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We're all victims of our own past experiences. I love air cooled Porsches. Way back when I used to own a 1992 911. The 964 series wasn't the most appreciated by Porschephiles, but I loved it. It's one of the cars I most regret selling. Should have kept it forever. Now pretty much all air cooled Porsches have become obscenely expensive 'collectors items' and are likely forever out of reach (at least for me).
A few years later, when I couldn't find another nice 911, and wanting a convertible back then and feeling flush with cash, I bought a 2006 Boxster S. Being old-school, I didn't like the fact that it didn't have an oil dipstick. It was solely an electronic oil level display. But I talked myself into thinking it's the future, it's a modern car, etc. etc.
About 6 months later, the electronic oil level display was showing that the oil level was increasing. I was perplexed, and concerned. But sure enough, over the course of a couple of weeks, the digital display showed the oil level increasing, first 1 qt, then 2 qts above full.
If the car had a plain old dipstick, I could have answered the question in seconds. Just pull it out and look at it, see the actual level, and any contamination. But on that car I couldn't. The only way I thought the oil level could be increasing was if some other fluid - gasoline or coolant - was getting into it. Neither possibility was good.
So, without a dipstick, the only solution was to take it to the Porsche dealer - who charged me $250 (in 2006) to drain the oil, measure it, and look at it to see if there was any contamination. There wasn't, and the problem turned out to be a faulty sensor. They replaced the sensor under warranty, but charged me $250 for the drain and refill.
Ever since then I've sworn I would never own another car without a dipstick (which rules out post-2005 water-cooled Porsches). I've looked into potential retrofits, but haven't found one. It seems like a small and peculiar thing, but, like I said, we're all victims of our own past experiences.
The styling of the Civic Si Coupe, eh, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think the side profile is fine, maybe not exactly attractive but at least interesting. The front and back, with those asteroid impact craters in the bumpers, not so much. But, the view from inside is good. The BRZ certainly has it all over the Civic Si in the styling department. Now if only the BRZ had 50 ft-lb more torque or 50 more hp, it would be a no-brainer...
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