FD2 review

[triode12]

This is just a brief review of the FD2 for those interested. Please keep in mind that this review is not being written by a professional driver. I can only really compare it with the previous model 2005 Corolla (dad's car) and a 1995 Ford Laser that I drive daily.

We purchased our Automatic FD2 back in April and had only done 2800Ks as of Thursday last week.So we took her for a run up to the Snowy Mtns to stretch her legs.

I had initially complained about what I had perceived was rather dismal fuel economy. I was mistaken as it was about 9 litres per 100kms after I made some calculations (100% city driving), which is a lot better than what other owners were reporting here.

Well, I finally managed to get 6.8-7L/100km out of her on the trip up to Thredbo. I used cruise control and kept to the speed limit. We even had the air conditioning turned on and a GPS connected via the cigarette lighter port.This was achieved 95% highway driving of course.

The car is very stable at high speed and had enough power in reserve when overtaking (2 ppl in the car with light luggage). There is very slight understeer when taking tightish alpine road corners at speed (100km/hr) but this is to be expected for a front wheel drive car. There was hardly any body roll (if there was I didn't notice it). It drives like a much larger car, and it doesn't feel like you are going very fast even if you are.

We had a few scary moments when we first got the car in April because of the very responsive electronic power steering but we have since adjusted to the feel of the steering. There is no give like on cars with hydraulic power steering systems. On the FD2, even a small turn of the steering wheel will turn the car by a wide margin. Where you point it, it goes immediately.

The engine purrs nicely and we can hardly hear it running. So much so, I have turned the ignition key while the car was idling once. There is only a noticeble (VTEC?) whine at high speeds (>100km/h) or when it is going up a grade at speed.

One major gripe I have with the car is the automatic transmission, it isn't very responsive. It takes what seems like a second or two to kick in when I stomp on the gas (it is like it has to think before responding). This isn't good if you are trying to over take where every second counts. Once it cuts in, the car jumps and surges forward, the acceleration is very good when it gets going - thankfully.

Noise was an issue on rough roads and the concrete Federal highway (which I think is due to the 17 inch Michelin low profile tyres on ours). I would imagine the noise would been much worse if we hadn't installed sound deadener under her. There wasn't much vibration or harshness however, the shocks providing a rather firm but comfy ride.

The car is a dream to drive and I didn't feel fatigued even after the 7 hour drive (when normally I would not have been totally tuckered out driving the Ford Laser). I was still able to complete a 10-15 km trek up Mt Kosciusko the next morning (in light hail and thunderstorm conditions).

It was rather hot last Thursday (35 degrees) and the air conditioning had a bit trouble keeping up (The fact that our car is Black may have something to do with it).

The car doors are nicely weighted and close with a very nice 'whump', not like many other Japanese cars I have tried.

There are no creaks to be heard from the dash but all Jap cars have that well sorted out by now.

The leather seats are a bit cheap looking compared to leather upholstry on higher end cars but are comfortable enough. They didn't get hot on the bum like textile ones do after a long drive (which surprised me). But they are a bit slippery and if you have a small tush like mine, you end up sliding slightly side to side on turns.

Paint is a "fragile" looking and scratches show up easily. We should have gotten one in silver instead of black.

I am generally very happy with our FD2. I have test driven the new Accord, and there didn't seem to be a vast difference in performance and feel to me (mind you it was only a 20min test drive so YMMV).

Would I buy another one? If I had the money, most definately. But not the fugly facelifted one.

[SPEEDCORE]

Thanks for review.

[Sherweeeny]

yeah good review, but mate you really need a european car for a week, then your review would be vastly different id say!

especially when you say the car is very stable at high speed, i find that my sport starts getting very floaty at around 120km/h, whereas you could easily do 250km/h in a european car and be way more stable.

but good to know you enjoy your purchase!

[UNLS1]

lol if u got a brand new european car u would never get one again after knowing what u payed, service costs and then the re sale value after lol

[Tofu]

nice review.
i don't understand why people use service cost as a -ve thing against european cars.
european cars don't need to be serviced as often as japanese cars, so at the end of the day, both cost about the same.
I have a TypeS, Mini CopperS and BMW 120i.

[triode12]

yeah good review, but mate you really need a european car for a week, then your review would be vastly different id say!

especially when you say the car is very stable at high speed, i find that my sport starts getting very floaty at around 120km/h, whereas you could easily do 250km/h in a european car and be way more stable.

but good to know you enjoy your purchase!

I drove a BMW320i briefly back in 1992 (belonged to my boss). Found it heavy and underpowered. Hated the fact that the indicator controls were on the left hand side of the steering column - kept turning on the wipers whenever I wanted to indicate a turn. The clutch and accelerator pedals were so heavy that it was a bugbear to change gear.

That experience probably scarred my opinion of european cars, that plus the many stories I hear from friends about the reliability problems with their european cars. e.g. VW.

Before ending up with the FD2, we had VW Golf GTi, GT and Polo GTi on the list for consideration. The stories of reliability issues and the high cost of servicing steered us towards the Japanese makes.

[bodaas]

my review, for fd2, i kinda dissapointed a bit, not enough performance and looks that really stand out to the public

overall, i give for fuel economy and reliable

[Sherweeeny]

I drove a BMW320i briefly back in 1992 (belonged to my boss). Found it heavy and underpowered. Hated the fact that the indicator controls were on the left hand side of the steering column - kept turning on the wipers whenever I wanted to indicate a turn. The clutch and accelerator pedals were so heavy that it was a bugbear to change gear.

That experience probably scarred my opinion of european cars, that plus the many stories I hear from friends about the reliability problems with their european cars. e.g. VW.

Before ending up with the FD2, we had VW Golf GTi, GT and Polo GTi on the list for consideration. The stories of reliability issues and the high cost of servicing steered us towards the Japanese makes.

my first car was a 94 320i! absolutely loved it to bits! really solid, sure it was heavy, and performance suffered, but once these things are wound up, they are a lot better than japanese cars. they just plow through at high speed, where i see my civic start to struggle and watch as the steering turns to mush.

the indiactor issue, you get used to

and you definately made a good decision not getting the Polo... ive heard so many horror VW stories.. seems like they havent got their act together and servicing costs a shitload.

to be honest, with the bmw, even though services cost about 1g more than the civics, when you get behind the wheel on a tightass road, all of a sudden its worth it!

and you cant compare a 320i you drove over 10 years ago to euros of today!

but even still, the civics a great choice practicality-wise!

[denot]

^^^ especially for some ppl that couldnt afford to buy BMW (wait, thats me )