Its Decided: I'm buying a EP3 R-type as a second car
Discussion
Have a budget of around £3-4k. Car would be purely used as a means of commuting back and forth from train station and a lot of blatting as and when required. Will be driven hard...
Went to look at a few Aygos - Mates were like you need a cheap car to run.
No thanks. We already have a Saab TTid estate and its cheap as chips to run and is very versatile. Carrys all the stuff for the newborn and so on..
Have until Jan now to find a decent facelift Type-R.
Went to look at a few Aygos - Mates were like you need a cheap car to run.
No thanks. We already have a Saab TTid estate and its cheap as chips to run and is very versatile. Carrys all the stuff for the newborn and so on..
Have until Jan now to find a decent facelift Type-R.
Pwig said:
My EP3 has cost me £150 for a service and MOT this year.
106000 mile 05 Plate Special edition thingy.
Nothing else at all.
Great to drive, feels like brand new still. Love it
Great stuff. I gather the engine needs to be worked hard. What sort of MPG are you seeing?106000 mile 05 Plate Special edition thingy.
Nothing else at all.
Great to drive, feels like brand new still. Love it
Are the xenons essential?
Great cars - I had one over the summer:
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
It was a face-lift on a '54' plate, bought and sold for £3,200 (but did have to fit a clutch and service!) and owned for about 5 months. Mine was lowered 'fast road' set-up and had a replacement B pipe to make it a bit louder but to look standard (caught on bumps though when coupled with the suspension).
It was great fun and averaged 38mpg on our trip
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
It was a face-lift on a '54' plate, bought and sold for £3,200 (but did have to fit a clutch and service!) and owned for about 5 months. Mine was lowered 'fast road' set-up and had a replacement B pipe to make it a bit louder but to look standard (caught on bumps though when coupled with the suspension).
It was great fun and averaged 38mpg on our trip
Edited by kiethton on Friday 18th October 09:36
chrisw666 said:
I can almost guarantee that 300BHP/Ton will pop up at some point and tell you that a Civic isn't the kind of car you need for fun and that you should buy something with 2 seats because the Civic is a hatchback and therefore would make you someone who isn't into cars.
Already had my fill of 2 seat convertibles. Z4, Boxster and so on. Novelty tends to wear off with me.Been looking at 330ci convertibles too. Purely because of the 2+2 aspect.
chrisw666 said:
I can almost guarantee that 300BHP/Ton will pop up at some point and tell you that a Civic isn't the kind of car you need for fun and that you should buy something with 2 seats because the Civic is a hatchback and therefore would make you someone who isn't into cars.
The thing is, the op was fairly clear with this comment:HannsG said:
Car would be purely used as a means of commuting back and forth from train station
They haven't mentioned about buying a 'fun' car.OP - a CTR will be fine for what you want, and when driven normally will feel and drive like a normal 2.0 or even a 1.8 hatchback and return similar mpg and running costs. But that's the entire point of the CTR.
For this money if you are wanting a couple of alternatives. I'd say look at DC2 ITR's and RX-8's.
The RX-8 is a 4 door, 4 seater saloon car, that just happens to look like a coupe. But the plus points are it's engine is even more revvy and driver focused than the CTR's is, along with a long slung driving position and RWD.
The DC2 in many ways could be seen as inferior to the CTR, older, less rear seating room, smaller engine, less power. But this is missing some key points. The DC2 is a much better driver, I personally think it sounds better too, is in reality almost as practical as the CTR, but rarer and will hold it's money better, so becomes a better investment. And while it's older, it's sort of equal odds for this money as the CTR won't be new either.
300bhp/ton said:
They haven't mentioned about buying a 'fun' car.
OP - a CTR will be fine for what you want, and when driven normally will feel and drive like a normal 2.0 or even a 1.8 hatchback and return similar mpg and running costs. But that's the entire point of the CTR.
For this money if you are wanting a couple of alternatives. I'd say look at DC2 ITR's and RX-8's.
The RX-8 is a 4 door, 4 seater saloon car, that just happens to look like a coupe. But the plus points are it's engine is even more revvy and driver focused than the CTR's is, along with a long slung driving position and RWD.
The DC2 in many ways could be seen as inferior to the CTR, older, less rear seating room, smaller engine, less power. But this is missing some key points. The DC2 is a much better driver, I personally think it sounds better too, is in reality almost as practical as the CTR, but rarer and will hold it's money better, so becomes a better investment. And while it's older, it's sort of equal odds for this money as the CTR won't be new either.
Much appreciated. Sound advice...OP - a CTR will be fine for what you want, and when driven normally will feel and drive like a normal 2.0 or even a 1.8 hatchback and return similar mpg and running costs. But that's the entire point of the CTR.
For this money if you are wanting a couple of alternatives. I'd say look at DC2 ITR's and RX-8's.
The RX-8 is a 4 door, 4 seater saloon car, that just happens to look like a coupe. But the plus points are it's engine is even more revvy and driver focused than the CTR's is, along with a long slung driving position and RWD.
The DC2 in many ways could be seen as inferior to the CTR, older, less rear seating room, smaller engine, less power. But this is missing some key points. The DC2 is a much better driver, I personally think it sounds better too, is in reality almost as practical as the CTR, but rarer and will hold it's money better, so becomes a better investment. And while it's older, it's sort of equal odds for this money as the CTR won't be new either.
RX-8. Hmmmm was looking at these to.
But apparently a lot need an engine rebuild after 60k? Hence a many keep a slush fund set aside if the engine decides to go pop?
RWD does appeal though....
HannsG said:
Much appreciated. Sound advice...
RX-8. Hmmmm was looking at these to.
But apparently a lot need an engine rebuild after 60k? Hence a many keep a slush fund set aside if the engine decides to go pop?
RWD does appeal though....
I'll be honest and say there is potentially more risk with an RX-8, but having said that, Mazda sold a lot of them and I suspect a large number are used daily without issue.RX-8. Hmmmm was looking at these to.
But apparently a lot need an engine rebuild after 60k? Hence a many keep a slush fund set aside if the engine decides to go pop?
RWD does appeal though....
Just do your research first and know what to look for and buy a good one. The only real downside to them IMO is mpg. They aren't overly frugal, although if you are only doing a low mileage it's not really an issue.
On the plus side however, they tend to get similar mpg regardless of if you thrash them or drive like Miss Daisy. This means you can enjoy the car without feeling guilty about using too much petrol.
ITR DC2 > CTR EP3 IME.
If you like to drive HARD, I can't think of many better cars than an Integra Type-R. Totally intoxicating. In comparison, the CTR is sterile and dull, despite actually being a good all round car, it just lacks the sparkle and magic that make the ITR such a great car.
If you like to drive HARD, I can't think of many better cars than an Integra Type-R. Totally intoxicating. In comparison, the CTR is sterile and dull, despite actually being a good all round car, it just lacks the sparkle and magic that make the ITR such a great car.
300bhp/ton said:
OP - a CTR will be fine for what you want, and when driven normally will feel and drive like a normal 2.0 or even a 1.8 hatchback and return similar mpg and running costs. But that's the entire point of the CTR.
I'm not sure that's true. On your first point: My wife's just bought an '07 FN2 CTR. We test drove the standard Civic and even though she doesn't drive that fast, she hated the standard car because it was too wallowy, but absolutely loved the CTR because the suspension was very firm. Comparing the two back to back, the CTR felt quite different, in terms of ride as mentioned, but also in terms of handling balance, braking and even small inputs to the throttle (which has been mapped in a weird way - the car's only negative compared to the standard car). Either way, they're very different cars.
On your second point: On her home visits over lunchtime she's getting 14mpg and her overall average is about 26mpg. I think the standard Civic would better that
Rob, I certainly wouldn't say a CTR doesn't feel different. But I would be truly amazed that most people could really tell the difference if you are only doing 30mph in an urban area for example.
The ride might be more bumpy, but if you are not pushing lateral G's and braking heavily from speed, none of these differences will be apparent.
Is your misses a real petrol head? I only ask as most people, even enthusiasts are unlikely to pick up on subtle differences, unless under more extreme circumstances.
To this end, and not wanting to say liar as I know you have very broad knowledge. But I do have a hard time honestly believing that anyone really finds a normal Civic wallowy vs a Type R when only being driven normally.
The ride might be more bumpy, but if you are not pushing lateral G's and braking heavily from speed, none of these differences will be apparent.
Is your misses a real petrol head? I only ask as most people, even enthusiasts are unlikely to pick up on subtle differences, unless under more extreme circumstances.
To this end, and not wanting to say liar as I know you have very broad knowledge. But I do have a hard time honestly believing that anyone really finds a normal Civic wallowy vs a Type R when only being driven normally.
300bhp/ton said:
Rob, I certainly wouldn't say a CTR doesn't feel different. But I would be truly amazed that most people could really tell the difference if you are only doing 30mph in an urban area for example.
The ride might be more bumpy, but if you are not pushing lateral G's and braking heavily from speed, none of these differences will be apparent.
Is your misses a real petrol head? I only ask as most people, even enthusiasts are unlikely to pick up on subtle differences, unless under more extreme circumstances.
To this end, and not wanting to say liar as I know you have very broad knowledge. But I do have a hard time honestly believing that anyone really finds a normal Civic wallowy vs a Type R when only being driven normally.
Oh, definitely, yes, Naomi felt a huge difference between the CTR and the standard Civic suspension, even at modest speeds. It's not like the Golf GTi vs a standard Golf, it's quite different. I liked the standard Civic a lot actually, for what it was (an everyday hatchback), and I genuinely thought she'd go for one, but she was very critical of the suspension - the CTR was love at first drive, mainly down to that road feel and firmer suspension.The ride might be more bumpy, but if you are not pushing lateral G's and braking heavily from speed, none of these differences will be apparent.
Is your misses a real petrol head? I only ask as most people, even enthusiasts are unlikely to pick up on subtle differences, unless under more extreme circumstances.
To this end, and not wanting to say liar as I know you have very broad knowledge. But I do have a hard time honestly believing that anyone really finds a normal Civic wallowy vs a Type R when only being driven normally.
Your point about petrolheads vs non petrolheads spotting subtle things is interesting; in my experience this isn't the case it all - it's just entirely down to how sensitive someone is, and if they're a petrolhead the only difference is that they can normally explain what they feel. For example, my Mum has made some fantastic comments about cars my Dad's had on test - really insightful - but she has absolutely no interest in cars at all and no idea that she was commenting on the damping, or in one case that the left rear tyre was about 5psi down on the others! She just described it in her terms. I've inherited that trait from my Mum to be very sensitive with things, the only difference being with cars I can normally have a stab at explaining what's wrong - if I detect something up with a boat for example, I haven't a clue what it is that's wrong, but I can still feel it.
In conclusion for the OP though, I do feel that the CTR (at least the model on from the one you're looking at) is a quite different car to the standard Civic, and feels so even at low speed. That's just my opinion though, as 300 differs.
t about the passengers?Great choice. I loved the one I had and am thinking getting one again as a second car to the family wagon. Cheap, easy to fix, plenty of knowledge on tuning parts, very practical and swift. While it doesn't have the outright ability of the DC2, your money will get you a much, much nicer EP3.
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