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How to live with fn2

12K views 45 replies 22 participants last post by  CCC 
#1 ·
Hi,

It will be a year now since i switched my 1.8 for a type r. CTR is a grat car even that there are some drawbacks.
My issue now is that that CTR is my only car and im using it on a daily basis which is a pain, mainly due the stupid seats.

The issue is that now in the winter you can bearly move in the car if you have winter clothes also the seat belt is soo far away that you have to do acrobatics each time it slips from the stupid seat which is not even heated.

Worst thing which is killing me is the suspension on a empty new pice of road is awesome but in the city it juse horrible and the idiotic seats are making each bump even worse due to that i started to develop back issues and pains even that im just in my 30s. Due to taht long trips are not enjoyable at all.


I was even looking for another car but i still love my CTR and truth is that most of the 'comfy' cars i have seen they were just junk with huge milage and broken stuff which is complete opposite to my ctr which have just 60k km on the clock and its like brand new.

Any advice how to soften up the ride and seats to make the the ctr a real hot hatch which can be used daily?
 
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#2 ·
I actually find the seats extremely comfortable once you find the right spot. Maybe you just have to find the sweet spot for you?

For the seat belt I kind of agree that it is a pain if it falls back (doesn't annoy me personally) but why not try hook the belt on the edge of the seat? I hook mines on every time and very rarely falls back. In terms of not being able to move wearing winter clothes; why not take a layer off and turn the air con up? ;)

Yes the ride is bumpy and crashy but that's the compromise you have to make for having such levels of grip. To soften you could try installing some coil overs? Finding the right setting for your own needs.

Tbh if your after a mega comfy car with a smooth ride then the CTR was the wrong choice. But as mentioned if you want to sort out the crashiness coil overs will help and potentially even eibachs with a frsu.
 
#11 · (Edited)
For the seat belt I kind of agree that it is a pain if it falls back (doesn't annoy me personally) but why not try hook the belt on the edge of the seat? I hook mines on every time and very rarely falls back.
+1 on that.

In my case everything Aluzcz mention as a down points makes me love the car...
- Uncompromised suspension which is very precise and thanks to linear springs you know exactly what to expect from the car at every moment.
- Bucket seats to hold you down when pushing car around. They also look great and are more comfy than in my old ST170. Fact is - they are slightly narrow so designed with rather slim people in mind.


It gives you that feeling of driving uncompromised sport car, nearly a rally car, but still with daily driving luxuries like auto lights, auto wipers, dual aircon...

You need to ask yourself - do i want a real sports car or something only pretending to be a sport... like old mark IV golf GTI... i wont even start on this :)
 
#3 ·
Most Hot hatches are not designed to be comfy unfortunately. You might be best at looking for eibach springs and a fast road setup as this can help reduce the harshness of the standard ride as well as increasing the cars handling abilitys.

Other than that sell up and get a nice basic car that has soft suspension, that soaks up all the lumps and bumps in the road without you barely noticing :)

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
Another recommendation for Eibach springs (-15mm only) with FRS, these massively improve both the ride and the handling

For the seatbelt try swinging your outside arm back to grab the belt (right arm in uk as we drive on the left side of the road) instead of twisting round.

Seats are a tight fit but very comfortable in my experience!
 
#5 ·
Go down to 17' wheels and use a 45 profile tyre... made a big difference for me.

And if thats not enough fit Miester Coilovers and leave them on soft.. makes the ride pretty good.

as far as seats i never noticed until i did my shoulder in.... :facepalm:
 
#7 ·
I had eibach springs sent and fitted to place i bought car from to replace oem springs so cant comment on oem but eibach are still very harsh and not nice for daily. Dread to think what oem are like.

As for seatbelt issue i agree. Massive annoyance but found solution i found on here but very expensive for what it is.

As for seats apart from sitting too high i find very comfortable and supportive. Actually prefer to dc5 and dc2 recaros ive had.
 
#14 ·
FN2 is the comfiest, detached and least Type R of the lot.
:worms: :D

I don't know... FN2 feels more torquie on low revs opposite to EP3 which was gutless untill you hit vtec. Therefore FN2 for me feels faster. Also despite simplier rear suspenssion with beam i can go faster round the corners than in EP3 which was very unpredictable when pushed hard - neutral, under and immidiatelly oversteered on lift off's or left foot breaking. Sometimes she was behaving like RWD... Combined with gutless engine on low revs it was pretty scary in some situations. FN2 traction wise is predictable FWD car which can be driven with the FWD techinques.
To summarise - Type R is all about fast driving, so being faster around the corners to me doesn't mean it's less Type R.
I never drive other Type R's apart from EP3 and FN2 so can't comment on them.
 
#17 ·
Well, yes i was looking around but so far i didn't found anything what would give me all the toys I'm used to from CTR, some decent consumption, decent comfort, with some decent mileage for a decent price. Usually all the bigger cars Passats, Mondeos and so on are scrap with more then 150k km on the clock. I'm not willing to trade basically new car for a scrap.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Thanks for so many replays and solutions for my problems!

As I said before i had a 5D 1.8 which was a amazing car but it lacked the fun factor so i was in the process of choosing a new more sporty car. During that time i got offer which you can not refuse. CTR with just 40k km on the clock directly from the first owner who was 70yo guy, with full service history and generally in awesome condition there is even still the cover foil on the CTR serial number place above the shifter :D.

My Idea was that CTR is a hot hatch, car which can be driver daily and for fun during the weekends but so far it looks like CTR is more like a sports car, which is good if you are on the track but not exactly good on broken roads or on the pavement which we have in the old city.

To the points you mentioned:

Seats:
-yes the seats are awesome on the track they hold very well, but i spend about 2 days a year on the track and rest is normal driving when i suffer.
Worst thing is that they missing the elementary stuff other even older cars have. They are missing the hanger for a seat belt, they don't have any memory so finding the sweet spot is nearly a useless thing since they will be moved and everything is lost, they don't have heating which is not a must for me but if the base model have it why not put it in the CTR. this only proves that CTR wasn't designed as a hot hatch for daily comfortable usage and weekend rampage but mainly for the rampage.

Eibach spring:
Heard about then when i had my 1,8 and was considering them now to fix the ride quality only issue i have is that they will put the car even lower and then it will be complete nightmare to park anywhere and go above the speed stoppers on the road.

Smaller wheels/bigger tires:
Already have a set of 16" wheels with winter tires and i have to say from my personal point of view the ride is even worse, maybe because of the cheaper winter tires...


Car in general:
I love the looks, i love the sounds, i love on the race track, i love that i can rely on it and every time i press the button it starts I'm not looking for a limousine i just want little bit less more harsh ride.

Btw did you had a change to travel in you CTR on the back seat? Completely different story since the back seat is basically a normal seat from the 5D. I was already thinking that i could swap the seats in the front for a normal ones from the Type S for instance but to be able to sell the car later on i have to keep the bucket ones - then i don't know what i would do with the regular ones.

Btw during my research about the seats i found a guy in japan who is making these ones for the FN2 seats, from exactly the same material the FN2 are made

http://auctions.c.yimg.jp/img245.au...2kap1ap2-img600x424-1357913775rtv84e81645.jpg
 
#18 ·
Aluzcz

Can you post more details of where i can buy that seat belt holder please


As a complete package i do think fn2 is fantastic all round and in the end chose to buy 1 on tech data alone without test drive over a dc5. It is least comfiest of all hot hatches but im used to it having owned several and just cant stay away. Ended up just gettin mrs a beemer to use as daily/kids car with bit of comfort.
 
#24 ·
#19 ·
The ctr will always have a firm ride....progressive springs may help to take the edge off of it....also,from previous experinace,when a car gets to 60k/6-7 years old on all original suspension...then consider a suspension re-fresh...shocks/springs/drop links/bushes/fca`s ect.....this may cost £1k+ but from my experience,if keeping the car longterm is money well spent and will improve ride....some people will baulk at spending that much to sort the enevitable(over time) deteriorating ride out....but then happy and eager to spend the same amount on a flashpro & milltek..lol...happy days
 
#23 ·
My CTR is a daily driver as well. I knew before buying it about the ride and I agree that in city centres on poorly maintained roads its horrible, but once I get into a half decent A road or Motorway it's a dream!

Finding the sweet spot in the seat is a must. Once I found mine I left the seat set as it is (all passengers get in the passenger side). Also I always just hang my coat on the hook in the back and it's much comfier to drive without all the bulk of extra layers on.

Interesting reading about the suspension refresh. My CTR is on 120k now so I think that could improve my ride no end and will have to go on the list for this years improvements I think!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#25 ·
Agree, unfortunetly im letting other people drive it if i drink... Then im doomed.
 
#26 ·
Ok update, since i changed the wheels to winter 16" with new 205 rubber, car is a completely different beast. After i took the 18" down and inspected the tires i realized that they are basically done, tread is nearly gone, also the tire is quite old + the winter basically froze the hard rubber compound, all this factors made the tires uncomfortable like hell even thou that last year during much warmer times the 18" were much more comfortable then the 16" but that was then, now is now.

Since the ride improved quite a lot, now em i willing to live with the car and invest in some more tweaks, i will be definitely buying a new summer rubber since the current tires are gone from outside and even from inside - they have air leaks.
Any suggestion for a all-round good summer tires which will provide nice grip but wont be too noisy and they will be at last little bit comfortable?

Second, since the Eibach springs are not that expensive and i will be doing some service before the summer anyways i will put them in. Any suggestion for which ones to go? I realized there might be more versions with different lowering.
 
#27 ·
I love the seats! .....The seat belt thing does my head in! ?

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#29 ·
Troll? Had them on before on 1.8 originally fitted by honda, worst tires hever
 
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#31 ·
Maybe different model, i had the 17" premacy ones as well other guys in my 8g cz club and everybody said the same, not good tires at all, quite hard, noisy, not too much grip.

So far i think i will go for Toyo Proxes T1-R.
 
#32 ·
I owned a CTR from new for 7.5 years and can say that the ride quality is very poor, Honda should of added damping suspension, and Sport or comfort mode. I did get fed up with the harsh ride at times. My CTR was written off last year and I now have a Mercedes C180, this car just glides and is so comfortable. Saying that I still miss my CTR, damm poor women drivers!

For long journeys leave the CTR at home, you will arrive exhausted at your destination.
 
#34 ·
Thats true! Pity that on harsh roads it applyes too...
 
#35 ·
Should i stay or should i go?...

Checked the car status recently and apart of the tyres i will need new clutch, brakes and some basic service. That will cost me approx 1000 euro.

Not sure if i want to invest that kind of money to this car.
 
#37 ·
This thread has gone on too long, the op isn't happy and should just sell up and buy a comfy car. I get frustrated as hell with crap roads and believe me there are plenty in the UK, but it's not the car's fault. You buy a car geared towards performance you should expect a firm set up, expect anything else then you need to think again.
 
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