FN2 Civic Type R vs Megane R26 230

FN2 Civic Type R vs Megane R26 230

Author
Discussion

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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People are saying spend £xx on the FN2 and it's better than the Meg, but if you spend that £xx on the Meg then it's even better than the FN2. Horses for courses.
Best thing for the OP to do is drive them both properly and see what he thinks. If you're around South Yorkshire then you're welcome to a shot in my Megane.

Oh and Billy, HJMS123 is only talking about the Megane the way you're talking about the Civic wink

billy939

375 posts

143 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Feirny said:
People are saying spend £xx on the FN2 and it's better than the Meg, but if you spend that £xx on the Meg then it's even better than the FN2. Horses for courses.
Best thing for the OP to do is drive them both properly and see what he thinks. If you're around South Yorkshire then you're welcome to a shot in my Megane.

Oh and Billy, HJMS123 is only talking about the Megane the way you're talking about the Civic wink
Oh I know that, but I have actually driven both wink

billy939

375 posts

143 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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billy939 said:
Feirny said:
People are saying spend £xx on the FN2 and it's better than the Meg, but if you spend that £xx on the Meg then it's even better than the FN2. Horses for courses.
Best thing for the OP to do is drive them both properly and see what he thinks. If you're around South Yorkshire then you're welcome to a shot in my Megane.

Oh and Billy, HJMS123 is only talking about the Megane the way you're talking about the Civic wink
Oh I know that, but I have actually driven both wink
That was directed at HJMS123 btw, as I know you have also driven both smile

911p

Original Poster:

2,331 posts

179 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Feirny said:
If you're around South Yorkshire then you're welcome to a shot in my Megane.
Thanks very much for that offer, I am in Kent however so quite a way off!

HJMS123 said:
OP wanted the best out of the box package for handling and it's the meg ... comfortably
How have you both found your Megs on the build, reliability and servicing front?

Stevoox

367 posts

129 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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amusingduck said:
l80ous said:
Drove my Fn2 to spain, and you cant take photos that look as good as these with a Megan.
Beg to differ
With you on that. I find the FN2 looks pretty boring - just doesn't have any wow factor (in my opinion).




Stevoox

367 posts

129 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Feirny said:
The Meganes are usually bang on power wise. Mine's a bit of a freak and it's standard, and keeps pace with some mapped Megs.
The Clios for some reason always seem to come out under powered. The megs on the other hand tend to come out above.

I know of plenty meg 250's making more power than they should. My 265 Trophy for example was 285 standard.

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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911p said:
How have you both found your Megs on the build, reliability and servicing front?
Build quality is alright, reliability wise it hasn't let me down. Servicing has been a bit expensive but I knew that when I bought it.
Belts were done at about £550, two oil and filter changes at £60 each and it's about to have Clutch, Flywheel and both driveshafts done at £1000. Rest of the things I've done to keep things fresh such as suspenion/steering. Not cheap in the slightest, but worthwhile.

Stevoox

367 posts

129 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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911p said:
Feirny said:
If you're around South Yorkshire then you're welcome to a shot in my Megane.
Thanks very much for that offer, I am in Kent however so quite a way off!

HJMS123 said:
OP wanted the best out of the box package for handling and it's the meg ... comfortably
How have you both found your Megs on the build, reliability and servicing front?
Might be a pointless answer as i dont have an R26...but quality of the Mk3 is good and so far the car has been faultless (if thats anything to go by for the R26?). Again might be pointless, I'd offer you a go in it as I'm only from Surrey but work in Kent (Edenbirdge). If budget allows, you should def consider a mk3 meg.

HJMS123

988 posts

132 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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911p said:
How have you both found your Megs on the build, reliability and servicing front?
Build quality - leaves a lot to be desired with interior squeaks etc but the R26 is very well specced from factory so everything is there.

Reliability - Absolutely spot on in the 13 months I've owned mine, only problem I've had is a dead battery (original battery)and a broken boot button which cost all of £20 to replace.

Servicing - As long as you've got one which has had the cambelt changed by a specialist(Cost me £400 from a specialist but most garages charge in excess of £700) that's the only really expensive servicable item. Rear discs aren't cheap as they have the wheel bearing built into the drum. But eerything else is relatively normal running costs for a performance hatch. It's all made a little easier as there is a chap from Wolverhampton Raneult on the owners forum who looks after you for any OEM parts.

As Billy has said you'll need to drive good examples of both find out which one you prefer

HorneyMX5

5,306 posts

149 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I own an FN2.

I've covered 25K in a year in it and it's cost shirt buttons to run with really cheap servicing and it's super reliable. I drive it pretty hard and I reckon for occaional track use (2 or 3 a year) you'd be mad to do anything other than put some good pads on it and the Fast Road Geo set up, especially if you pick up a post April 2010 one with an LSD.

Steering feel is ace, handling excellent and predictable, power and noise are awsome.

It might not be as quick as the megane over a single lap but I reckon it would produce the bigger smile. Trackdays aren't about being the fastest and the FN2 has more than enough to keep you amused without being any where near the slowest on any given day.

For what it's worth I track a supercharged MX5 with 220bhp so I know a bit about trackdays and I'm quite tempted to take the Civic to one because it feels like it would love it.

Edited by HorneyMX5 on Monday 19th January 17:05

911p

Original Poster:

2,331 posts

179 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Feirny said:
Build quality is alright, reliability wise it hasn't let me down...
HJMS123 said:
Build quality - leaves a lot to be desired with interior squeaks etc but...
Good to know reliability is up there, last thing I'd want is a car likely to let me down at a track day or abroad. Being a track car I'd expect servicing to be a little more on the expensive side anyway.

Stevoox said:
Might be a pointless answer as i dont have an R26...
Again, thanks very much for the offer! I'd love a Mk3, but they're a little out of budget - £7k is already stretch unfortunately frown

HorneyMX5 said:
I own an FN2...
I've already had a read through your thread in the Readers Cars section with interest! Good to know you own a Mk1 MX5 and still think the steering feel is good - I think my MX5 steering feels fantastic so if the Type R is anywhere near that, it's a positive.

911p

Original Poster:

2,331 posts

179 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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As a two-year update to this thread, I test drove a Mk5 GTI, a Megane R26, and purchased HorneyMX5's FN2 in the end.

The car has been absolutely fantastic. I was initially underwhelmed, the chassis felt like it let the rest of the car down, but fitting Eibach Pro springs, new Sachs dampers and an LSD absolutely transformed the car.

The engine is brilliant, it's quicker than a friends standard Mk7 Fiesta ST, and has kept pace with another friends Audi SQ5 up to high speeds (much to both of our surprise) - driven correctly it's definitely no slouch. It's also returns over 43mpg on 100+ mile motorway journeys when driven sedately, and hasn't drank a drop of oil in two years. The noise it makes at 8000 rpm is also fantastic.

Handling wise, it feels great with slightly more compliant springs and a decent geo. Grip is immense, and the handling balance is totally neutral. The car just doesn't understeer, the LSD is more than happy to pull the front end towards the apex and out of the corner with massive traction. The rear feels totally secure, and it will only oversteer in the wet if deliberately provoked, again cured by getting on the power. The LSD also massively adds to stability under braking.

Lastly is the build quality. This is easily the best built car I have ever owned - they do seem to vary massively, but this is definitely a good one. Despite the hard ride there are zero rattles on the interior, and the only issue I've ever had is a £20 A/C relay which needed replacing. It went on a 3000 mile, 6 country road trip road trip across Europe last year, and was just bombproof.




With Eibach springs, a decent geo set up and an LSD, I can highly recommend an FN2 as the perfect combined daily/weekend car.

I have recently purchased another sports car now that I no longer need hatchback practicality, and should have sold the car already, but I'm just not sure if I'll massively regret it after selling. The owner of the other FN2 in the photos above sold his for an FK2 Type R, and believe it or not really misses his FN2. They were perfect on that road trip, and garnered much attention in Southern Europe where people didn't know what they were.

FN2TypeR

7,091 posts

92 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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That looks smashing cool

Mine originally came on the 19" rage alloys, they ruined what was already a pretty iffy ride, so I had them swapped out for a set of the 18" factory spec ones - we weighed them without tyres and the rage ones are actually slightly lighter, which was a surprise.

I took mine to TDI North for a decent geo set up and swapped the springs out for Eibach progressives too - what a difference to the ride the latter make, especially at low speeds around town, they were a cinch to fit too, and were about £160 or so (perhaps a tad more, I can't remember), worth every penny!



TameRacingDriver

18,047 posts

271 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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I got rid of mine in 2015 for a Z4 Coupe. I really liked the Z4 as an all rounder, but I'm convinced that the CTR was a better hooning car. Mine was standard apart from a Hondata Flashpro which was awesome. The handling was never as bad to me as some on here say.

I kind of miss it, mainly for the engine. I agree it had awesome build quality too. If I could have this engine in my MR2 Roadster I'd be very happy indeed. biggrin

Butter Face

30,191 posts

159 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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Glad you're still happy with it OP.

I still love my EP3 almost 3 years on and wouldn't be without it. I have upgraded the power slightly (should be 350ish by the end of this week) and I'd recommend a supercharger if you get bored!

Torquey

1,888 posts

227 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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Ahh man. This has made me want another FN2.
I regret selling it massively. It was replaced it with a GT86 and there was very little between them other than the price. Pro's and con's to both.
One of those cars I should have kept forever.

irish boy

3,520 posts

235 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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Garage near me has a fn2 type r with 4k miles for sale. Must be the lowest in the uk.

rich85uk

3,312 posts

178 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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Had my FN2 Type R over a year now and its immense fun, the engine and gearbox is fantastic. Will stay standard for now but bigger cams etc is tempting

HorneyMX5

5,306 posts

149 months

Wednesday 12th April 2017
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911p said:
purchased HorneyMX5's FN2 in the end..
This is really weird you posting this today as I actually had a dream about that car the other night.

I'm so glad you're enjoying it, I really miss it, it was a great car to own. If you ever think of moving it on let me know, I'll probably buy it back off it you.

911p

Original Poster:

2,331 posts

179 months

Thursday 13th April 2017
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To everyone who has posted, the common theme seems to be that these cars really get under your skin over time!

Nick, you'll be my first port of call if I do decide to sell. smile