage but you can also jack up the internals doing it. You run what you want.. I honestly don't care if you kill your "Me2" car.. But, from a Technology point, the reason is, because higher compression engines require 91 Octane or higher so you don't get the pre-detonation of fuel.. I am not making that up, you can look at any reputable site and look up reasons for the requirement of high octane. "A job" Hmm, pretty sure i have one of those.. A good one too, where i can reply to your posts here and still get paid..

As per your other statement about the transmission, they do not cover it, it was a Technical service bulletin, not a recall, and you are right under warranty you will get coverage, but an 09 at 10K dollars will have more than the 60K miles, which would put you out of warranty, unless you purchase an extended warranty from Honda. Which even than, they will give you a real hard time about repairing it. It took me going to three different dealerships before they would actually acknowledge there was an issue in the first place, let alone fix the issue.

As per your banter on supercharger vs turbo, yes a turbo will have higher horse power, but generally doesn't get the low end torque you would get from a supercharger, a supercharger will get you more power from the dig.. This is what is referred to as "Turbo Lag", so i think you making claims of having 500+ hp with a turbo is really only relevant if you are always in the higher RPM and if you are running regular, send me a video when you blow-up the engine.. Unless you are running a tune for regular, in which case, no way you are making 500HP.

Yeah right, you think anything less than 93 goes in my car? 91 will cash it in. Come on dude. I'm not talking about my application, I'm talking about for a regular Joeblow FG2/FA5, he can put what he wants, but shouldn't, plus like I said, $2.00 more a fill-up shouldn't matter when making a decision on purchasing a vehicular.