Worth changing *from* FN2 to EP3R?
Hi folks
So here's the story... I have a FN2 - they are not that terrible IMO - I really like the styling, the practicality, the gearbox & the steering. However it certainly is slow, and at the limit of course it has bad plough understeer (though this hasn't been too much of a problem). (The high seating position is a bit annoying too...)
Anyhow I have taken the FN2 to one hillclimb, and it was just OK. It kind of felt like just driving the car around normally, and wasn't that exciting.
I thought the FN2 would be unsuited to track use for the above reasons (I never originally had intentions to go to track days or do hillclimbs etc :/ ) so I picked up an old tweaked wrx... It has straight cut gears and I put on some stupid-stiff second hand coilovers and it's a lot of fun -- it was a lot more exciting than the FN2 on the same hillclimb. Although driving the rex around town can get a bit annoying if you are feeling queasy for any reason, not to mention the constant gear whine in 4th gear. Obviously the feel of the gearbox and steering are miles off Honda standards though :/.
I'm not sure the wrx sounds "nice" at WOT. IMO it just sounds too aggressive and harsh when you put your foot down (like a bogan in a commodore.......), whereas I like to think of myself as a mild-mannered person who likes cars for their technical merits and I love the way you can put your foot down and use VTEC or even the mid-range of a Honda in town, without breaking the speed limit or drawing attention (at least with the stock exhaust). :) [I do like the boxer rumble sound in the low to mid-range though.]
On the track with a wrx you think "do I really need to be going so fast in an old road car" and "is it gonna break" :/, whereas in a honda I suppose you can merrily thrash it to the redline in the vtec zone all day and have a blast :D . It seems like there's more incentive, or it's more fun, to drive a Honda hard and push it.
Anyhow I can't help but think it would have been best to get an EP3R in the first place, as it would be better suited for trackuse and just as practical as the FN2... :/
BUT now that I have the FN2 (and it's been flawless) would it be madness to change it to an 8-years older jdm EP3 (and maybe sell the wrx too, the wrx has also been flawlessly reliable, impressive for an 16 year old car)? Everyone says the EP3 is much a better car, and I think it would be a good car for occasional trackdays & other club events even in "comfy & quiet old-man spec" completely stock form, hehe. :o
OR should I sell the WRX and put the money towards mods of the FN2? Say a supercharger or maybe just I/H/E? This wouldn't fix the FN2's understeer though, but it would keep the fun styling of the FN2 whilst making it fast (or less slow at least) - I'm very wary of getting carried away with mods having seen this former road car http://www.carsales.com.au/private/d.../?Cr=0&sdmvc=1 , and how they can turn into a bottomless money pit though. Anyhow, the spruced up FN2 would then perform better, and it would have all the mod cons and styling that will remain contemporary over the next 10 years or so that I would keep it.. :)
[One annoyance with the wrx (since it's a standard wrx) is that it can't (or you're not supposed to) do handbrake turns in Gymkhanas as it has a viscous centre-differential which you will promptly destroy if you try. :/ However the wrx does have a friendly and well organised car club, and it is very easy to get second-hand parts, which is nice. :) ]
Cheers, thanks for your thoughts...
