EP3 Civic Type R. SHOCKED!
Discussion
My 19 year old lad has been mad about his CTR since he got it about a year ago. My extent of involvement has mainly been helping him maintain it, upgrading some of the safety aspects (brakes etc) and general mechanic.
He went to a caffeine and machine about an hour away last night and got carried away and ended up having a few pints and couldn't drive back. Which left it to me to drive back since we met him there later on.
The car is pretty much standard apart from a brake upgrade and the obligatory awful noisy back box.
I drove it back, just over an hours drive on some relatively empty road and a mix of a few few dual carriageways and a+b roads.
I was completely amazed at what an involving, fun and competent car it is. Perhaps one of the most complete driving experiences I have had on uk roads for a very long time. This comes from someone who races caterhams, has owned cars like a Ferrari 458 and various bmw M cars over the years.
It just seemed to be in the perfect sweet spot where you can use almost all the performance, without travelling at stupid speeds.
So pleased my son gets to enjoy something as pure as that before these cars get legislated off the roads.
He went to a caffeine and machine about an hour away last night and got carried away and ended up having a few pints and couldn't drive back. Which left it to me to drive back since we met him there later on.
The car is pretty much standard apart from a brake upgrade and the obligatory awful noisy back box.
I drove it back, just over an hours drive on some relatively empty road and a mix of a few few dual carriageways and a+b roads.
I was completely amazed at what an involving, fun and competent car it is. Perhaps one of the most complete driving experiences I have had on uk roads for a very long time. This comes from someone who races caterhams, has owned cars like a Ferrari 458 and various bmw M cars over the years.
It just seemed to be in the perfect sweet spot where you can use almost all the performance, without travelling at stupid speeds.
So pleased my son gets to enjoy something as pure as that before these cars get legislated off the roads.
Truly excellent cars.
Petrolhead daughter has two Rs, an NA and a turbocharged model, she often says she gets more fun from the NA because it can be driven using all the revs, the turbo version is almost too rapid for the road.
Glad you're helping with the mechanical stuff, Japanese brakes especially i find (having two Japanese vehicles ourselves) need regular proper maintenance, something now almost impossible to find outside of DIY.
Petrolhead daughter has two Rs, an NA and a turbocharged model, she often says she gets more fun from the NA because it can be driven using all the revs, the turbo version is almost too rapid for the road.
Glad you're helping with the mechanical stuff, Japanese brakes especially i find (having two Japanese vehicles ourselves) need regular proper maintenance, something now almost impossible to find outside of DIY.
cashmax said:
My 19 year old lad has been mad about his CTR since he got it about a year ago. My extent of involvement has mainly been helping him maintain it, upgrading some of the safety aspects (brakes etc) and general mechanic.
He went to a caffeine and machine about an hour away last night and got carried away and ended up having a few pints and couldn't drive back. Which left it to me to drive back since we met him there later on.
The car is pretty much standard apart from a brake upgrade and the obligatory awful noisy back box.
I drove it back, just over an hours drive on some relatively empty road and a mix of a few few dual carriageways and a+b roads.
I was completely amazed at what an involving, fun and competent car it is. Perhaps one of the most complete driving experiences I have had on uk roads for a very long time. This comes from someone who races caterhams, has owned cars like a Ferrari 458 and various bmw M cars over the years.
It just seemed to be in the perfect sweet spot where you can use almost all the performance, without travelling at stupid speeds.
So pleased my son gets to enjoy something as pure as that before these cars get legislated off the roads.
Just out of interest, what did you drive back 25 years ago? Never tried anything like that or a Saxo VTS/106 GTI or Clio 172?He went to a caffeine and machine about an hour away last night and got carried away and ended up having a few pints and couldn't drive back. Which left it to me to drive back since we met him there later on.
The car is pretty much standard apart from a brake upgrade and the obligatory awful noisy back box.
I drove it back, just over an hours drive on some relatively empty road and a mix of a few few dual carriageways and a+b roads.
I was completely amazed at what an involving, fun and competent car it is. Perhaps one of the most complete driving experiences I have had on uk roads for a very long time. This comes from someone who races caterhams, has owned cars like a Ferrari 458 and various bmw M cars over the years.
It just seemed to be in the perfect sweet spot where you can use almost all the performance, without travelling at stupid speeds.
So pleased my son gets to enjoy something as pure as that before these cars get legislated off the roads.
Which is why I’m picking up a low mileage JDM one in 2 weeks time.
Back to basics - light, manual, fun, NA hot hatch. Planning to keep it for good weather use only as long as I’m able.
No doubt the driving gods will be on shortly clutching pearls about the electric steering…. they sold nearly 20,000 in this country and no hot hatch ever made is perfect.
Back to basics - light, manual, fun, NA hot hatch. Planning to keep it for good weather use only as long as I’m able.
No doubt the driving gods will be on shortly clutching pearls about the electric steering…. they sold nearly 20,000 in this country and no hot hatch ever made is perfect.
s m said:
Just out of interest, what did you drive back 25 years ago? Never tried anything like that or a Saxo VTS/106 GTI or Clio 172?
Honestly, never really had many hot hatches of that era. I was very into Alfa's and had many, many suds, sprints, etc, but missed out on the type of cars above, when I could afford, I went with things like Mercedes cosworths and bigger alfas, like 75 and GTV's. The only hot hatches I had was a renault 5 turbo and a golf gti.Looks like I missed out.
rossub said:
Which is why I m picking up a low mileage JDM one in 2 weeks time.
Back to basics - light, manual, fun, NA hot hatch. Planning to keep it for good weather use only as long as I m able.
No doubt the driving gods will be on shortly clutching pearls about the electric steering . they sold nearly 20,000 in this country and no hot hatch ever made is perfect.
I guess the steering would be the only factor that could be improved on, very little feedback, feels a little dead, but after an hour driving it, I didn't even notice it anymore. But on balance, still surprised at just how perfectly the performance is matched to UK roads. I'm 55, and haven't changed gear that many times on 60 minutes in a very long time.Back to basics - light, manual, fun, NA hot hatch. Planning to keep it for good weather use only as long as I m able.
No doubt the driving gods will be on shortly clutching pearls about the electric steering . they sold nearly 20,000 in this country and no hot hatch ever made is perfect.
cashmax said:
s m said:
Just out of interest, what did you drive back 25 years ago? Never tried anything like that or a Saxo VTS/106 GTI or Clio 172?
Honestly, never really had many hot hatches of that era. I was very into Alfa's and had many, many suds, sprints, etc, but missed out on the type of cars above, when I could afford, I went with things like Mercedes cosworths and bigger alfas, like 75 and GTV's. The only hot hatches I had was a renault 5 turbo and a golf gti.Looks like I missed out.
You had some great cars along the way - similar tastes to mine but I also managed a few of the hot hatch greats like the VTS and GTE 16v as well
Nice low mileage one for sale here
Used 2005 Honda Civic 2.0 Civic Type-R 3dr for sale | James Glen Car Sales Ltd https://www.jamesglen.co.uk/used/cars/honda/civic/...
Used 2005 Honda Civic 2.0 Civic Type-R 3dr for sale | James Glen Car Sales Ltd https://www.jamesglen.co.uk/used/cars/honda/civic/...
Terzo123 said:
Nice low mileage one for sale here
Used 2005 Honda Civic 2.0 Civic Type-R 3dr for sale | James Glen Car Sales Ltd https://www.jamesglen.co.uk/used/cars/honda/civic/...
The problem with that one is that mileage is so low, you’d be scared to use it. Definitely one for a car collector.Used 2005 Honda Civic 2.0 Civic Type-R 3dr for sale | James Glen Car Sales Ltd https://www.jamesglen.co.uk/used/cars/honda/civic/...
I’m getting one with 43k - another 20k on it won’t make a lot of difference to the value.
BTCC_racer said:
One of thew reasons I've held on to my DC2 for over 15 years, Had some light restoration work. Splendid engine and chassis dripping with feel.
I agree 100%, 22 years ownership here, I even put a EP3 engine into another DC2 I own…now that is another level of fun altogether!I always go back to the DC2 for driver reward.
Supateg said:
BTCC_racer said:
One of thew reasons I've held on to my DC2 for over 15 years, Had some light restoration work. Splendid engine and chassis dripping with feel.
I agree 100%, 22 years ownership here, I even put a EP3 engine into another DC2 I own now that is another level of fun altogether!I always go back to the DC2 for driver reward.
However, having owned an EP3 and a DC2 I cannot get my head around anyone swapping the B18 in the DC2 for a K20 out of a EP3. The B18 and its 9000rpm red line is one of the defining aspects of the DC2.
Unless you modify the K20 to rev that high as well I suppose?
Nostalgic pic of my B18!
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