Budget Civic Type R FN2
Discussion
My first foray into Japanese metal, and probably my most interesting car to date, which to some might highlight my boring back catalogue. Having sold my much loved and very tidy Mk5 gti this summer to free up some money, I set myself a budget of 4k for a replacement.
My brief was simple - 4 plus seats, decent boot for bikes/dogs and decent performance and handling. After looking at a few other options, I settled on a fn2, which I managed to get for £3600.
The car is on 95k with a fair bit of service history. It's got 4 lovely ditch finders which have plenty of tread unfortunately, a slightly leaky boot and the standard rusty roof by the windscreen. The interior reeks of dog (not mine), has a gaffer taped handbrake and the drivers seat adjustment is temporarily bust. It is fairly grimy in general, but I am one of those sad people who quite enjoys cleaning cars. The engine (fingers crossed) seems a good un thus far, and it seems to handle well apart from the well documented 'bone shaking' whenever you drive over anything other than a racetrack.
Overall, despite the above issues, I love it so far. Its certainly pretty decent for the price in my opinion. It's already got more character than the golf, but that could prove to be a good or bad thing as time goes on!
Plan is to work through all the minor jobs and get it serviced to start with. Then hope that the ditch finders wear out quickly so I have an excuse to buy some good tyres.
If there is any interest I will pop things on here as I do them. If there's not, I might still anyway for my own documentation of progress!
My brief was simple - 4 plus seats, decent boot for bikes/dogs and decent performance and handling. After looking at a few other options, I settled on a fn2, which I managed to get for £3600.
The car is on 95k with a fair bit of service history. It's got 4 lovely ditch finders which have plenty of tread unfortunately, a slightly leaky boot and the standard rusty roof by the windscreen. The interior reeks of dog (not mine), has a gaffer taped handbrake and the drivers seat adjustment is temporarily bust. It is fairly grimy in general, but I am one of those sad people who quite enjoys cleaning cars. The engine (fingers crossed) seems a good un thus far, and it seems to handle well apart from the well documented 'bone shaking' whenever you drive over anything other than a racetrack.
Overall, despite the above issues, I love it so far. Its certainly pretty decent for the price in my opinion. It's already got more character than the golf, but that could prove to be a good or bad thing as time goes on!
Plan is to work through all the minor jobs and get it serviced to start with. Then hope that the ditch finders wear out quickly so I have an excuse to buy some good tyres.
If there is any interest I will pop things on here as I do them. If there's not, I might still anyway for my own documentation of progress!
Edited by Tmrtom on Thursday 11th October 16:56
I’m on my 3rd FN2, it’s alot of car for the money and pretty much bomb proof. Iv had the front end road rash sorted and got it pretty much as clean as it’ll ever be, not long had new boots on refurb wheels (mich PS4), previous owner went to town on maintenance over his tenure including a timing chain service with new rocker cover (peeling is common )
Iv got no idea why the picture is like that lol
Edited by PapaJohns on Thursday 11th October 17:45
Iv got no idea why the picture is like that lol
Edited by PapaJohns on Thursday 11th October 17:46
Is it turning Milano Pink, or is it just the photo?
Amazed how low these have got, but then they did sell a lot of them, despite the infamous Top Gear review. I guess the earliest are 11 years old now too.
The engines are bomb proof, but gearbox synchros can go - usually third gear IIRC.
Amazed how low these have got, but then they did sell a lot of them, despite the infamous Top Gear review. I guess the earliest are 11 years old now too.
The engines are bomb proof, but gearbox synchros can go - usually third gear IIRC.
Oil is full to line and has remained there all week despite a fair bit of driving. Will monitor closely though, had to do with mk5 too as that liked a drink. Fn2s seem a bit hit and miss with how much they use according to the web - some a lot, some hardly any. No history for past 2 years (full up to that point) so having it serviced next week. Since oil and fluids seem topped up Im hoping it has been looked after despite lack of proof. Certainly drives well at the moment, fingers crossed...
Re paint it is thankfully still nice and red, albeit with a nice selection of swirl marks, and not pink. Must be the photo. I've had a couple of red cars of this vintage and found as long as they are washed and polished they seem to stay OK.
Re paint it is thankfully still nice and red, albeit with a nice selection of swirl marks, and not pink. Must be the photo. I've had a couple of red cars of this vintage and found as long as they are washed and polished they seem to stay OK.
if i had the space I'd have something like this as a weekend toy.
Not too bothered about how it was cosmetically as long it was mechanically sound. Something to blatt about B roads at 6am on a sunday.
Also with the current trend of moving to turbos and dsg's, engines capable of revving out to 8K rpm will soon be a thing of the past.
Not too bothered about how it was cosmetically as long it was mechanically sound. Something to blatt about B roads at 6am on a sunday.
Also with the current trend of moving to turbos and dsg's, engines capable of revving out to 8K rpm will soon be a thing of the past.
Early days to make a detailed comparison - I had the mk5 gti for 3 years and had the type r for a week. I can offer you a few thoughts but I'm certainly no expert.
I think the mk5 gti is a very good car. Mine was standard so can't comment how it would be with some tweaks. Others on here have summed it well: good at everything, not outstanding at anything. Engine is nice but not special. Handling is decent, but not amazing compared to hot/warm hatches models I have either owned, driven or been in. The gearbox (mine was manual) was nice and slick. Interior is pleasant but typically bland German. The seats are amazing in my opinion - comfiest I've personally had. The seat positioning is great - I could get nice and low at 6ft 3. The ride quality is good with a nice compromise between sporty and comfy. I would say it is a great everyday hot hatch, but not one that ever inspired me to just go out for a b road blast.
The Honda feels more special so far, but it is very early days. The engine is obviously more exciting and makes driving it more of an event. I was expecting it to feel slow following Internet commentary, but it doesn't to me. Throttle response is much better, the gear shift is fantastic and the steering feels good enough for me. It handles better than the golf - it corners much flatter and inspires more confidence, and that is with crap tyres compared to good ones on the golf. The pay off of course is the very firm ride, but I'm finding I can live with it so far as a daily. The interior is more interesting but that is personal taste - I like both in different ways. The seating position in the Honda is not as good. Too high for me although I am getting used to it. All in all, better than I was expecting - I think it is a love or hate sort of car. Top gear shows that - Clarkson slated it, the Stig liked it.
Will see how it goes over the coming months, but as long as it proves to be reliable it will probably be a long termer.
I think the mk5 gti is a very good car. Mine was standard so can't comment how it would be with some tweaks. Others on here have summed it well: good at everything, not outstanding at anything. Engine is nice but not special. Handling is decent, but not amazing compared to hot/warm hatches models I have either owned, driven or been in. The gearbox (mine was manual) was nice and slick. Interior is pleasant but typically bland German. The seats are amazing in my opinion - comfiest I've personally had. The seat positioning is great - I could get nice and low at 6ft 3. The ride quality is good with a nice compromise between sporty and comfy. I would say it is a great everyday hot hatch, but not one that ever inspired me to just go out for a b road blast.
The Honda feels more special so far, but it is very early days. The engine is obviously more exciting and makes driving it more of an event. I was expecting it to feel slow following Internet commentary, but it doesn't to me. Throttle response is much better, the gear shift is fantastic and the steering feels good enough for me. It handles better than the golf - it corners much flatter and inspires more confidence, and that is with crap tyres compared to good ones on the golf. The pay off of course is the very firm ride, but I'm finding I can live with it so far as a daily. The interior is more interesting but that is personal taste - I like both in different ways. The seating position in the Honda is not as good. Too high for me although I am getting used to it. All in all, better than I was expecting - I think it is a love or hate sort of car. Top gear shows that - Clarkson slated it, the Stig liked it.
Will see how it goes over the coming months, but as long as it proves to be reliable it will probably be a long termer.
Looks good, at least you have the 308 to fall back on if it goes a little pair shaped 
(had exactly the same model, colour and year but the 2ltr Blue HDI with all the extra's, traded in for a 3008 SUV as i wanted a bit more space)
Anyway, good luck with the Honda, you should have fun with her once she is all sorted
(had exactly the same model, colour and year but the 2ltr Blue HDI with all the extra's, traded in for a 3008 SUV as i wanted a bit more space)Anyway, good luck with the Honda, you should have fun with her once she is all sorted
I had one of these many years ago. I think it was on a 58 plate, I bought it at 2 years old from the local Honda dealer
It was good fun to drive, but I got a Friday afternoon car I think. It was really badly built, rattled all the time, and it was never quite right.
I moved it on at 2years and 6 months old, and took a bit of a hit on it!!
It was good fun to drive, but I got a Friday afternoon car I think. It was really badly built, rattled all the time, and it was never quite right.
I moved it on at 2years and 6 months old, and took a bit of a hit on it!!
Kev_Mk3 said:
I will be watching this as I had a ep3 previously and loved it but sadly had to get a diesel. I now am looking at FN2's as a daily as they have loads of room and IMO still look great.
Had an FN2 for 4 years and its the best car I have had, this has made me look at photos of it again, I shouldn't have sold it
I had a 57 plate in Milano red back about 6 years ago. It also had the rust above the windscreen and was only 4 years old at the time. I loved it though, it wasn't perfect but I put a good 20k miles on it and can't see why they get so much stick. I think probably because the EP3 was so good and people expected the FN2 to be a vastly improved evolution of it.
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