[etrips]

First off, hello! So I just recently sold my beloved 93 MR2 Turbo the other day and now am left carless and hitch a ride with the lady friend for the time being until I find another car.

So that being said, I wanted something a little bit more practical for daily driving/fuel economy and have narrowed my search down... to a Del Sol ! :clap I've been trying to read through a number of threads trying to get more information on Del Sol's. Mainly I just wanted to ask if there was any way of telling a Vtec model apart from the Si and S models? (I'm still trying to decide between a Vtec or Si as I'm buying this car mainly for fuel saving purposes) Been looking on autotrader and haven't seen "Honda Del Sol Vtec", only Si and S or nothing at all. Is there any way to tell with the VIN number or something easy without having the hood open between the SOHC / DOHC engines?

Next question(s):
-Are there any types of problems that I should look out for that Del Sol's are more prone to?
-What kind of maintenance schedule am I looking at to keep this car happy?
-If I get a car with high mileage, about how much am I looking at to either rebuild or swap out a engine? (This is actually my first Honda, so I don't know any of your engines at all or what they normally go for in terms of parts / labor)

Thats about all I can think of right now as its 3am and my eyes are fried from the monitor radiation. :eek Till tomorrow! Thanks in advance

 

[91Vtec]

Well First Off....WELCOME!!

Del Sols are :number1. I have a Del Sol Vtec, i didnt know this at the time but they are hard to come by. Only way i know the diff between Si and Vtec is the engine, not sure if the rims are the same, and gauge. The gauge for the Vtec has a higher redline and for the si its about less.

One problem i know off for sols are the leaks from the targa top. not all sols have leaks but some do, which could easily be fixed. As far as maintenance, just get a car guide/manual. All i could think of right now.

 

[etrips]

Ahh thanks for the reply, I'm used to the leaks from my MR2, which shouldn't really be a problem

 

[91Vtec]

no problem, be sure to post pictures of your sol if/when you get one.

 

[detroit-delsol]

well if your buying the car mainly for fuel economy purposes
overall, than it wouldnt hurt to buy an "S" model. its by no
means going to win you that many races but it has enough
pep to keep it fun when you feel like having some.

 

[ksniperfox]

why did you sell the MR2? :bash
Si would be practical. s is balls slow. the 8th letter of the VIN is the engine code. mine is a 6 and its a Si. so expect all Si to get 6. idk about S and VTEC codes, cause i dont have one lol.

another way without opening the hood is to check the tach. 6500 or so is S, 7k Si, 8k+=VTEC. or check the rear brakes. if theyre drums, then S. alloy wheels came on the VTEC and Si, but the VTEC model started in 94.

dont let other people try to fool you. just because it's the sohc vtec Si model doesnt means its the VTEC model. bigggg difference. VTEC models are quite rare. but again, if just for fuel saving, go for S. 102hp of fury wont let you down lol.

as far as maintainence, just do the regular shit youd do on any car. make sure it isnt fucked up when you get it thnough. other than the prementioned leaks, there isnt really any major problem that theyre prone to. about engine swapping: it can be cheap and it can be expensive. S and Si models have sohc (d series)engines. VTEC has dohc(b series) engines. if you swap the same series engine into it as the one that came in it, its MUCH cheaper. if you need just the block, d series, maybe a few hundred. plus whatever labor if you dont do it yourself. if you replace the b series block in a b series car, its goin to be a lil bit more. but if you wanna put a b series engine in a d series car, expect to shell out 3k or so, then labor if you dont install yourself.

 

[Murp]

Speaking as the owner of a 95 S, if your main goal is fuel economy, the S might be the one for you. I average around 31-34 mpg city, depending on my driving habits. That's with a i/h/e setup.

If you think you might want a little more "giddy up" at some point in the future, short of an engine swap, go with the SI or VTEC models. There's more potential for upgrades with those trim levels.

Try to find a 95 -97 sol if possible. Those years come with (depending on s, si, or vtec) power door locks, low fuel indicator, and interior trunk release lever. If you really like the front foglights, then stick with a 93 to 95 sol.

 

[etrips]

why did you sell the MR2?

Sold the MR2 because of its poor gas mileage even after a complete full tune up, and even being easy on the throttle. I would get maybe around 21mpg or so mixed driving. Plus for some reason, I just don't like turbos for some reason. Also made a realization that I kinda wanted to get back to the basics of driving so gonna get something that has less power and kinda relearn some things. But trust me I loved the car to death and I miss it so much, but I just had to let it go

But anyway, I think I'm going to go for the Si model as finding a Vtec model would most likely be out of my price range, and I don't think I could bring myself to have a 100hp car again despite the fact that the S model is better in terms of gas mileage :lol2

Edit :
Also are there any other places I could look at in trying to find a Sol? So far been searching, Autotrader, ebay, car.com, hondamarketplace and craigslist. Any other suggestions?

 

[ksniperfox]

Edit :
Also are there any other places I could look at in trying to find a Sol? So far been searching, Autotrader, ebay, car.com, hondamarketplace and craigslist. Any other suggestions?

and you cant find anything? those are the ones i would have suggested but you already got them all. try local newspaper classifieds.
im starting to love crx, but theyre so hard to find for sale

 

[enginesurplus]

well you bought a del sol so i know you need more power...
let me know if you want an engine swap

 

[91Vtec]

Have you tried a small dealership that sells used cars, they sometimes have them there.

 

[ismael-robert]

car max

 

[etrips]

well you bought a del sol so i know you need more power...
let me know if you want an engine swap

Please don't mistake me for a person who wants the most power possible. I'd put handling over power any day. Although I just want enough power to put-away from that 18 wheeler coming down behind me on the highway

Thanks guys for the suggestions, I have about 2 weeks before I move to find the right Sol before I cave in and buy something more common like a hatch or something...

 

[detroit-delsol]

check in the classifieds here on the forum, ive seen a few
sols for sale including a dohc vtec model thats clean as hell