FN2 Civic Type R - The one they love to hate.

[HorneyMX5]

The machine Polish was done by The Detailing House who you can find on Facebook. Top chap if your in the north Hampshire/surrey area.

Spacers were £200 brand new, they don't come up used very often.

[HorneyMX5]

Massive stone + Motorway speeds = New windscreen required. bks.

[rossub]

Good opportunity to check for rust along the roof where it meets the windscreen though.

[HorneyMX5]

rossub said:

Good opportunity to check for rust along the roof where it meets the windscreen though.

Yeah I thought that too to be honest although it did have it's annual corrosion check up with Honda in September and past with flying colours. One of the reasons I bought this one.

[HorneyMX5]

Naional Winscreen man arrives. Looks at the Civic, looks at his worksheet, looks at the civic, looks at his worksheet "It's not a 2003 model is it? We've ordered the wrong screen."

Pants.

[VEA]

Nice car chap, I am suddenly looking at these.


What is it with Windsreen replacment firms, they never seem to be able to get it right first time round...

[HJMS123]

I don't mean to nit-pic but in your last pic of the rear of car theres still looks like there is a lot of swirling to the right of the number plate

[HorneyMX5]

HJMS123 said:

I don't mean to nit-pic but in your last pic of the rear of car theres still looks like there is a lot of swirling to the right of the number plate

There is some yeah, the paint is really soft on these and my friend who machine polished it wanted to take it easy. We're going to do it again in the spring. Compared to who it was before it looks like a different car!

[HorneyMX5]

At last Sundays SS thanks to another PHer.

[HorneyMX5]

Some observations after 2 months and 4,000 miles.

• The steering feel isn't as bad as people say. Hopping between the civic and the MX5 it's noticable for sure but no worse than many other hatch backs of the same era.
• The steering wheel is the best wheel I've had in any car, ever. It's just a great size, looks brilliant and feels great.
• I seem to visit petrol stations a lot due to the petrol tank seemingly being the size of a thimble but average MPG over 4K miles is 32 so not too shabby.
• The ride. It is hard and some days it's a bit annoying but when you find a stretch of smooth twisties with no traffic all is forgiven as it corners flatter than a flat thing in flatsville.
• The noise. It might only be a 4 pot but the noise is addictive and brilliant with the HKS induction kit. Apart from the crazy dashboard this is the thing most passengers comment on (in a good way).
• Seats. Look epic but took me a good while to find a driving position that was comfortable on trips over 2 hours. I find the lumbar support a bit lacking.
• The gearshift is the best cable shift system I've used and I'm not normally a fan having had MKII Golfs, Minis and the MX5 which all have excellent rod type change affairs which always feel better than vague cables.
• Anyone who owns any other Type R from Honda's stable will spend a long time detailing exactly why you bought the wrong car.

Edited by HorneyMX5 on Thursday 2nd January 17:01

[RacingBlue]

Nice write up. I'm after a daily driver in the next few months so I can keep my MX-5 as a summer car, and I'm leaning very heavily in the direction of one of these. I've nearly bought one twice now, so there must be something about it...

As for forum experts constantly banging on about how the EP3 is better - I couldn't give a toss. The EP3 looks stupid, and increasingly driven by idiots. I'd much rather one of these.

[AMG01]

HorneyMX5 said:

Some observations after 2 months and 4,000 miles.

• The steering feel isn't as bad as people say. Hopping between the civic and the MX5 it's noticable for sure but no worse than many other hatch backs of the same era.
• The steering wheel is the best wheel I've had in any car, ever. It's just a great size, looks brilliant and feels great.
• I seem to visit petrol stations a lot due to the petrol tank seemingly being the size of a thimble but average MPG over 4K miles is 32 so not too shabby.
• The ride. It is hard and some days it's a bit annoying but when you find a stretch of smooth twisties with no traffic all is forgiven as it corners flatter than a flat thing in flatsville.
• The noise. It might only be a 4 pot but the noise is addictive and brilliant with the HKS induction kit. Apart from the crazy dashboard this is the thing most passengers comment on (in a good way).
• Seats. Look epic but took me a good while to find a driving position that was comfortable on trips over 2 hours. I find the lumbar support a bit lacking.
• The gearshift is the best cable shift system I've used and I'm not normally a fan having had MKII Golfs, Minis and the MX5 which all have excellent rod type change affairs which always feel better than vague cables.
• Anyone who owns any other Type R from Honda's stable will spend a long time detailing exactly why you bought the wrong car.

Edited by HorneyMX5 on Thursday 2nd January 17:01

As said earlier in the thread I have had a FN2 since July 2011 and would agree with all the points, especially the gear change, possibly the fav point of my car but would add the practicality of the huge boot (seats fold flat). Over time it has been useful on a number of occasions and swallows my road bike with ease.

Hope you continue to enjoy it and provides trouble free motoring.

[HorneyMX5]

AMG01 said:

As said earlier in the thread I have had a FN2 since July 2011 and would agree with all the points, especially the gear change, possibly the fav point of my car but would add the practicality of the huge boot (seats fold flat). Over time it has been useful on a number of occasions and swallows my road bike with ease.

Hope you continue to enjoy it and provides trouble free motoring.

Cheers.

I made slight cock up when I bought it as I forgot I have 2 SOT Kayaks that I used to tow with the MG. As the CTR is not Type Approved to Tow and the OE Roof Rack is ££££s and not rated for a high enough weight I'm a bit buggered. I'm hoping that with the seats down I can get enough of them in to get away with strapping the boot down and them poking out a bit.

[HorneyMX5]

Doh!

Time for a pair of Goodyear F1s then. These rears are the original 2007 tyres so have done well for 6 years and 34K miles. I think I'll get the GYs swapped onto the front the and the Bridgestones on the front (2012 tyres) swapped onto the rear.

[HorneyMX5]

5000 miles racked up already!

All cleaned up for going in a hall at Autosport International tomorrow for the Pistonheads Sunday Service.

[Tomaahawk]

I've been reading with interest as im seriously considering one of these for my next car.

Coincidently I followed you round the NEC perimeter on the way into the exhibition this morning. Looked great, induction noise must be addictive.

Test drive on the horizon I think.

[HorneyMX5]

Tomaahawk said:

Coincidently I followed you round the NEC perimeter on the way into the exhibition this morning.

My god that was confusing!

Yeah induction noise is very addictive!

I would recommend a good long test drive with different road types as the ride is an acquired taste. It also takes a while to get used to the very snappy throttle, very light flywheel and box. It's quite a challange to drive smoothly until you're used to it. There's still a fair few in the deale rnetwork so they may be the best port of call for a good test drive.

[HorneyMX5]

So that's a 1000 miles done this week topped off with the Sunday Service at the NEC.


IMG_5109.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr


IMG_5110.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr


IMG_5113.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr

Hiding behind the pillar in this one!


IMG_5107-Edit.jpg by Nicholas R Horne, on Flickr

[HorneyMX5]

317 miles and 6 hours in the driving seat completed today and surprised how fresh I felt at the end of it all. 250 miles to do in it tomorrow.

One thing I have discovered though is that there's a vortex on the end of the mirrors that spits dirty rain water onto the mirror itself. I now have filthy and virtually unusable mirrors. Wet wipes to be added to the glove box shortly to resolve this when it occurs.

[JFReturns]

Lovely motor. Seems an ideal all rounder and I want one (VXRs and STs don't appeal).

Is the boot a decent size and shape? I've got a 30kg+ Labrador to think about.

As for the mirror problem - try building up a few layers of good quality wax or RainX. The water will be less likely to 'stick' to the mirror.