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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!!

mocchi
23-11-2009, 05:12 PM
Russell,

your post is hard to read. put some white spaces so it's easier to read.
i wish i could drive a type r. jealousy.

welcome to ozhonda by the way!! :D

iLlusion10
24-11-2009, 12:02 PM
a long read but pretty interesting

joyride
24-11-2009, 03:37 PM
welcome

tseesinngwailo
24-11-2009, 03:40 PM
Welcome! good to see you have had a long and interesting history, you should post some pictures of your glory days, I miss Amaroo :)

Russell Norden
24-11-2009, 04:50 PM
Ah, you are obviously a true enthusiast! I really miss Amaroo too.

Unlike Oran (power circuit) Park, which we are also losing in January 2010 :( ,Amaroo was a real drivers track. I can tell you, going absolutely flat over the Hill in a FF on the crappy old Bridgestone radials we raced on back in the 70's was a real experience! I was very lucky to do a Level 3 Ian Luff day a couple of months before it closed. As we walked the track at the beginning of the day (a great way for newcomers to get a feel for the circuit) it was just brilliant with so many memories (and mostly good!!) washing over me at just about every corner.

I'm old enough to have been an official at Warwick Farm (would you believe it closed the year I started racing?!?!) and done lap dashes at Catalina Park at Katoomba. So Sydney has gone from a 4 motor racing circuit city to just one! A real shame. Now there is nothing wrong with Eastern Creek (flat through Turn 1 certainly sorts the men from the boys!) but it just doesn't have the character of the old circuits! Or is that just me showing my age?

And no, I'm afraid I don't think the V8 Supercars Homebush Bay exercise in December counts as a real track. Call me cynical!

And of course those Mexicans down South are really scoring one over us on this too! Not only do they have Calder Park, Sandown Park and Albert Park (what is it about Victorians and 'Parks'?), but also a round of the F1 World Champoinship! A big collective groan for Sydney!

Now there is, of course, Wakefield Park down at Goulburn, but I don't really think you can count that as a Sydney track. As much as I really wanted to like WP, and was certainly right behind Paul Samuels when he was building it, I unfortunately don't like it! Groan! I think it is just too small and too tight for a normal sized car with decent power. I just cannot imagine how the Fujitsu V8 guys managed when they did a round there.

lithium
24-11-2009, 05:14 PM
welcome, interesting post and extensive background you have there :)

on a mundane level, comparing the Civic to the Golf, you will probably also encounter less of those niggling problems that seem to blight a lot of VW cars. Honda's reliability is pretty good :)

Russell Norden
24-11-2009, 09:17 PM
Thank you. And yes, Honda reliability is definately a big plus.

Actually I was pretty lucky with the GTI. It did have one recall but I can't remember what it was for, so obviously minor.

It did use a lot of oil though. I only ran up 32,000k in the 2 1/2 years I owned it, so it had time interval services, not kilometer ones. But it used the oil up, so about midway between services, the oil light came on (yes I know I should have been checking it!) and the dealer would always top it up for nothing. Which I thought spoke volumes, as the good oil isn't cheap.

SiReal
24-11-2009, 10:30 PM
Very refreshing to read your experience. Glad you enjoy the new Type R. I have a 99 Type R and I still enjoy it everytime I drive it.

Chriskoss
25-11-2009, 01:07 AM
Welcome mate, i think its an understatement to say your an experienced driver. Good to see more on here to be honest

You wouldnt happen to be a fan of 70s muscle then by any chance? I take it you are

I have a 79 UC torana hatch, original condition unmolestered unmodified been in the family since new, and I just love taking her for a weekend drive, although its old, you cant beat the simplicity of an old muscle car.. its just raw driving! you feel everything, its you and the car and the road!

Any chance you have/had a car of the same era?

Russell Norden
25-11-2009, 07:31 AM
Thanks for that.

I've enjoyed reading about Type R's for years, but was never in a position to buy one.

With the '08 Type R, everything has changed, and I'm loving it.

And that's great to hear you still enjoy the experience of your '99 Type R every time you drive it.

whiteballade
25-11-2009, 07:40 AM
hahah mate! i did the same drive up with my mum! and came from doing 110 in melbourne to 80 when we crossed the border! its really dangerous! with all the trucks and stuff

Russell Norden
25-11-2009, 07:43 AM
Well I'm certainly the right age to enjoy 70's muscle cars!! And yes I do, very much.

I had a Brock Commodore in the early 80's which was great, Unbelievable grunt and a heap of fun. Talking of Toranas (and have you seen that the The Throttle Body Shop in North Sydney is asking $500,000 - yes, that's no mistake, half a million dollars -for A9X Toranas with a Bathurst history?!?!) my mate Ian Luff had an XU1 back in the 70's which he absolutely adored. And he got up to a lot, and I do mean a lot, of mischief in it!

You're spot on about the raw driving experience too. Yes modern cars are great and we appreciate all the technological advances, but nothing beats an old car when it's just you and the car, and there's no computer or wizz bang electrical gizmos to help.

I was stunned when BMW released their first Seven Series all those years ago, and they announced it had more computer power than any of the Apollo moon landing rockets!!!

Russell Norden
25-11-2009, 08:20 PM
Hey Chriskoss,

Talking of 70's muscle cars, I forgot to mention that back in September I went to the States and drove Route 66 (the wrong way) from LA to Chicago in a convertable Mustang. It was a great experience!

Now I would have dearly liked it to be in a '67 Mustang, but there were 8 of us and we needed 4 Mustangs. And we drove 4,300 odd kilometers over 3 weeks, so would have possibly needed a running mechanic and a truck load of spares. But it would have been seriously cool.

So, we went to Hertz to rent late model Mustangs (did you know that back in the 60's Hertz actually rented out Shelby Mustangs, though I can't remember if they were GT350's or GT500's) and I naturally asked for a V8 5 speed manual, but regretably got a V6 auto. Which was a bit of a bummer!

In the States, the chain resturants usually have attractive late teen girls as 'greeters' at the door, which can be quite entertaining. In Joplin (in the mid West) one night for dinner, there was a girl who was facinated by us being Aussies and driving Route 66, and particularly that we were driving Mustangs. She had an old Mustang (which I thought was very impressive for a teenage girl), her mother had a hot late model one and her step-father was restoring a 67 GT350 Mustang! Her real father also drove a Mustang, and her mother and step-father met at a Ford/Mustang event! And she was saving for a V8 5 speed manual Mustang too! And guess what her name was - Shelby! As in Carrol Shelby! I have to say I was impressed!

RiceMeister
01-12-2009, 08:37 AM
very interesting read Russell! it's good to hear that theres still people around with a long relationship and history with cars and that the passion hasn't gone at all!

enjoy your type-r mate, definitely an impressive car for sub $50K.

ewendc2r
04-12-2009, 08:32 PM
Russell -- I'd love to hear more about your formula ford days and the differences in car vs today's pedigree.. I want to get into formula ford racing, however likely to start off in the Formula Vee ($$ ... always more $$)..

Anyhow -- Seems you have a very interesting past and hope one day I can tell similar stories of adventure and experience.

Enjoy the R -- I have to do it.. I just have to. Its still not a DC2-R :)

Welcome mate!