New CU2 Accord Euro - My car, my review!

[tron07]

Good improvements..... better torque thru the range....

[LXRY]

Type R Positive.....CONGRATS on your purchase, nice review on your first impressions, would be great of you to give another review at the 5,000 and 10,000klm mark...

Hey, Type R Positive, any rattles or noises from the car yet?
In a day or 2 your will be ready for the 1000km check up!!!

I heard a rattle near the instrument cluster area and not too mention the front passenger seat belt still hitting the side, shame...

I got looks once. December 27, 1984 when I drove a brand spanking new silver Ferrari 308GTSi QV into town at night. After that, never again.

LOL, I would of looked aswell......

Taking another look at your photos I reckon the trip computer looks bigger and better on the CL9.

Very true.......smaller than CL9

lol
Its a totally new base i'd assume, they didnt just move the engine bay back

Totally new, don't think so, just slightly modified i.e wider track (this helps bad tramlining previous models suffered)

Motor looks like it might be slightly further back than CL9, not 100% sure though

Great review!

I happened to test the manual new euro this morning. What a cracking drive! Very impressed. I especially loved the gearbox - the shifter is in a nicer position and it is such a sweet sweet gear change.

The engine also feels completely different. It revs so much more freely it has to be seen to be believed how different it is - it just spins and spins through the rev range FAST. I wonder whether they have lightened the flywheel in addition to the shorter gear ratios.

Power is actually pretty good (a compliment considering my last car was a 6litre v8) - the car moves along very nicely indeed. I can see how some people would say the new model is faster because it revs so much more freely and the accelerator is more responsive to input. HOWEVER - looking at the speedo carefully I am not convinced it accelerates faster. Very similar to the old model actually - maybe slower. The short gear ratios confused my sense of pace. It is probably like the new Civic type R - people test drive one and think it is a rocket because it revs so easily - but put it against the clock and it is 0-100 in 7.5 seconds.

The car is quieter and more compliant over bumps and pot holes. Great improvement in ride and cabin noise.

The HUGE leap forward is in the steering feel and the handling. This new euro changes direction and corners similar to a CL9 with coilovers and sway bars. It is flatter around corners and just loves to change direction. Stock for stock there is no comparison between the old and new in the handling department.

Overall Honda is on to a real winner here. Value for money is outstanding and I really enjoyed how the new model drives. The manual is a real drivers car. If it had 30kw more power it would be outstanding. Notwithstanding that, would I consider buying one? Hell yeah, this is a great car.

I drove the AUTO today big disappointment compared to CL9, less power....I have to try the manual.

When advanced vtec is introduced, there won't be any kick at all.

Can't feel it at the moment anyways.....

My thoughts taken from another thread :

Stick to the old model......drove one today (lxry model), same car if you ask me, just with a few changes.....some good points some bad.

Different lines (bodywise) me personally don't like it, prefer old design
civic dash (Yuk)
steering wheel too small
buttons are too small and spread out more not as easy to find and press as previous model(s)
someone made a mistake with the volume control and the tuning control (should be the other way around)
space saver in the lxry model (this to me is a cost saver as it is 18inch)
boot looks smaller
extra speaker in the middle of the parcel shelf hinders drivers view (not necassary)
has 10 speakers but sounds no different than the cl9 stereo
reverse sensors dont pick up gutters, good as a guide (too high on the bumper)
front passenger seat belt still knocks as you are driving lol
same heated seats
same sunroof
front seats feel flimsy around the shoulder area not the same as cl9.
front doors are not as heavy so gone are the days people slamming your doors, but bad if you get hit by a car
limited road view due to newer dash.....seat has too be adjusted higher than previous models
same rv mirror as previous lxry model
gears the same when you change gears (no difference)
softer leather, as for quality not sure if it's the same as the previous models, previous models have good quality leather
cruise control the same
feels slower but claiming more power, I'de have to question this ?

a few good points...
when reversing front passenger side mirrors dips low
memory seating for driver(s)
steering improved not as sensative due to wider track
paddle's for sports mode on steering wheel
Has strut brace.
hid washers dont spray on the bonnet anymore (they heard you Aaronng )
Reverse camera
Ipod adaptor
heated door mirrors
front sensors
not sure of any other good points

My opinion stick to old model, especially if you have 2006 and up models

[Type R Positive]

Type R Positive, could you take a close up pic of the sensor in the right side of this pic? It's the sensor next to the airbox. I want to see if that is the intake temperature sensor or an AFM.

OK, will do.

[SPQR]

Totally new, don't think so, just slightly modified i.e wider track (this helps bad tramlining previous models suffered)

Yes! At last someone other than me acknowledging the bad tramlining! Thanks.

The CU2 is also helped in reducing tramlining by its large diameter tyres; particularly the Luxury model's 235/45R18 tyres which have a greater diameter than the Standard model's 225/50R17 tyres. The contact patch of a wide tyre tends to be broader than it is long but this effect is reduced by increasing the diameter of the tyre. The surface of a broad tyre is more likely to be deflected sideways when it encounters a bit of road with a varying coefficient of friction which happens when there is a ridge on the road or when the tyre partially hits a painted line on the road or when coming off the road onto a gravel/dirt verge. A tire of larger diameter tends to have a longer contact patch and is inherently less likely to be deflected sideways.

Straight sidewall tyres have a wider contact patch than rounded sidewall tyres of the same size.

Reducing tyre pressure can help to reduce tramlining because it elongates the tyre's contact patch.

[Type R Positive]

Hi centurionau, I have some pics from my trip computer for euro CL9. Sorry they a a little bit fuzzy

i think he meant for his CU2

I would not think there would be too much difference between the two. Atleast it gives him an idea.

Actually looks very similar.

[aaronng]

Reducing tyre pressure can help to reduce tramlining because it elongates the tyre's contact patch.

I believe that tramlining is because of the suspension setup. Not enough castor and almost zero toe at the front makes the car follow any groove on the road.

[LXRY]

I believe that tramlining is because of the suspension setup. Not enough castor and almost zero toe at the front makes the car follow any groove on the road.

Agreed........Would wider track help for tramiling issue aswell aaronng ?

[SPQR]

I believe that tramlining is because of the suspension setup. Not enough castor and almost zero toe at the front makes the car follow any groove on the road.

My car doesn't tramline with 205/55R16 tyres on the stock 55mm offset 16" rims but it does with the 225/45R17 tyres on the ten spoke 17" Honda Luxury rims that also have 55mm offset.

I had previously argued that there must be a difference in the suspension geometry of the CL9 Luxury model with 17" rims compared to the CL9 Standard with the 16" rims. Both have the same rim offset but Honda dealers aren't supposed to sell the 17" wheels to people with the Standard model. The difference might be more positive castor as toe is the same. But is it so?

What's causing the problem on my car when I swap between the 205/55R16 tyres and 16" rims and the 225/45R17 and 17" rims? The offset is the same. I have not changed the castor or the toe or any of the other suspension geometries when I do the swap. The tyre diameters are virtually the same but the only difference is essentially the tyre width and therefore the width of the contact patch.

I remember studying coefficients of friction in my 1st year uni physics lectures (that was very hard considering how long ago it was). Having given it some (more) thought, I have concluded that a tyre with a contact patch where the width is near or more than the length of the contact patch is more likely to tramline.

Imagine the side of a wide tyre encountering a grippier surface: The tyre would suddenly engage the higher grip surface on that side and turn the wheel towards that side. As the contact patch is shorter than the width, the "front" of the tyre tread contact patch has less influence on what the rest of the tyre is doing and so allows the tyre to deflect sideways.

What happens when a tyre that has a longer contact patch than it is wide encounters the same higher grip surface on one side? Well, in my opinion, because the area of the contact patch further forward of the lateral centreline is greater than the area of the tyre to side of the centreline of the tyre, the tyre is more likely to just keep tracking straight.

Analogous to this is the polar moment of a car. A car with a higher polar moment (long wheelbase) resists turn-in more than a car with a low polar moment (short wheelbase). Sports cars tend to have short wheelbases so that they can turn-in sharper. GT (Gran Turismo) cars tend to have a longer wheelbase to aid high speed stability (resist turn-in). In this analogy, the long wheelbase car is like the larger diameter tyre with a longer contact patch. The tyre is better able to resist being deflected sideways.

I believe that Honda has countered the tramlining effect on the CU2 by dramatically increasing the diameter of the tyres to elongate the contact patch. The 18" tyre is of even larger diameter than the 17" tyre fitted to the CU2 Standard.

[SPQR]

Read the first two paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry under "Contact Patch" found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_patch

[aaronng]

My car doesn't tramline with 205/55R16 tyres on the stock 55mm offset 16" rims but it does with the 225/45R17 tyres on the ten spoke 17" Honda Luxury rims that also have 55mm offset.

What tyres did you have on the 16" and 17" rims?

[aaronng]

Agreed........Would wider track help for tramiling issue aswell aaronng ?

It could help, but I think that suspension setup has a larger effect than the wider track.

[MKI4EVA]

depends which tram tracks your travelling on as well.