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Considering an FN2

4K views 41 replies 13 participants last post by  Chris H72 
#1 ·
I've had a 2009 facelift civic 1.8 EX for a couple of years now which I bought when we were expecting a baby to replace my Celica T sport (which I loved). Well my son is now 15 months old and can use a normal group 1 forward facing child seat so it's time to upgrade to something a bit more sporty. We actually use the wife's MPV for most family duties anyway.

Budget is not huge, probably not much more than £7k so I'll be looking at clean well looked after cars around 2008 and my preferred colour is Milano red. Not too keen on black and the last 5 cars I've owned have been silver/grey.

I'm guessing that most of the issues to look out for are common to the civic so not much to worry about that I haven't already come across with my current car?

Also, for reliable servicing, has anyone had dealings with this place..AREA Motorsport - Your Trusted Motorsport Specialist
It's 5 mins down the road from where I work so could be useful.

Hopefully I'll be joining your community soon!

Cheers
 
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#2 ·
£7k should get you a nice lower milage 07-08 or a mid mileage 09, MY10-11 are overpriced imo seeing as you can fit a better LSD for £1k. When I was looking MY10-11 were £10k plus.

Area motorsport know their way around Hondas and I'd put them up there with TDi, Grinspeed and TGM based on the reviews.

Saw their track EP3 at Donny last year and sounded epic
 
#4 ·
All nhb round me, about 4 blacks, 1 bronze, one silver and my pink one :laugh2:
 
#5 ·
Yeah I've noticed the price jumps considerably for a 10 plate which I guess is because of the LSD. I don't need it anyway, in my mid 40's now and I don't often drive to the limits anymore. A bit of fun now and then is what I'm after really. If my 1.8 was a bit quicker and looked a bit sportier I'd keep it!
 
#6 ·
Hi Chris [smilie=upyeah.gif]

You saw what I had to say about my FN2 when I had it over on CCUK. I loved my FN2 but the ride was hard, more so than the Celi by quite a bit.

Just selling my Celi GT now and going to a 1.8 Civic so might be interested in yours depending on stuff :)
 
#7 ·
Haha good to hear from you Cravo!

Yes the ride is a bit of a worry, I'd say the ride in my 1.8 is quite stiff and a bit crashy so not too sure what I'll make of the type r!

But at the end of the day you can't have a sporty drive without the ride being pretty stiff so it's just one of those things. And 90% of the time it'll only be me in the car so I don't have to worry about complaints from passengers. I need to go and drive a type r as there are other cars on the list of potentials as is always the case with these things.
 
#13 ·
Hi Chris

I have owned a 2001 Celica 190 and then a 2008 Civic Type S and now a 2010 Civic Type R. For me the celica ride wasn't too hard and wasn't too soft it was kind of just right for me but could have done with being a bit harder to help go around corners better so I ended up getting it lowered on TTE springs from the dealer. This became an absolute nightmare as it was way too hard for the every day pot holes and speed bumps where I lived. I then moved on to Civic type S which going from the lowered celica felt so comfortable going over potholes and speed bumps, but after driving a few other cars you do notice it is still pretty firm, think it was firmer than the Celica when left standard, I'm guessing the type S will be firmer than the civic EX too. The type r felt only slightly firmer than the type S but the drive itself once you have learned how to drive it is amazing so makes up for it. :laugh2:

When I first drove the type -r I was expecting to get the same kind of kick as the celica when you hit "lift" but you hardly feel it, so I was a bit underwhelmed at first, but what you do notice is the nice engine note when you hit VTEC and you get a nice smooth constant pull up until the red line. It was a lot easier to get to the high rev range than the celica, due to its high ratio gear box, driving in 3rd on the type-R was like driving in 2nd on the type -S. It also doesn't sound like you are thrashing it when you are going up to 8k where as the celica did.

If you loved the Celica which I did too, I think you would love the type -R even more, as it is alot easier to stay in the VTEC zone than it was to stay in the celica's lift zone and the gear stick is so much better. If only the type-r had a leather seats option it would make the interior look much classier. The heavy clutch pedal press is also really short and the biting point is on the floor so you can change gears very fast indeed, but was tiresome at the beginning when stuck in traffic but now I'm use to it.

Definitely worth considering if you already have a second car as a family one, try and get a facelift one if you can as I think the rust issues and gear stick problems are fixed and you will benefit from xenons, usb, aux and extra cig socket in the centre console as well as tyre pressure indicator. Good luck! :smile3:
 
#8 ·
If you find it crashy in the 5 door mate you might not like the ride, its probably 30% stiffer in the R. As awesome as it is in the twisties it got quite tiresome over the bad roads round where I live.

I do still look at the occasionally and have to remind myself why I sold up in the first place haha.
 
#11 ·
they wont have been great, think of the amount of movement the piston in the damper does just going along the road, now think of 85k miles of that using the same oil, there will be a noticeable difference, I'm in the same mileage bracket (84k) and although the don't feel "shagged", i know there will be an improvement if i added new dampers.

I just want to find out what options i have for a given £££ amount of budget, from OEM style replacements up to a full coilover kit, I was looking at dampers prices when i bought the car and for some reason thought they were around the 70 quid mark but after looking last night they all seem to start around the £130 per corner for the fronts, think the rears are about the 70-80 mark each....those will probably get done after i replace the ditchfinder chinese tyres on it....and after a brake system service/overhaul
 
#14 ·
Hi guys,

Sorry to hijack the thread but might also be good for Chris.

What kind of cost would I be looking at to fix the bubbly roof line across the windscreen?
Using 3rd party garage, not honda. I've been looking for a decent 57-08 plate up to 6k for 2 months now and every one of the ones I've seen had the same issue.
My previous R didn't have it so no idea how costly this is.
 
#15 ·
Ive only just bought mine and people are right. The ride is harsh.

So far ive changed arb and drop links. At the front. Im on 86k and im wondering if a damper refresh would help. I actually put the car up forsale as im really not keen on the ride.

Its the only thing thats putting me off but i dont want to spend on shocks and realise thats just how they are.

Fwiw its a 2008 milano red gt in very good condition, in both your budgets lol.

What shocks would people use then esp if your keeping oe springs
 
#16 ·
Ive only just bought mine and people are right. The ride is harsh.



So far ive changed arb and drop links. At the front. Im on 86k and im wondering if a damper refresh would help. I actually put the car up forsale as im really not keen on the ride.



Its the only thing thats putting me off but i dont want to spend on shocks and realise thats just how they are.



Fwiw its a 2008 milano red gt in very good condition, in both your budgets lol.



What shocks would people use then esp if your keeping oe springs


Yes, I'm pretty sure I've seen the advert on ebay, but I'm not keen on cars owned by someone for a month.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#19 ·
The shocks may be past their best but risky as you will likely find the ride is still poor.

Eibach springs are very popular, improve the ride and handling a bit too.

Other improvements depend on whether you are keeping the car.

17inch wheels and larger profile tyres improve the ride further.

Also tuning really sorts the K20 out. But this is also not cheap, and if you are used to bigger power turbo cars then this may never make you enjoy the car.

Maybe try meeting some owners with suspension and engine mods to see if the mods help enough?
 
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#20 ·
I'd read about rust issues being sorted on facelift cars. When exactly was the facelift for the type r as it gets a bit confusing. My EX is an 09 plate and is a facelift model. The easiest way to tell is the newer style wheels. But the R's look the same to me except for the 10 plates which have headlamp washers and obviously the LSD. So would an 09 type r be a facelift or not?
 
#21 ·
Id never tune the engine. The money to power just isnt worth it imo

I have had lowered/coils/air ride on cars. Even poly bushed haha. So i know what there like. Maybe im getting old ...

Tbf to the honda its nippy round town and with the miltek its very race car. I cant knock the looks or the interior. I went into ownership with my eyes open well aware of what the car was. Its not fair to compare it to my past cars.

There are a few local to me. Tbh i think the shock wod benefit a refresh Purley for their age/miles.
 
#22 ·
You'd be surprised what a simple exhaust manifold and tune can do.

Completely changes how the car behaves.
 
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#25 ·
No mods for me, I think they cost too much and can make the car difficult to sell on later. That's a problem if you like to change car quite often. Modding was a big thing with the celiacs but it never interested me.

I could stretch the budget but then it is putting it in competition with some very capable cars (with turbos). Speed doesn't matter all that much, a type r is more than fast enough for me and since I've never had a turbo' car I wouldn't miss it. Next time round I guess it will be turbo power because that's the way it's all going but for now the type r is one of the last N/A performance cars you will ever be able to buy in this kind of market. It'll have some flaws but then what doesn't?
 
#27 ·
I don't know if the FN2 has a front airbag that you can disable? Might be an issue if you get into an accident with a toddler. 15 months is still young and I would hate to see your son injured by something so trivial. Maybe get a cheaper, second car, but with a more powerful engine? EP3? Cupra?
 
#42 ·
Sorry, missed this one. Interesting that you can't disable the airbag, I'd be really surprised if that's the case. You could always pull the fuse?

In any case it's just me in the car 99% of the time. My civic started out as our sensible family car but then we got a small MPV for my wife and now we just use that because it's much easier getting little man in and out. I was getting fed up of banging my head with the civic rear door shape, it's not as practical as it first seemed. Nice that the doors open 90 degrees though. But I just don't need it anymore. As long as I can transport him now and then, and he'll always ride in the back.
 
#28 ·
I have had a few turbo'd cars but I find em a bit "point and go". The R has to be driven just right to get the best out if it, I've always liked that. Can you think of any other marque that comes close to Honda when we talk about n/a engines? It's all too easy to stick a turbo on a car and get big numbers these days. Numbs it all tbh.
 
#31 ·
Exactly why I got bored with it on my commute, can never use the power without breaking the speed limit or sounding like a chav lol

On a DIY budget you could squeeze an ex manifold in for £800 but agree it's still not cheap and turboing an FN2 is circa £8-9k by the time you factor in clutch, proper brakes, LSD etc, way overpriced.

It's a cracking car now but I hated it too stock, coming from a stage 1 2.2 derv to the FN2 was a big shock and I was a little underwhelmed, my biggest regret is not keeping the derv as my daily.
 
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