how bad is the rice tax on these, actually? SI specifically,

>>17885818
This thing has the rice death penalty

>>17885818
The EP3 hatch comes with a K20a3 engine that does not have real [3-lobe] vtec, it has some pussy 2-lobe 2300RPM eco-vtec shit then it advances the timing at 4700. It's decent though, and I doubt those are rice-taxed very heavily.

>>17885818
from what I've seen, the EP3 rice tax stateside is 1-3k on top of a normal ES1 or EM2. So it isn't as bad as it could be, but it could also be better.

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7KB, 253x255px

>>17886404

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224KB, 1024x682px

>>17886429
He's right. The engine in the EP3 Si fails to live up to Honda's reputation. The K20A3 indeed does no have proper Vtec. It has i-vtec, which is Honda's name for conventional VVT that everyone has.
There is a version, the K20A2, which has proper vtec + ivtec and bolts right in. You'll find that engine in the 2002-2004 Acura RSX Type S. If you're gonna swap in the S2 version though, you may as well swap in the RSX Type S's 6 speed transmission too.
And if you're going through all that trouble, a Civic is a Civic. Why pay more for the hatchback you'll modify when you can do the same to a Coupe or sedan (with slightly more work) and end up with the same result, but a stiffer chassis. The sedan has the stiffest chassis while the coupe is inbetween the hatchback and the sedan.

>>17885818
Where I live(yuropooria), these aint rice taxed at all. Also godtier minivan looks. The last good CTR imo.