I've owned my 1993 Del Sol S for about two weeks short of a year now. It is my third car, and my third Honda. I picked mine up for about $3000 with 114,000 miles on it owned by some old-timers who used it as a summer, 'cruisin' USA' car. I went from a 2000 Honda Accord V6 coupe to a 1998 Honda Civic DX Hatch to the Del Sol, primarily because I wanted to finally have a manual car.
Extremely reliable car. If I thought my previous Hondas were built like tanks, this bests both of them, back in Honda's hayday. The previous owner's grandson must have put the car through its paces because it burns a quart of oil every 1,500 to 2,000 miles; not sure if this is commonplace for a non-VTEC Honda, but this downside (more than likely isolated to my car alone) shows where Honda's engineering shines. Once I had the oil light come on, which I thought was just oil pressure since my oil sending unit needs replacing. Come to change the oil, only a third of a quart was drained. That's a huge feat in engineering prowess; the fact the engine simply didn't shoot a connecting rod out the bottom of the block is beyond my comprehension.
To add on to the pros:
*The targa top weighs about 24 pounds, so removal/install is easy. Stows in the trunk on a special rack so that trunk space is not sacrificed.
*Low center of gravity and a wide wheelbase = great handling around corners; low body roll. Would be even better with roll bars/strut bars (Si's have front roll bar).
*Great fuel economy even with E10 ethanol blend.
*Cable clutch (harder to operate than a hydraulic but A LOT cheaper to fix and work on/adjust)
*Targa, as opposed to traditional convertables offers a lot less road noise; not to mention protection from hail.
*All Del Sols come standard with electric windows as to operate the rear window.
*Even with lack of A/C the fact you can roll all of the windows down (excluding windshield of course) offers great airflow, even with targa on.
*Despite being a two-seater, there's two cargo compartments behind the seats carried over from the CRX, and excellent trunk space for a small car. I've actually been able to fit four people in my car at one time, granted uncomfortably but it has been done!
*Bucket seats don't offer the best lumbar support but they do wrap around you excellently; closest to racing seats you'll come across in most cars (even more so than RSX type S's or Civic Si's), which aids in not throwing you around if you decide to take a sharp turn at more than 25mph. Not the best for long cruises, but that could just be user selective.
To add/futher elaborate to the cons:
*Targa ONLY leaks (for me) when in a car wash/being blasted by pressurized water. Even in downpours the car's weatherstripping holds its own, despite the car being almost 20 years old.
*The S package can be very barebones. I am devoid of cruise control, A/C, motorized side mirrors and power locks; but this of course is all dependent on what the original owner wanted. Also, not so much of cons if you consider fuel savings without A/C and in overall weight reduction.
*The 1.5L D15 engine puts out a little over 100HP and around 96 ft-lbs of torque. Wouldn't recommend for someone looking for a fun car with a focus on performance, unless you plan to swap to a bigger engine. Great though if you're looking for a fun cruiser with a focus on fuel economy.
*Somewhat bad winter driving; this is a 2,100 lbs car. The fact that it may be a FWD car doesn't exclude it from handling about as bad in winter as a RWD car would. I have a pair of snow tires for the fronts, haven't used them yet since Iowa's winter was quite brief with little snow, but when it did snow, you're likely to go sliding around if you don't know what you're doing. I've spun out once in my Del Sol, but that was me doing about 40mph into a highway onramp (my own fault).
*1993 Del Sols do not have a low-fuel indicator light, nor a passenger air bag OR a remote trunk latch. These addons came standard in '94 and/or '95.
*Door handle design (on all EG Civics/Sols or 1992-1995 models) was a bit shanty, so expect some play or degregation in their function.
Amount Paid (US$): 2,800
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1993
Model and Options: S