Russell Norden
23-11-2009, 05:03 PM
Hi Guys,
I have just bought a silver 2008 Civic Type R. It was in Brisbane and my 16 year old son and I drove it home. Even though I tried to maintain a 130kph average for my 2 hour stints, his Learners Permit 85kph (we fudged 5 kph) speed limit meant we took forever to get back home to Sydney.
But it was worth it, because we love it! One of the reasons we bought the Type R is because it is one of the (very) few interesting hot hatches on the Australian market NOT on the NSW RTA's Prohibited P Plate vehicle list. I have actually owned a Golf GTI for the past 2 1/2 years, which is of course ON the prohibited list because it's a turbo. The fact that the Type R has one more kilo of power and weighs less than the GTI seems to (thankfully) have escaped the notice of the RTA boffins! And please don't tell them!!!
Don't get me wrong, the Golf was great, but the Type R is just on another level altogether. I can now see why Top Gear's Stig prefers the Type R! It is such an engaging car, from the brilliant (go kartish) handling to the sublime steering and brilliant VTEC engine. The GTI made you lazy, because it didn't really matter where you were in the rev range or in what gear, because the turbo was spooled up and instant power was always just a squeeze of the accelerator away. Whereas in the Type R you have to be concentrating all the time and have the revs just right. A real drivers car!
It reminds me why I've always been a fan of older Porsche 911s. To drive one of those fast, you had to really know what you were doing. If you did it well, you proved to yourself you were a good (or if you've got a healthy ego - a great) driver! I believe there are essences of all this in the Civic!!!
My one critisism of the Civic is the drivers seat is too high. I've talked to a heap of various people, but alas, they all say it can't be lowered. Which is a real bummer!
What did the GTI do better? Not much. It certainly rode over and absorbed bumps better than the Type R , and the pedals were better suited to heel and toe downshifts, plus a better height seat. But that's all.
My wife is horrofied that I'm really getting into the whole Mugen thing, and buying a few Mugen bits from Japan and the States. But just cosmetic stuff. Mugen badges for the grill and boot, their trick oil cap and radiator cap, and the sleeve for the brake and clutch resevoirs in the engine compartment. To go with the Mugen key ring, I'm also buying the plastic half of the key with the red Type R Honda emblem on it from a Honda dealer in the UK. I'm also thinking about the Mugen Ignition Coil Cover and Micromesh Brake Lines.
When the original Bridgestones wear out, I'm going to have the wheels cleaned up and painted in Gunmetal Grey. Silver wheels on a silver car is just a bit too much silver for me. And I'll put some stickier tyres on it too. Though I don't know what sort yet.
A little bit about me - I'm a middle aged Baby Boomer in total denial of growing old, who has sold up his business and retired early. One of my life slogans is "Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional". I've always been into cars, racing them pretty successfully during the '70's and early '80's. I won the 1979 Australian Formula Ford Championship and then raced Formula 2 and Formula Pacific before having to retire hurt in 1982. I've owned a few M3s (I'm on my third at the moment) and built up a recreation of a Porsche 911 3.0 RS in the late 80's. It was just under 1000k with 300 hp (sorry guys, at my age it's still horsepower) and it was brilliant. Unfortunately it went into a business, and yes, I still miss it!
I did the Peter Wherret Advanced Driving School way back in 1973, and was asked to be an instructor soon after. I instructed for Peter Wherret, and then Peter Finlay (when PW sold him the business) Ian Luff and Jim Murcott. Unfortunately business got in the way of instructing, but I'm delighted to be getting back into it now I'm retired.
One last point before I sign off. New, the Type R is less than one third of the price of a new BMW M3, yet I believe it is more than half the M3! It obviously doesn't have the power, but on all other levels it is comparable!!
I have just bought a silver 2008 Civic Type R. It was in Brisbane and my 16 year old son and I drove it home. Even though I tried to maintain a 130kph average for my 2 hour stints, his Learners Permit 85kph (we fudged 5 kph) speed limit meant we took forever to get back home to Sydney.
But it was worth it, because we love it! One of the reasons we bought the Type R is because it is one of the (very) few interesting hot hatches on the Australian market NOT on the NSW RTA's Prohibited P Plate vehicle list. I have actually owned a Golf GTI for the past 2 1/2 years, which is of course ON the prohibited list because it's a turbo. The fact that the Type R has one more kilo of power and weighs less than the GTI seems to (thankfully) have escaped the notice of the RTA boffins! And please don't tell them!!!
Don't get me wrong, the Golf was great, but the Type R is just on another level altogether. I can now see why Top Gear's Stig prefers the Type R! It is such an engaging car, from the brilliant (go kartish) handling to the sublime steering and brilliant VTEC engine. The GTI made you lazy, because it didn't really matter where you were in the rev range or in what gear, because the turbo was spooled up and instant power was always just a squeeze of the accelerator away. Whereas in the Type R you have to be concentrating all the time and have the revs just right. A real drivers car!
It reminds me why I've always been a fan of older Porsche 911s. To drive one of those fast, you had to really know what you were doing. If you did it well, you proved to yourself you were a good (or if you've got a healthy ego - a great) driver! I believe there are essences of all this in the Civic!!!
My one critisism of the Civic is the drivers seat is too high. I've talked to a heap of various people, but alas, they all say it can't be lowered. Which is a real bummer!
What did the GTI do better? Not much. It certainly rode over and absorbed bumps better than the Type R , and the pedals were better suited to heel and toe downshifts, plus a better height seat. But that's all.
My wife is horrofied that I'm really getting into the whole Mugen thing, and buying a few Mugen bits from Japan and the States. But just cosmetic stuff. Mugen badges for the grill and boot, their trick oil cap and radiator cap, and the sleeve for the brake and clutch resevoirs in the engine compartment. To go with the Mugen key ring, I'm also buying the plastic half of the key with the red Type R Honda emblem on it from a Honda dealer in the UK. I'm also thinking about the Mugen Ignition Coil Cover and Micromesh Brake Lines.
When the original Bridgestones wear out, I'm going to have the wheels cleaned up and painted in Gunmetal Grey. Silver wheels on a silver car is just a bit too much silver for me. And I'll put some stickier tyres on it too. Though I don't know what sort yet.
A little bit about me - I'm a middle aged Baby Boomer in total denial of growing old, who has sold up his business and retired early. One of my life slogans is "Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional". I've always been into cars, racing them pretty successfully during the '70's and early '80's. I won the 1979 Australian Formula Ford Championship and then raced Formula 2 and Formula Pacific before having to retire hurt in 1982. I've owned a few M3s (I'm on my third at the moment) and built up a recreation of a Porsche 911 3.0 RS in the late 80's. It was just under 1000k with 300 hp (sorry guys, at my age it's still horsepower) and it was brilliant. Unfortunately it went into a business, and yes, I still miss it!
I did the Peter Wherret Advanced Driving School way back in 1973, and was asked to be an instructor soon after. I instructed for Peter Wherret, and then Peter Finlay (when PW sold him the business) Ian Luff and Jim Murcott. Unfortunately business got in the way of instructing, but I'm delighted to be getting back into it now I'm retired.
One last point before I sign off. New, the Type R is less than one third of the price of a new BMW M3, yet I believe it is more than half the M3! It obviously doesn't have the power, but on all other levels it is comparable!!