Honda Civic Type R (EP3) | Spotted
There's no debating the EP3's status as a modern classic - just don't expect agreement on the current prices
I’ve given up trying to work out what’s fair or unfair pricing these days. Nothing makes any sense anymore in the classic car world, does it? But I guess getting exercised about ever-inflating prices is like King Canute holding back the tide. The market will do as the market does, and railing against this phenomenon will just give you itchy teeth. With all that in mind, the idea of paying £14,995 for a 45,000-mile-old Honda Civic Type R EP3 with a ‘beautifully refreshed underside’ seems almost reasonable, don’t you think? Personally, I love a beautifully refreshed underside.
After all, everyone loves an EP3. Its ‘breadvan’ styling stretched tightly over those seven-spoke, 17-inch alloys looks incongruous for a hot hatch but somehow utterly right. It’s just a neat bit of design. There’s something very BTCC about it, but it’s not trying too hard – the antithesis of the FK8, for sure. Don’t get me wrong, other than its styling, I am a huge FK8 fan. Especially because it’s so very nearly as good to drive as the latest model, yet was affordable for mere mortals like me. But the EP3 was good-looking and exciting to drive and affordable. It also has that back-to-basics purity as well as being the first official Type R in the UK. Therefore it kicked off the legend, and that makes it special.
Like a lot of us car nuts, I love a big-chested V8 or smooth ‘six’, but there’s something equally impressive and alluring about Honda’s approach: extracting great power from relatively little. It’s exquisite engineering, and that makes it fascinating. This not the smallest-capacity VTEC there has been, nor is it the most powerful-per-litre, but two litres producing 200hp with just the atmosphere to aspirate it remains a remarkable feat. Just as impressive as the clever variable valve timing and lift – helping it achieve its power at a dizzying 8,250rpm – is the depth of engineering as a whole. This was no fragile, mercurial beast. That zinging K20A2 motor will keep pinging off its limiter all day long without going pop.
The EP3 has its drawbacks, of course. Low-end torque was never a strong point of any VTEC – until the turbocharged ones – but as I always say, if you’re not happy thrashing a hot hatch then you’re missing the point. What about the fact that the EP3 is a bit over-hyped? In his recent origins piece – that’s well worth a read, by the way – Matt B came to the conclusion that the EP3 is slightly flawed beyond its peaky engine. He found that the steering was slow and a tad numb, the open diff was an issue, too, and the lofty driving position was a bit of a let-down. Indeed, in his eyes, the much-maligned FN2 was, whisper it, better.
The thing about old cars, though, is they often come with flaws. The very nature of humanity is to invent and improve. So it should not be surprising that later versions of any car will show improvements over what went before. It just means someone has done their job. There’s another side to humanity, though. Like the ability to be subjective. When things get old, we don’t necessarily throw them in the bin because something better has come along. We like to preserve, be retrospective and appreciative of history. And in doing that the flaws can become idiosyncrasies.
So it really doesn’t matter whether the EP3 was better than the FN2, or whether the FK8 or indeed the FL5 are the best Type Rs. What matters is what you like. You may simply like something because it resonates with your youth, or it was the first time you experienced a hot hatch, or lift-off oversteer, or 8,250rpm. And if any or all of those chime with you, and you have £15,000 to spend, then for God’s sake don’t wait. Because fair or unfair, prices of EP3s are unlikely to get any fairer in the future.
SPECIFICATION | HONDA CIVIC TYPE R (EP3)
Engine: 1,998cc, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 200 @ 7,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 145 @ 5,900rpm
MPG: 31.7 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 212g/km
Recorded mileage: 45,000
Year registered: 2005
Price new: £15,995
Yours for: £14,995
I had a Mk1 Focus 1.8 Zetec before and that had the best steering of any car I've owned. Now, if you could combine the MK1 Focus chassis and steering with the 2.0 VTEC you would have hot-hatch heaven!
Why would you pay so much for a clean undercarriage.
Just checked the dealer stock. How about another ep3 for £22.5k, or a mk4 golf gti for £14,250.
Or a £260k Subaru.
I've vomited 6 times reading the description for this one.
"A car which would look great in any collection"
"A car which presents much, much better than the mileage may suggest"
No. Go away.
With this car I just can't get over that a very late similar mileage precovid car would have been 5 grand at the most , something like an 04 with 80,000 would have been £3000 tops and an early ep3 with over 100,000 would have been £1500 , I'm 1 and won't be the only person is hoping and praying that cars start to go nearer normality in 23 because at present majority of cars are over priced and I've not scene a bargain since 2019.
However much I like these and they do drive well and at the time I think Honda got the Type R just about perfect that includes price .
With this car I just can't get over that a very late similar mileage precovid car would have been 5 grand at the most , something like an 04 with 80,000 would have been £3000 tops and an early ep3 with over 100,000 would have been £1500 , I'm 1 and won't be the only person is hoping and praying that cars start to go nearer normality in 23 because at present majority of cars are over priced and I've not scene a bargain since 2019.
However much I like these and they do drive well and at the time I think Honda got the Type R just about perfect that includes price .
This car is so clean, I don’t think anybody would want to drive it on the road let alone abuse it.
at the same time it would be wrong to see this car in a climate controlled garage collecting dust.
In my opinion, if I was to pick between a 200k mile 10 owner EP3 and this to present in a museum, I’d much rather the former because that’s what they’re all about.
I bought one with 140k miles in 2016 for £1500 and it was the most fun I’ve ever had in a car while being the most reliable.
For the money, Id rather a Championship White FD2 Civic Type R
Took it to a track day at Castle Combe too and it did great, until I started getting brake fade. But I was struggling with it for a while. An instructor was on hand to help and could see that my driving wasnt great, but clearly there was something up. He took it for a drive for a few laps with me in the passenger seat and he quickly figured it out. We were trying to drive as you would a typical FWD hot hatch. Just relaxing that a little and being more fluid with it totally changed it. Became surprisingly fast at that point! I guess I was used to Golf GTI's.
Nothing went wrong, everything held up and sold it in near perfect condition. Loved that car. Still have a picture taken at the track day hanging on my wall. Not going to suggest it is legendary or anything like that, but still have very fond memories of that car and that engine when you rev'ed it out.... sweet music....
Personally, for this money, I'd rather have a slightly more used example, or a JDM model (if that's possible in this price bracket). That said, if someone is looking for a minty UK spec car to relive their younger years, I can see why this might appeal. It's not massive money in the grand scheme of things.
Why would you pay so much for a clean undercarriage.
Just checked the dealer stock. How about another ep3 for £22.5k, or a mk4 golf gti for £14,250.
Or a £260k Subaru.
I've vomited 6 times reading the description for this one.
"A car which would look great in any collection"
"A car which presents much, much better than the mileage may suggest"
No. Go away.
It might surprise you, but not everyone wants the same as you.
I had a Mk1 Focus 1.8 Zetec before and that had the best steering of any car I've owned. Now, if you could combine the MK1 Focus chassis and steering with the 2.0 VTEC you would have hot-hatch heaven!
Much preferred my Clio Trophy I had after. Prices have gone mad, I paid £7500 for a 3 year old prem with 19k miles.
Personally, for this money, I'd rather have a slightly more used example, or a JDM model (if that's possible in this price bracket). That said, if someone is looking for a minty UK spec car to relive their younger years, I can see why this might appeal. It's not massive money in the grand scheme of things.
Why would you pay so much for a clean undercarriage.
Just checked the dealer stock. How about another ep3 for £22.5k, or a mk4 golf gti for £14,250.
Or a £260k Subaru.
I've vomited 6 times reading the description for this one.
"A car which would look great in any collection"
"A car which presents much, much better than the mileage may suggest"
No. Go away.
It might surprise you, but not everyone wants the same as you.
For reference I spent £2k on a 2002 EP3 4 years ago which seems like bargain. I think in the last few years when the prices got down to sub £3k plenty started getting modified/track converted and plenty started rotting. There must be barely 1/4 of the number of EP3s sold in the UK left on the road as breakers were having a field day when <£3k cars could yield a £1500 engine & 900 cat converter!!!
- puts on burberry baseball cap*
A few tweaks and these are incredibly capable cars for not a lot of money. Mine will outpace cars worth many multiples of the value on a B-Road.
Wouldn't buy the car in the article though. I don't like NHB, prefer a pre-facelift and would probably buy a JDM car for similar money if you wanted a car to stick in the garage and not drive
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