Now don't get me wrong, I love my scooby (MY02 Belgian WRX).

But with financial trouble looming (possible redundancy) I've been scoping out potential funcars that could cost me less to insure, service and run. Nothing grabs me at the mo apart from the Honda. It needs to be something fairly practical too (regularly take two or three mates on climbing trips with loads of gear).

So hence the question - has anyone gone from a WRX/Sti to a Type-R, and what's the comparison as regards

punch
handling
insurance
servicing
how much did you get for the scoob?

any info appreciated
DaveR

 

I've driven one and they give a nice punch at about 6k rpm when the VTEC cams do there thang! I've heard they are almost as costly to insure though and that the fuel economy isn't as good as you might expect or hope. Nice cars thought and from 60-100 would be faster than your current car.

 

I drove one and wasn't at all impressed. You have to drive the wheels off it to get it to go well - on today's road's that's virtually impossible. It might rev like nothing else but it's got nowhere near the punch my (ex ) Scooby had.

One of the guy's at the Honda garage races hot hatches and he took me out in it (cos I told the salesman I wasn't impressed ) and he was really trying. It still didn't feel fast and left me really unimpressed. Going round the same route the Type R was doing 100 on the straight and he was flat out and braking at the last second, in my Scoob I backed off at 110 a few hundered yards from the corner cos I was scared The Scoob flew out of roundabouts that the Type R was wheelspinning and understeering round.

I chose the Octavia RS because (out of the choices I had) it was the best all round and the best for fast road driving. I guess it all depends what you want from your car.

Richard

PS My Scoob was a UK turbo with Ecutek 1 and back box - nothing too fancy

 

I test drove the Civic Type-R the same day as a UK Turbo.

Without going in to too much detail, I'm picking up the Scooby on Saturday morning.

As an Impreza Sport driver the Civic would have well impressed me. But I'd driven the UK Turb first. The feeling of the Turbo pulling is great. Like others have said the Type-R spins it's revs up and the V-Tec cams do a good job. But not as good as a Turbo.
Also, the impreza is the most fun I've ever had driving a car. I still love the sport, I just need more power, hence the upgrade this weekend.

Insurance for me would have been about £200 less on the type-r than the turb. I'm 22.

 

thanks for all the advice chaps - overall the signs are not good it seems and i will have to look elsewhere.....

I'll still give it a test drive (the R) but might also consider the Clio172, or a Golf VR6 (yuck!)

 

There is always the new seat cupra? r with the 210bhp engine for just under 17k fully loaded and suppose to be better than the civic

Tony

 

Dave,
It all depends what you want from your car, just didn't appeal for my type of driving. I think the delivery times for the Cupra R are about 6 months or I'd probably have got one instead of the Octavia. I couldn't get to drive one though - Seat haven't got any demonstrators at the moment and didn't really seam interested - their loss

Richard

 

Tony,

For what it's worth, I drove a pair 1 year-old Leon Cupras (180BHP) the same weekend as the MY00 standard turbo I bought (clue!).

A) Both had really obvious squeaks and rattles, even the salesman's 3000 mile demonstrator.

B) The Leon had more feeling and driveability than either TT (i.e. same engine), but nothing to compare to the Scoob.

C) 65-70ish on a well-known back road, suddenly got the feeling that I was *very* short of front-end grip. I mention this because I *never* drive to the limits of grip, and it was very unsettling in a car I wasn't trying to thrash.

Hope this is of help.

 

A friedn has a Civic type R, which he has had for only a few thousand miles...Then it started to sound like a subaru, knock knock. Lucky its a UK motor, and the warranty will cover it. The big ends went.

 

I have a 2 month old CTR in the garage waiting for the new owner to pick up, it wasnt that I didnt like it as I do but you do need to wind them up and I like the feeling that when you put your foot down it takes no effort to get there, I now have a STi Type UK and love it.

The CTR is a brill car for £15K, and the scooby is a brill car for £29K

 

I also test drove a scooby and Civic Type R on the same day.

Thought the Civic was nice though the steering lacked feel. Had a Astra GTE before and the civic did not "feel" any faster though statistics said otherwise. Had looked at all the options and was down to Scooby, MG ZS and Civic Type R.

Civic looks pretty good in the showroom but barely registers on the road. Got loads of insurance quotes and little difference between the two.

On paper Civic looked like the best car to go for but just was not as fun (admitedly could not push too hard on test drive).

Stepped in the Scooby and desposit was down shortly after.

Also looked at all the servicing costs for the two cars and the amount you save is not huge for the performance loss. May have gone for the Type R if I did very high mileage but live close to work.

 

I traded my modified MY98 for a CTR last November following test drives of a Seat Cupra (can't remember which), a Clio 172, a Golf V6 4Motion and a BMW320d (I don't know why either!).

Basically the only competitors were the 172 and the CTR and the CTR won in the end for two reasons:

1. I love the sound of the VTEC, it's as addictive as turbo
2. Build quality.

When I picked up the CTR new it was pretty tight and although quick didn't seem as rapid as everyone said.

Over the first 5-6k miles it loosened off and became a totally different car, then recently following the 12k service it changed again. I HONESTLY don't think that there's that much between a WRX (new style) and a CTR on the road although I agree that an old shape Scooby is a bit quicker.

Plus a couple of other bits (since the reason I traded was the mileage I do against the running cost of the Scooby):

1. Only needs a 12k service although oil change optional at 6k (oil change only costs around £55). The oil change is dependant on how you drive, look after it (don't rev cold, don't drive on the redline constantly etc) and it won't need it.
2. MPG. My Scooby (admittedly modified) did around 22mpg on average and maybe 28-30 on a run. The CTR does around 30 if pushed and up to 38 on a run.
3. Insurance. The Scooby was going to cost me £1150 this year with class 1 business. The CTR has just cost me £509.
4. IMHO. My local Honda dealer is excellent, my local Scooby dealer wasn't (I know this doesn't count!).

Hope this helps you out.

Laurence

 

Thanks all for your experiences - its amazing how people's opinion of the Type-R vs. the Scooby differs. I'm just going to have a 'proper' test drive in one and find out what I think.

Since I'm more of a 0-60 man than a speeder, it may help my decision. ....

thanks again all, I'll let you know what I decide
DaveR

 

Well, if it's 0-60 that's your bag then it'll be the Scooby!

The Civic tends to wheelspin if you floor it in first, but is then extremely rapid. Mind you, if you redline it, it's very easy to keep on the boil.

Whatever you decide they're both great cars and I wish I could afford to have both in the garage (along with a Skyline, and EVI VII, an Elise and a TVR Tuscan!)

Laurence