Type R dream ruined. By Honda.

[Speed Badger]

Hi all, I had been saving hard for a the new Civic Type R (well, nearly new) and I have just realised that it only has 4 seats. I am astounded by this, seeing as it's now a 5 door, family friendly R and I often need to transport 4 others. I just couldn't believe after months of saving, selling my FD2 Civic and generally reading all I could about it, I somehow failed to notice it only had 4 seats, it has no lap belt, nothing.

Anyone else had a car they've been after for ages ruined by a simple or silly thing? I would save for the new, new Civic but it just looks sooooooooo awful, like a hatchback Subaru crossed with a random Hyundai and then finished with a sprinkle of gopping.

[Jonno02]

Honda ruined the Type R in far worse ways than removing a back seat.

[designforlife]

Why not import an FN2 civic type R saloon? They're holding value like crazy (currently sat at around £16k for a fresh import), and pretty sure there's a lap belt in the back.

[HayesDC2]

Get yourself a Mugen RR FD2!

[nickfrog]

You should sue.

[kambites]

If you really want one, you could probably retro-fit the seats and belts from a non-type-R Civic?

[TooMany2cvs]

Speed Badger said:

Hi all, I had been saving hard for a the new Civic Type R (well, nearly new) and I have just realised that it only has 4 seats.

Did you actually even look at one before "saving hard"? Even a quick glance?

Autocar said:

In the back, Honda has ditched the middle seat and tip-up ‘Magic Seats’ to save weight

<yeh, right...>
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/honda/civic-ty...

[Funk]

kambites said:

If you really want one, you could probably retro-fit the seats and belts from a non-type-R Civic?

Whilst the seats may well fit, the car won't be approved for carrying 4 passengers and could cause insurance issues.

[Composite Guru]

The Type R's have always been 4 seaters from what I'm aware. My EP3 only had two belts in the back ad that was in 2002.

It was classed as a 4 seater so adding the extra seatbelt would void the insurance.

[kambites]

Funk said:

kambites said:

If you really want one, you could probably retro-fit the seats and belts from a non-type-R Civic?

Whilst the seats may well fit, the car won't be approved for carrying 4 passengers and could cause insurance issues.

By my (limited) understanding, that depends on how the car was type approved. If it was an addendum to the standard Civic approval, it'll probably be fine because the approval will simply say that a Civic fitted with the OEM five seat parts is approved to carry five people; if it was type approved as a separate model in its own right it wouldn't be legal.

Of course he'd have to declare the modification to an insurer either way.

[Bennet]

Speed Badger said:

Anyone else had a car they've been after for ages ruined by a simple or silly thing?

For some reason up until yesterday I thought the GT86 had a proper hatch back boot like an Audi TT. It doesn't, which is a damn shame for my circumstances.

(More generally, I'm often thwarted by the absence of a sufficiently fast petrol manual model among a range I'd otherwise be interested in.)

[Coker]

designforlife said:

Why not import an FN2 civic type R saloon? They're holding value like crazy (currently sat at around £16k for a fresh import), and pretty sure there's a lap belt in the back.

Reading the original post, he already has an FD2 saloon. FN2 is the hatch.

[culpz]

Jonno02 said:

Honda ruined the Type R in far worse ways than removing a back seat.

I was just gonna say, that wasn't the first think i was expecting OP to say.

[FN2TypeR]

How did you miss that?

[greenarrow]

Jonno02 said:

Honda ruined the Type R in far worse ways than removing a back seat.

Just wondered in what ways they've ruined it. Given that high revving n/a engines are pretty much ruled out by modern CO2 legislation, they seem to have ticked most boxes with a bonkers FWD hard core animal of a car, in the spirit of previous Type R cars.....I must admit my opinion comes from not driving one so interested to know how it is ruined from a driving point of view....

To me the current Civic seems to be as much a Type R as the Golf R is a typical Golf...

[Type R Tom]

The FN2 only had 2 seats in the back but I think some people on the forums found a way to modify it (the standard models had 3), maybe something similar could be done with the new one?

[Speed Badger]

I know it seems obvious and blatant, but I just didn't even think to notice that it didn't, if you see what I mean? I just assumed that it did because every other car in that class does (golf, focus? Mégane etc) and I just didn't twig, even looking at pics. (To the poster re thr FD2 - yes I had one,great car, just wanted something a bit more modern and user friendly.

Anyway, the real motivation for the question, as the poster above answered was about wanting a dream car or a car you wanted for ages that when it came to it (as in myself on the Civic test drive) some stupid/annoying/trivial issue has ruined it for you

[TooMany2cvs]

greenarrow said:

Just wondered in what ways they've ruined it.

Have you seen one?

[Nersha]

Your FD2 only had 4 seats

[GC8]

Composite Guru said:

The Type R's have always been 4 seaters from what I'm aware. My EP3 only had two belts in the back ad that was in 2002.

It was classed as a 4 seater so adding the extra seatbelt would void the insurance.

That doesn't happen, because it can't happen.