Looking for owners views of the Civic Type-R EP3
Discussion
I'm putting together the next 'Foes Reunited' story for PH, and am looking for the views from past and present owners of the Honda Civic Type-R (it's going up against the Clio 172). What do you love about them? What are they like to drive? Are they good to own? Have they been reliable?
Would be good to hear what you think - and how, if at all, your views of these cars have changed since they were launched.
The last 'Foes Reunited' piece can be found here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...
We're looking for the 'Previous experience' section to reflect your views of these two great cars.
Thanks for your help, and look forward to getting your views!
Would be good to hear what you think - and how, if at all, your views of these cars have changed since they were launched.
The last 'Foes Reunited' piece can be found here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...
We're looking for the 'Previous experience' section to reflect your views of these two great cars.
Thanks for your help, and look forward to getting your views!
I had mine for two years and sold it at the end of January.
The only reason I sold the car was because I wanted an S2000. My car was £4500 in February 2012 and It retained most of that value over its term with me. My car had an Integra DC5 gearbox which really added to the character of the car. It should have been standard really.
The car in base form was fairly decent and handling with basic geometry setup was superb. I added a JDM rear ARB to mine and it really settled the rear down a lot. The whole car with the addition of the ARB and GEO settings became much more predictable.
The steering lacks a little feel but this can be improved by choosing the right tyre. OE fit Bridgestone or AD08 were a great addition to the car.
The seating position was perfect for me and I wouldnt say that there were any real downsides. The only thing I didn't like was the steering rack and the open Diff in the standard box.
On track the EP3 was brilliant, responsive and it kept up with stuff with better badges quite easily. I had my brakes uprated a little but it was just for peace of mind. The car was light for its size which meant it wasnt particularly harsh on its brakes.
In my two year ownership term I had two services and there was nothing major that needed replacing. Only consumables and fluids.
reliability was superb.
when they were first launched, I wanted one from the moment I saw it. The cars styling and interior made it attractive.
compared to a lot of modern hot hatches, it has that back to basics approach where the minimal amount of equipment is provided to have the maximum amount of fun. The price they are now, it would make for a fun track project. The only downside to their lower price is the amount of tasteless examples you see. After spending last summer attending numerous car shows, the EP3 demographic seems to love rota wheels and eBay parts. I would be lying if I said that this didn't influence my decision to sell a little.
I love my new S2000 but would have liked to have kept my EP3 as well. I would have another in a hartbeat if I needed a more practical car suddenly.
here are some pictures of mine. Hope this info is useful.
The only reason I sold the car was because I wanted an S2000. My car was £4500 in February 2012 and It retained most of that value over its term with me. My car had an Integra DC5 gearbox which really added to the character of the car. It should have been standard really.
The car in base form was fairly decent and handling with basic geometry setup was superb. I added a JDM rear ARB to mine and it really settled the rear down a lot. The whole car with the addition of the ARB and GEO settings became much more predictable.
The steering lacks a little feel but this can be improved by choosing the right tyre. OE fit Bridgestone or AD08 were a great addition to the car.
The seating position was perfect for me and I wouldnt say that there were any real downsides. The only thing I didn't like was the steering rack and the open Diff in the standard box.
On track the EP3 was brilliant, responsive and it kept up with stuff with better badges quite easily. I had my brakes uprated a little but it was just for peace of mind. The car was light for its size which meant it wasnt particularly harsh on its brakes.
In my two year ownership term I had two services and there was nothing major that needed replacing. Only consumables and fluids.
reliability was superb.
when they were first launched, I wanted one from the moment I saw it. The cars styling and interior made it attractive.
compared to a lot of modern hot hatches, it has that back to basics approach where the minimal amount of equipment is provided to have the maximum amount of fun. The price they are now, it would make for a fun track project. The only downside to their lower price is the amount of tasteless examples you see. After spending last summer attending numerous car shows, the EP3 demographic seems to love rota wheels and eBay parts. I would be lying if I said that this didn't influence my decision to sell a little.
I love my new S2000 but would have liked to have kept my EP3 as well. I would have another in a hartbeat if I needed a more practical car suddenly.
here are some pictures of mine. Hope this info is useful.
They came out October 01 and I bought mine in 2002. When they first came out I had a marketing booklet etc and it states they are "limited to 1000 in the first year" so it said. I thought that was quite exclusive until I started seeing thousands of them on the roads and realised that "first year" was meant as between October to end December 2001.
Never the less I loved the car and had it for 4 years and 58,000 miles.
At that time there was not really anything to touch it in my opinion.
I remember the red poster with "bye bye GTI" written on it stating the civic had nigh on 200bhp. It really was the king of hot hatches at the time.
It went like a go kart, still looks good today and was always reliable.
Loved it.
Went onto an S2000 after that and then a 370z as Honda lost their mojo this past few years.
Will always remember that car as one of Hondas (many) finest moments.
Never the less I loved the car and had it for 4 years and 58,000 miles.
At that time there was not really anything to touch it in my opinion.
I remember the red poster with "bye bye GTI" written on it stating the civic had nigh on 200bhp. It really was the king of hot hatches at the time.
It went like a go kart, still looks good today and was always reliable.
Loved it.
Went onto an S2000 after that and then a 370z as Honda lost their mojo this past few years.
Will always remember that car as one of Hondas (many) finest moments.
I owned a 2005 model with the premier package (oooooohhhhh) what this included was a load of was a load of interior/exterior upgrades that were available for the JDM model, what it really needed was the K20a (K20a2 fitted to UK models) engine and LSD of the JDM model!
I loved it and it really got me hooked on Honda's and as stated above after selling moved on to a DC2.
I also fitted the JDM front and rear roll bars to improve the handling. One thing to note of is how the engine responds to basic modifications. Considering in standard form the 2.0 puts out 100bhp/litre, installing a filter, new intake manifold, exhaust manifold and remapping it will see results around 240ish!!!
The gearbox with all hot Hondas is brilliant, and again the only thing that niggled me was the electric power steering, but with the engine/gearbox combo it didn't really matter!
Had it for a year and no problems other then a faulty lambda sensor.
I think when it was released it soon turned to be the benchmark for hot hatches of the era and I believe Renault used it as one for the future 197/RS200 models.
Hope this adds to the info already supplied!
A few snaps of my own...
I loved it and it really got me hooked on Honda's and as stated above after selling moved on to a DC2.
I also fitted the JDM front and rear roll bars to improve the handling. One thing to note of is how the engine responds to basic modifications. Considering in standard form the 2.0 puts out 100bhp/litre, installing a filter, new intake manifold, exhaust manifold and remapping it will see results around 240ish!!!
The gearbox with all hot Hondas is brilliant, and again the only thing that niggled me was the electric power steering, but with the engine/gearbox combo it didn't really matter!
Had it for a year and no problems other then a faulty lambda sensor.
I think when it was released it soon turned to be the benchmark for hot hatches of the era and I believe Renault used it as one for the future 197/RS200 models.
Hope this adds to the info already supplied!
A few snaps of my own...
I owned one for 6 years, and for me it was the perfect car at the time. It had the right mix of performance, driver involvement, practicality and reliability. With a good geo set up and uprated brake pads and fluid it also performed very well on track and airfield activity days.
Couple of pics of mine:-
Couple of pics of mine:-
I had a 2002 JDM Import white EP3 back in about 2007. I loved the car. I took it as a straight swap for an S2000 I had at the time and I did fall in love with it. I had only planned to keep it for a month or so until I could find a newer S2000 but ended up keeping it for six months
Being the import, it had a few extras like an LSD and an extra 25bhp. It was BRILLIANT on B road twisties and I found it a very easy car to drive very fast! I actually picked up several speeding points all in one go in this car which was part of the reason I let it go. I ended up buying another S2000, which IMO is MUCH harder to keep in a straight line and as such, slowed me down considerably!
The price of EP3's at the moment is getting ridiculously cheap now and they are a complete bargain if you ask me! The only issues I had with mine were the crappy design of the aftermarket radio surround and the EPS sometimes came up with an error and I had to restart the car to make it go away. I also feel that the OEM seat is much too high up and they benefit from low mount seat rails but that is personal preference
Being the import, it had a few extras like an LSD and an extra 25bhp. It was BRILLIANT on B road twisties and I found it a very easy car to drive very fast! I actually picked up several speeding points all in one go in this car which was part of the reason I let it go. I ended up buying another S2000, which IMO is MUCH harder to keep in a straight line and as such, slowed me down considerably!
The price of EP3's at the moment is getting ridiculously cheap now and they are a complete bargain if you ask me! The only issues I had with mine were the crappy design of the aftermarket radio surround and the EPS sometimes came up with an error and I had to restart the car to make it go away. I also feel that the OEM seat is much too high up and they benefit from low mount seat rails but that is personal preference
Gassing Station | Honda | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff