2008 Honda Civic FN2 Type R

[redandwhite]

Here is my 2008 Honda Civic FN2 Type R in Milano Red, had the car a few weeks now and really liking it, its my first Honda and first experience of a VTEC engine! Previous cars were family Volvos, so this is a welcome move back to a hot hatch for me (previously had 3 RenaultSport Clios) the interior of the Honda is another level compared to the Renaults.

Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

No real plans other than service and get to know the car, a 70 mile trip home from buying saw me average 43.5 MPG which i was more than happy with!
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

TO DO
Mini service
Oil & filter
Air filter
Pollen Filter
Previous receipts for plugs and MTF gearbox fluid so no plans to do these yet

Spare Key

Fix passenger side wing mirror (doesnt fold)

Spare tyre

[FaNtheMaN26]

Nice! Quite the mix of tyres there though!

[PaulV]

Would be interesting to know how you get on with this.
We want to get something more fun when our Mondeo 2.2 finally stops being economic to kepp.

[Fonzey]

redandwhite said:

a 70 mile trip home from buying saw me average 43.5 MPG which i was more than happy with!

Don't get used to that! Our long term average is barely in the 30's.

I'm on my second FN2, I think they're pretty good value for money at the moment. Not quite as good as an EP3, but as you say the interior is really a step up from that era of car and it's currently easier to find a good FN2 than EP3 (In my opinion/experience) so usually works out as a better daily.

Enjoy!

[dave2007bc]

Side mirror fold is a 20p fix by soldering in a resistor

[redandwhite]

FaNtheMaN26 said:

Nice! Quite the mix of tyres there though!

thank,s, yes i will get round to getting 2 rainsports on the rear too

PaulV said:

Would be interesting to know how you get on with this.
We want to get something more fun when our Mondeo 2.2 finally stops being economic to kepp.

For me, having a little one, the biggest change was having 2 doors instead of 5 (i came from an XC90), however access into the rear is good

Fonzey said:

Don't get used to that! Our long term average is barely in the 30's.

I'm on my second FN2, I think they're pretty good value for money at the moment. Not quite as good as an EP3, but as you say the interior is really a step up from that era of car and it's currently easier to find a good FN2 than EP3 (In my opinion/experience) so usually works out as a better daily.

Enjoy!

its a real jekyll & hyde car, can do economy if needed but all hell breaks loose over 5.5k

dave2007bc said:

Side mirror fold is a 20p fix by soldering in a resistor

Got one, although i paid £1.70 :-)

[redandwhite]

Service day

Petronas 5w40 Fully Synth Oil
Bosch Oil Filter
Crossland Air Filter
Fram Cabin filter

Jacking up - just enough room!
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Pre oil drain prep
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Draining
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Whilst the oil was draining, turned my attention elsewhere

Air filter - Old/New
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new one in
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Pollen filter - easy access
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Pollen filter - Old/New
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Jumped back under the civic to tackle the oil filter, its up there somewhere!
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Removal tool made easy work of it, would have been difficult without
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New Bosch oil filter fitted
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Drain plug back in, time to refill the oil
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Action shot
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Service tray refitted along with copper grease to help on the next service.
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[LukeDM]

Looks like a decent example. Are you using axel stands?

[redandwhite]

LukeDM said:

Looks like a decent example. Are you using axel stands?

cheers, sure am see 2nd oil change picture

[redandwhite]

Roof repair

Dropped the Civic off at Honda for the roof corrossion repair under warranty (very impressed they covered a car 11 year 10 months into a 12 year warranty, that didnt have full Honda SH).

Roof before
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Roof after (with new window rubber)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

With a MOT due in Feb i asked them to MOT at the same time and replace the NS/R tyre as it was flagged on the health check done when they inspected to roof.

They failed it on the MOT test for the OS/R tyre due to cracking, ok fair enough, i now have a pair of brand new Rainsport 3s on the rear. They also failed it on a leaking OS/F shock absorber, quoted me £288 for a replacement and advised when questioned that theres no issue replacing singularly !

Declined on the shock as i found the same Sachs items for £64 each, ordered a pair of these, will fit myself and will get it re-MOT'ed elesewhere.
Funnily enough, the parts guy told me the Sachs i had ordered werent genuine items, i said well they are identical part numbers but minus your sticker - justification for the silly price no doubt.

I did notice i have been left with a scratch on rear alloys where they have changed the tyres and polishing residue left on the passenger side which is disappointing.

[Commander2874]

Nice car and good to see you are servicing it yourself.

They are great cars, had my fn2 for over 3 years now and love driving it.

[stargazer30]

Had two FN2s now best money I spent on both was a fast road setup geo. Grinspeed or TDI north can do this. They handle superb one setup correctly.

Only other big job I did was sorting out the really poor factory audio.

[redandwhite]

Front suspension replacement

The Sachs front struts arrived, along with some droplinks (ignore the brand, 2 year guarantee) which were added to bump the price up a little to get free P&P
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

First off , this is what we are dealing with, everything i had researched before made no reference to the droplinks being attached to the strut, however due to this being the setup on every previous car i had i bought the droplinks with this in mind - the civic was no different (guess the US market has a different setup)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr


Droplinks were a pain on OSF (lower strut bolt was a pain on NSF)
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OSF droplink off (after some cutting)
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Old vs New - old ones had 0 rebound so time for a change!
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Compressing the spring, wouldnt do it again without these compressors with the safety lugs - took the danger out of it
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Swapped
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Refitted with new droplink
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All done and time for the test drive
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Other side done

Submitted for MOT and passed :-)

[df76]

Liking this! Wish I had an excuse to get one as an every day car.

[tvrfan007]

With droplinks, not sure if you did this looking at your pics, but wire brushing the exposed thread helps to get them off as you don't grind all that rust through the thread and cause it to seize or similar.

My dremel earns it's keep on almost every job like this.

Lol at the dealer justifications. Same justification VW want to charge me the same price for one shock that TPS charges for 2.

[RossF1984]

redandwhite said:

Roof repair

Dropped the Civic off at Honda for the roof corrossion repair under warranty (very impressed they covered a car 11 year 10 months into a 12 year warranty, that didnt have full Honda SH).

Roof before
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Roof after (with new window rubber)
Untitled by Montana BI, on Flickr

Hi, Your FN2 looks nice and tidy!

Out of interest can I ask which dealer did the roof work? I bought an 09 FN2 approx. 3 months ago and has some signs of corrosion above the window. My local dealer (Vertu Honda Grantham) got all funny with me because the car doesn't have full Honda service history!!

@fn2_ross on Insta also if you are 'down with the kids'....

[Dadoc2001]

Will watch this thread with interest 😁

Owned several Vti's and both an EP3 and FN2 in the past and now have my trusty '58 FK3 2.2 which I've had for 8 years! Such reliable and versatile cars with a fantastic Jekyll and hyde personality. While mine is now approaching shed money it is very easy to work on (oil filter sits on top of the engine) and I can't see me getting rid of it unless it goes bang which it wont. Wife has given permission to buy a weekend car (when funds allow). Wonder where I will go 🤪?

You'll probably find the Rainsports grip fantastic but wear quickly. Had I seen this thread I'd have advised throwing the good Rainsports on the rear and going for Goodyear Eagles on the front - give perfect balance (imo) of grip and price vs longevity.

Best of luck with the car!

[anonymous-user]

Hope you enjoy yours OP, I think they're fantastic value for money. I have had my 2010 facelift for 10 months now and it's superb to drive on the road when you're on it. I beat myself up initially for not holding out for an LSD fitted facelift but I don't think it needs it on the road. It also has lots of little negatives, such as the high seat position, hard ride, crap audio quality, poor NVH, but when the engine and gearbox have warmed up and you start moving the car about on the suspension with that fantastic steering sized steering wheel it just all comes together!

Mines completely stock and needs the dampeners replaced, it's on the originals at 106k, but I would advise you ditch that tyre fiasco you've got going on and grab yourself 4 fresh michelin pilot sport 4's. Superb tyres for the road and I wouldn't stick any other brand on after using these. Also lose those horrible fake carbon wheel caps! haha

Nothing has gone wrong with mine as of yet, and it's shortly due it's first service with me.

Edit: I've averaged 29 MPG over 10k miles of mixed driving.

[TameRacingDriver]

I still think they are underrated, I had mine for over a year, only got rid of it to submit to my hankering for a Z4C. On paper it had plenty of disadvantages over the older model, but it was a much nicer place to sit, actually has some steering feel, and for me the engine sounds better in the FN2. As a previous Clio owner a grown up, larger alternative.

Mine came with a Hondata unit. I tried with and without and I felt it was an excellent upgrade. The VTEC kicks in lower, which makes it more effortless when you want some actual performance without wringing its neck, and you got to enjoy that lovely VTEC noise for longer, the cherry on top was the 500 extra RPM you get before the limiter kicks in. When I sold the car I removed it and got £400 for it. I would say it was worth splashing out for, I really enjoyed it.

My average MPG was mid 20’s at best, with the lowest being 17 and highest being 40.

[redandwhite]

RossF1984 said:

Hi, Your FN2 looks nice and tidy!

Out of interest can I ask which dealer did the roof work? I bought an 09 FN2 approx. 3 months ago and has some signs of corrosion above the window. My local dealer (Vertu Honda Grantham) got all funny with me because the car doesn't have full Honda service history!!

@fn2_ross on Insta also if you are 'down with the kids'....

The dealer were very accomodating although they were very clear i was at the mercy of Honda UK after the claim (with pictures/paint depth measurements) were submitted.

Dadoc2001 said:

Will watch this thread with interest ??

Owned several Vti's and both an EP3 and FN2 in the past and now have my trusty '58 FK3 2.2 which I've had for 8 years! Such reliable and versatile cars with a fantastic Jekyll and hyde personality. While mine is now approaching shed money it is very easy to work on (oil filter sits on top of the engine) and I can't see me getting rid of it unless it goes bang which it wont. Wife has given permission to buy a weekend car (when funds allow). Wonder where I will go ???

You'll probably find the Rainsports grip fantastic but wear quickly. Had I seen this thread I'd have advised throwing the good Rainsports on the rear and going for Goodyear Eagles on the front - give perfect balance (imo) of grip and price vs longevity.

Best of luck with the car!

Good to know re Eagles, i was happy enough just to get matching tyres all round

AB57 said:

Hope you enjoy yours OP, I think they're fantastic value for money. I have had my 2010 facelift for 10 months now and it's superb to drive on the road when you're on it. I beat myself up initially for not holding out for an LSD fitted facelift but I don't think it needs it on the road. It also has lots of little negatives, such as the high seat position, hard ride, crap audio quality, poor NVH, but when the engine and gearbox have warmed up and you start moving the car about on the suspension with that fantastic steering sized steering wheel it just all comes together!

Mines completely stock and needs the dampeners replaced, it's on the originals at 106k, but I would advise you ditch that tyre fiasco you've got going on and grab yourself 4 fresh michelin pilot sport 4's. Superb tyres for the road and I wouldn't stick any other brand on after using these. Also lose those horrible fake carbon wheel caps! haha

Nothing has gone wrong with mine as of yet, and it's shortly due it's first service with me.

Edit: I've averaged 29 MPG over 10k miles of mixed driving.

Brilliant cars, heres to a good few years of ownership. Had 1 adult, 1 toddler, toddlers trike and 2 dogs in it over the weekend. No family volvo needed !

TameRacingDriver said:

I still think they are underrated, I had mine for over a year, only got rid of it to submit to my hankering for a Z4C. On paper it had plenty of disadvantages over the older model, but it was a much nicer place to sit, actually has some steering feel, and for me the engine sounds better in the FN2. As a previous Clio owner a grown up, larger alternative.

Mine came with a Hondata unit. I tried with and without and I felt it was an excellent upgrade. The VTEC kicks in lower, which makes it more effortless when you want some actual performance without wringing its neck, and you got to enjoy that lovely VTEC noise for longer, the cherry on top was the 500 extra RPM you get before the limiter kicks in. When I sold the car I removed it and got £400 for it. I would say it was worth splashing out for, I really enjoyed it.

My average MPG was mid 20’s at best, with the lowest being 17 and highest being 40.

Interesting re the Hondata, have read that term a few times and wasnt 100% on what it is