WHY HONDAS DONT SUCK FN2 TYPE R Review

on this episode with Cars with J I drove a Honda Civic F N two Ryan lit .

OK , guys , So welcome to 2019 and welcome to my first video on cars with J .

Today I'm going to be reviewing this Honda Civic FN two type R .

So the model I'm driving now is the 2010 facelift model and being a face lift .

It comes with a few extra options , such as xenon and a limited slip diff .

But what's most important is that limited slip diff and how it's completely transformed the driving experience compared to a pre face lift model .

But I'll get on to that later , so I'm going to take this car around some British free roads at the moment .

I want to find out exactly what it's like because the get go .

This thing is actually pretty insane .

And considering what these cars are at in the market at the moment , for like £5000 plus minus 2.5 , you can get some really good examples .

Looking on auto trail .

You can get the cars for 2.5 £1000 at the cheapest , with about 130,000 miles and some dodgy service history .

And on the upper end of the scale , you're looking at 10 to £12,000 for a car with about 20,000 miles on it with very with a very good service history , full service history , probably most likely with Honda .

So that's kind of what you're looking at .

Price wise , the car that I'm driving now is pretty special because it's a deep sapphire blue .

Now the deep sapphire blue is only .

There was only about 115 of those made , and they're extremely rare .

If you're looking on the trailer now , you'll see a lot of championship white editions .

You'll hardly see any , or you probably won't see any deep sapphire blues for sale .

The Honda Civic F N two type power has a K 20 series engine .

This is a four cylinder , two litre engine that produces 198 brake horsepower at 7800 R .

PM being naturally aspirated .

Its torque figures are rather modest .

£142 feet , which is achieved at 4800 r PM .

However , that shouldn't be a concern as it still propels you from 0 to 60 in a respectable 6.4 seconds .

The F N two has a six speed manual gearbox with sensible ratios that allow you to have some fun without breaking the speed limit .

The gearing allows the car to achieve a top speed of 146 miles an hour .

The car itself weighs 1357 kilogrammes , which is 37 kilogrammes more than the E P three type R .

Honda didn't even make up for the added weight by adding extra power to the F N two , so it actually still has the same horsepower as E P .

Three .

The E P three was highly recommended because of its independent rear suspension , to which Honda scrapped in the f N two for a less desirable torsion beam suspension set up .

The effect of this is that the car is not as playful as E .

P .

Three , hindering the driving experience .

Let's talk about the way this car feels , because I've been driving this car around the countryside now for about an hour , and I've gotten to know about how the car kind of reacts and kind of its characteristics .

So this car is quite heavy .

But you could do things like take the interior out , put lighter wheels on it , and it will improve it .

I'd say it will improve it a lot .

However , as it comes from a factory , it is something that once you get used to , you can still have a lot of fun with it .

The chassis is extremely playful .

One thing I noticed defeating was the steering .

The steering is extremely precise , and nowadays steering in most modern cars is fully electric , and it's falsely weighted either , Like Audis have extremely unrealistic steering wheels that like weirdly heavy .

And then you've got Mercedes , which are extremely light .

However , the Honda have got it just right with this car .

This car doesn't follow the camera of the road at all .

It's not affected by any undulations in the road , and that's a good thing .

You don't want to be continuously correcting the car when you're taking it for a nice cruise , you want to be able to just point the shoe , and that's what the car does really , really well , the car feels like it wants your input , but it doesn't feel like it wants too much , so that continuously aggravated or you're going to be tired and putting that much effort into driving the car .

But there's still a lot of fun to be had , so the steering just feels magnificent .

As I've described , it's just perfectly weighted .

And so moving on to the gearbox now gearboxes in a lot of cars really do affect your kind of feel with the car .

You don't want something that's too easy to fly in gear .

You don't want something that's too hard , and so it's laborious .

Now this car is just perfect , because if you want to you , it just encourages you to drop it a gear .

You can effortlessly find a gear in this car , and that's what it should be about .

It should be about trying to clamber or or trying to fit it into a gear that it's not supposed to be in .

I find that the gears in this car they're nicely spread apart so you don't have the risk of going into the wrong gear .

Panels of the car are really well positioned , so basically they're quite flat , so if you wanted to do hit and toe and if you wanted to do that for braking , it's quite comfortable to do so .

I know it's like again referring back to the pedals are all over the place .

I don't know what Brenna was thinking , but they are literally just more misaligned , and I guess it's a cheap car .

But with this car , the pedals are really , really well positioned , and the material of the pedals are really good as well .

I don't feel my feet slipping on the pedals , and usually that happens .

Um , they've got the bris on them , which works .

I wanted to move on to the dashboard of the car .

So looking at the dash , I've seen that you've got your rev .

Counter in front of you , just between the gap between the bottom and the top of the steering wheel .

And that really works .

Because in a hot hatch , it's nice to have a needle , a gauge with a needle rather than a digital gauge .

Because as you see the car going to V Tech and going through the gears , the needles really do bounce around , and it kind of adds some enjoyment to the whole experience and excitement , and just above the steering wheel .

You've got the miles an hour , which is spot on .

I think the placement is great .

It would have been nice to see two gauges with needles , But the fact that your everything's driver focus is all centralised and all I have to do is look slightly away from the windscreen .

Just to see what speed I'm going is really good because you don't feel like you're distracted .

The character size of the numbers is large enough so that you can actually look at what speed you're doing without actually taking your eyes away from the road .

So it's very driver focused , and they put a lot of thought into the way they design this car .

It does look weird , though , and I know it looks quite controversial with a lot of people out of its rivals .

It's not the best looking hot hatch .

With its unique lines and spaceship styling , it's definitely the most unique .

However , this particular model in Deep Sapphire Blue looks mature and sensible with a touch of class .

Let's talk about V Tech .

As you can see , this car is really , really dramatic when you open the taps .

I mean , it's got a HKS induction kit , which actually transforms the way the car sounds when you're accelerating .

There's just so much induction noise and there's not a lot of exhaust noise , though , And it's something that I've spoken to the owner about and that he kind of wants to explore at some point .

But he doesn't feel the need to , because the induction noise is far more than adequate .

So it's got a lot of induction noise .

I don't expect to hear a lot of exhaust noises doing fly bys .

You kind of want to film them on the front because that's where you're going to hear most of the noise .

But it sounds absolutely phenomenal , and you can really hear the tone shift when you go past 6000 r PM .

It just enters a whole new realm of the way that the car handles and just another experience , right ?

So while my assistant helps set up the car before I explain this kind of segment of the video .

So basically we're going to do a real world quickness test , and it's a segment that I kind of want to introduce because it shows you how quick the car actually is .

I've got my camera car behind me and he's going to stay roughly about a car length , two car lengths behind me , going around 30 miles an hour .

I'm going to be going at 30 miles an hour as well .

And what I'm gonna do is put my foot down and reach the national speed limit .

Let's say 70 mile an hour and this is going to allow you to see what this car is actually like .

So anyway , um , let's get started .

So I'll start the pace .

Go to 30 miles an hour .

Now I am going to be in third gear for this like you would be .

I'm going to be going 30 miles an hour .

Ryan is going to be going about 30 miles an hour in the camera car , and he's going to be about two car levels behind me , so I'll just let him catch up a little bit .

OK , so now what he's going to do is what I'm going to do now is I'm going to put my foot down .

I'm going to drop into second like you would , and I'm going to accelerate away from him .

So 321 , I need to be taken .

Hopefully , by that you can gauge how quick this car is .

I can see Ryan in the distance and he is very far away .

OK , so as well as me saying , my opinion on the car , it's all well and good .

However , Ryan , who's sitting on the left of me , actually owns this car , and he uses it every now and then .

And I think it's best to get an owner's opinion .

Obviously , you can expect it to be slightly biassed .

I mean , if he's not going to be biassed , it's great on him .

But it's nice to know an owner's perspective because he lives with this car day in , day out .

I've just driven it up and down the road a couple of times .

So , uh , Ryan over to you .

So what ?

What made you buy this car for ?

Start .

Let's start with that .

Well , I've actually had another f N two before .

This , as you know , got written off .

Not my fault .

OK , tell tell everyone what happened with the f N two .

The first one , right ?

So I bought I originally had a civic type s and obviously match upgrade was going to the park .

The Honda type .

The original one i f n two , right ?

Yeah .

The f n two .

It was the same shape as this , but in the black .

So it was more common .

It was , And it was a preface .

Was a preface .

Lift ?

Yes .

I didn't have the o e m or light wash or anything like that .

It was It was , um , preface Lift .

Um , I parked outside my girlfriend's house , and then it got flooded .

Basically , it rained all night , woke up , and it was half underwater .

And I only own the car a month , so I didn't really get to experience it as you wanted to , like , take it off the box properly .

So obviously , I didn't really experience it , as I only owned it for about a month .

Bought a mini cooper r 56 fun car .

Don't get me wrong , but I really wanted another because I just missed the VTech .

It is addictive , so yeah , because you went straight to a turbo car .

And you kind of I think everyone , if you're a pet , your head should experience a naturally aspirated hot hatch because there's not much like it .

A turbo car just doesn't really compare ?

No .

So you looked around and like , did you consider anything else before you went for this ?

Or did you know you were going to go ?

Well , I considered an integrity part .

DC five .

I like them and I still do like them .

But obviously , this is at the time I when I bought this car , it was being it was my daily car .

It was the only car I owned at the time .

So when I bought it , I wanted the creature comforts auto headlights , auto wipers , cruise control , that type of stuff .

Um , which is why I went for this .

This particular car , the F N two .

Um , and , yeah , it looks new .

Like when you look at it from the outside , it's it .

People call it the space ship model .

So you know what I mean .

It still looks fairly new .

I remember Jeremy Clarkson reviewing this , actually , and he talked .

He just talked about how futuristic it looks and stuff .

I don't think he liked the car very much , but yeah , um , it does look really futuristic .

I mean , he's got a really low roof .

I've noticed , and it makes you feel like you're driving a coup .

OK , so you talked about DC five Integra .

But was there any other platform or were you sticking to Honda ?

I was sticking to Honda .

I mean , so the problem is , my mini had a few problems .

Like he kept leaking oil after I had , like , a lot of work done on it .

It still was playing up a little bit .

And Hondas are liable .

So it's kind of a an obvious thing to go for a reliable .

Yeah , and , of course , like it was so it was kind of I've had one before .

I wanted to experience it in more detail a lot more .

I mean , I only add it up .

So this one is quite special , isn't it ?

And extremely rare because of its colour .

Yeah .

What colour is it ?

So this is a deep sapphire blue ?

Um , I believe there's only 100 and 15 of them .

Some people say 100 and 13 .

Some say 100 and 15 .

It's around that .

Yeah , it's around that number .

So it's theoretically more rare .

And then the new well , the championship white 200 edition .

Yeah , of course .

I mean , you look on auto trailer .

There's tonnes of them .

You don't see any of these for sale .

I never know .

Yeah , So I see .

That's why I went for the colour .

It's I didn't me personally .

I'm into my Honda quite a lot .

And I didn't even know that they come in this colour .

I don't know if he was aware that they come in this before .

Honestly , I didn't know that .

So yeah , that's one of the reasons why I bought this .

Is that so ?

This car is deep sapphire blue .

But on top of that , because it is a face lift compared to your old one , which was a 2006 .

What other optional extras does it actually come with ?

So it's got O EMS and obviously headlight washes limited slip diff .

And I think before they introduced a face lift , this was only available on the championship white edition , right ?

I believe so .

Yeah , something like that .

I think .

I think it wasn't a standard .

I think you have to pay extra to have it .

But on the face lift , they put it on all of them .

So you didn't ask for it ?

Yeah , exactly .

You've got an engaged response going through the corners .

I feel like there's a lot more grip , a lot more feel for the steering wheel .

Like every little movement .

I can feel it a little bit more , and it gives you kind of like more traction .

But it feels like it gives you more traction , and it kind of feels like it gives you a lot more confidence coming out .

You're not afraid to plant it because you know that you're not going to understand it .

You kind of Yeah , you get the grip .

You've owned this car for a while now .

It's like , How long have you owned it ?

I've had it a year and two months .

OK , so in that year , like , what do you think of it ?

Did it meet your expectations ?

I glad you went back to it .

Yeah , definitely 100% .

And once you drive like a lot of people slate Hondas , Yeah , that's and whatever , because there's like a Yeah , it's a big thing , but the same as like , you know what I mean .

There's a lot of people that slate , like other cars and the Hondas , and they always .

But until you drive one , they are fun .

They're fun to drive .

I kind of avoided looking at Hondas because I didn't really want to be , uh they didn't seem like they appeal to me until I got behind the wheel of it .

I can tell especially this model .

I've driven an E P three before and the hands down that I thought it was absolutely amazing .

It was .

It reminded me of my Cleo 1 82 and I Love My Cleo 182 .

It's such a well balanced car .

So driving the f n two , I was kind of hoping it would be like the e P three experience .

One thing I can for sure say that it is quite different to the E P .

Three e p .

Three is a lot skinnier , and it feels like a lot more nimble or skinnier tyres .

It's got slightly less power .

However , the I two is a bigger car and naturally , with bigger cars , uh , they feel larger .

You know you can't get away from that and being a bigger car , it kind of makes it appear like it's heavier .

Um , I think this car is actually heavier than the P three , and it's got relatively the same power which usually means it doesn't feel as quick , however , as we showed you in the real world quickness test , this car actually does move quite far .

Another thing I notice about this car and especially my driving .

I talked about the pedal placement before .

The position of the pedals are superb .

The way Honda have done it is great .

It's so driver focused , and it allows you to heal and tow the car , which in most of what hatches they don't really allow you to do .

And if you're a car as easiest , you probably want to learn how to left and brake , and he and toe now the pedal travel is something that took me by surprise .

There's hardly any pedal travel at all in the pedals .

When putting the clutch down , it barely moves to get into gear .

The bike point is extremely fine , so you can store the car easily .

However , luckily , I haven't store the car braking as well .

Brake pedal is extremely responsive , only requires a strong tap and you're already on the brakes and there is a lot a bit more travel than the other pedals , but it gives you that range of control and I think left foot braking with a really sensitive brake pedal isn't always the best if you've ever tried it and the front wheel as well .

There's hardly any movement , but the movement that it does have it still feels like it gives you enough to control its acceleration .

And I think that's great .

You know , the way they've designed the car and made it .

It does feel so driver focused and a little detail .

Like the pedals they've done so well , so I can't really fold them on that .

The way the car goes into gear as well , you know , you can tell they've had a good , long thought about it .

It's they've engineered the car so well .

There's just such a nice resistance level when you're putting the car into gear , and especially when changing up or down , it just wants to carry the gear into whichever way you want to go .

But overall , you know the car is great .

It's just the weight of the car , that kind of mass it for me .

It's still a very quick car .

It just doesn't feel as quick as it should feel .

And that's the kind of only fight with these cars , I'd happily strip out the bucket seat , strip out the car , put bucket seats on it , put lighter wheels .

It's not always people's preference to strip a car out and use it every day , and I can understand that .

But for a car you can use every day , this car is great .

The fuel economy is not too bad as well .

You can average like 35 38 MPG on the motorway .

You could get mid 40 .

It's got cruise control .

So if you do take on the motorway , it's got that extra comfort feature in terms of tax .

Road tax is about £315 on this car , which is if you break down monthly , it's not too bad .

And if you talk about servicing parts so tyres you're talking about £90 a corner , which is not too bad , you don't really go through them that quickly in this car because air panels , the traction is really , really good , and it doesn't necessarily spin up the wheels .

So going through the tyres , which shouldn't be too bad in terms of service , you're talking about £120 for a minor service and £280 for a major service includes Those prices are inclusive of V in terms of general wear and tear .

It's not expensive at all .

Oil is about £30 .

Oils is not too expensive either £10 or something like that .

So it's a relatively affordable car to run When looking to buy a Honda Civic F N two type R .

There are a few things you need to look out for across the range of K 20 series engines in the FN two .

Many owners reported seeing inconsistent oil consumption with some F N two type R consuming a lot more and some consuming hardly any .

Unfortunately , it's up to the seller to tell you how much oil that particular car you're looking at consumes .

The second issue is the gearbox and more specifically , the third gear synchro over time and quite easily it can become damaged and will need replacing .

Honda didn't replace these under warranty , so it's a good idea to check if there's any evidence the change has been made all in all , apart from the two issues specified above , the car should be perceived like any other car when purchasing , make sure you thoroughly check around the vehicle and its documentation .

And if everything stacks up , I would definitely recommend that you buy one .

I hope you enjoyed this video of cars with J .

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