rob878

Ok guys help needed here. I have a meg 255 which has been a nightmare it has had 4 new injectors a new ecu new drivers seat cover, 2 new door mirrors and 2 new door handles in the one in year i have owned it. At the moment the car is behaving itself and is good fun to drive. The problem is that i have lost all confidence in it and as the miles rack (i do 20k a year it currently has 36k on the clock) i fear more problems on the horizon.

I have found a CTR 6 months older than my Meg (53 plate) with 29k on it for £10.5k, no aircon but nice enough. It seems to be a lot more solid on the road than the Meg with less body roll, but i loose leather,air con and cruise control. The CTR isn't a face lift model but still looks good IMO.

So the question is do i admit defeat and give up the meg and go for the CTR?

Incidently my driving is almost exclusively up and down the A68/697 from Nwcastle to Edinburgh which is a good fast A road followed by only an hours worth of motorway to leuchars. So i really do need/like to have a car that can cope with the undulating roads found in the borders.

shooter007

ctr good solid car me and collegue have both had one loves revs but lots of road noise on bridgestones o4 model more firm than older ones which are more easier to live with test drive over rough road before you make up your mind that apart we both thought these cars brilliant and i only got rid because of a chance at my dream car good luck with your quest steve.

rob878

thanks for that i think i will try and get the car for a longer test drive on more broken roads as i only had a blast on the motorway. The bonus of the meg is that it's suspension soaks those A road bumps up quite well. A hell of a lot better than the eibach'd sprung 172 i had before, that tried to break my back everytime i drove to and from work.

saxperience

I have one, I raced a 200SX. Needless to say I owned it on the Haverhill bypass (2 miles stretch of road with 4/5 roundabouts in between).

Insurance not bad too, I'm 19 years of age, I pay £2000 fully comp 2Yrs NCD.
Compared to the £1000 fully comp I was paying for my 1.4 done up civic.

My mother has the new megane 225, terrible car. Feels like a boat! CTR all the way

Steve vRS

After that glowing endorsement, I'd stick with the Meganne.

Steve

Neilo

how about a Leon Cupra? very solid, bullet proof engine and plenty of upgrade scope....

you need to work the civic too hard to get the best out of it....and in that respect the mpg you get wont be great.

alwong

My brother and a mate has the CTR. The car is good, reliable and not bad on fuel BUT it screams like a motorbike and will give you a headache on the motorway for long distance travelling. Since you do alot of miles, i'd say stick with the Meg and find an alternative solution.

The other thing is you WILL miss Air-con in the few days we have sun in the UK!!

Spankathon

Not sure I'd have bought a Renault with the miles you do, BUT, its all fixed under warranty, so its not all bad, and there's gonna be a time when things won't go wrong (i.e. replaced everything) I would think long and hard about changing.... plus, to me, it sounds as though you will get fed up of the harsh ride and engine characteristics of the Type R pretty quick, IMO.

Also, you WILL miss the a/c.

rob878

Thanks saxperience for taking the time too post, but it doesn't really cover the things i need to know, such as will i be needing a back brace after driving up and down A roads for 3 hours, The insurance for me is cheap what ever i buy as i'm old and grey, 30yo no points full ncb, would make my quote £325 for the type r.

But thanks for taking the time all the same

rob

Spankathon

After reading this, you will definately not like to 'live' with a Civic Type R, it does have a very harsh ride, which I'm not saying is a bad thing, but for some people (me included) isn't something people can live with.

If you're so hell bent on changing, then like someone has said, something like a Leon Cupra R would be a decent choice.

Beefy

First thing I would say is dont buy one without A/C, it will be difficult to sell. Most of them came with aircon (£1000 option) so there is loads of choice. Shop around first and see what deals you can get. I had a Clio Cup and regretted not having aircon alot over the summer months. You dont realise how much you use it until its gone!

Make sure you buy the facelifted model (which I think 53 plate onwards should be) as it was a slightly better car to drive due to some technical enhancements, it was also slightly quicker but not by much.

I had an '05 CTR for just under a year, it wasnt really my thing which I why I ended up going back to a scoob, but it was not a bad car. I was unfortunate as I had a few problems with rattling interior and a creaking drivers seat (which the dealer failed to fix despite a new seating mount). Hondas are reliable, but the CTR has quite a few known problems with the interior, check out www.civictype-r.co.uk for a wealth of information on all aspects of the car.

Personally I felt the handling wasnt the best in the wet, it had a tendency to torque steer (but not as badly as something like an alfa 147 GTA), the build quality was suspect and you have to work the engine hard to move along quickly. Things to note, its only a 4 seater (no central seatbelt in the back on the Type R) and the spacesaver only fits on the back as it wont go over the discs on the front (I think thats the right way round! ) so if you get a puncture on the front you have to take the front wheel off, put one of the rear wheels on the front and stick the saver on the back!!

On the plus side, its an incredibly practical, reliable and quick car that undoubtably handles well in the dry. The v-tec is great fun, but take an extended test-drive and try to include a mixture of A and B roads, and some motorway. Its not for everyone, but they sold loads over here so plenty of people love them!

rob878

Thanks for that Beefy just the kind of things i need to know. The harsh suspension is something i am a little concerned about as i don't want to feel like i have to drive flat out everywhere just to justify having the car, or need to see a chiropractor when i get home every week.

The main reason i has drawn to the Civic was it's reliability over the Meg, i do like the megs lazy power delivery so chasing the red line might be a pain but i did have to do that when i had a mk1 172 so that might not be all that bad again . Arrrghhhh the agony of choice.

davedipster

The CTR is harsh and you need to thrash the thing to even go faster than my wifes ST. Sold mine cos I got fed up with it.
Turbo's are the way to go m8 keep the megane.

billythekid

I did the best part of 50k miles in my 02 CTR over a period of 18 months or so. It was a great car on track and road. However, unless you really enjoy your driving it can be a bit tiresome. The engine does need a lot of revs and there is not much in the way of power below the VTEC point. I drove my car over about 200 miles of b roads every 3 days, it was a firms car so I was not @rsed about tyres or anything. I would drive it flat out and it would not bat an eye, brakes were strong and gear box was nice. Firmly spung but that was fine by me. I also did 2 track days in it, great little track car and can stick to the back of low powered caterhams and elises with no major problems. I found the overall build quality very good and I never had any parts fall off it etc. Only one problem I had was a faulty connector on the cooling system which meant a trip to the dealer. Like others have said, get one with AC, will struggle to sell it without it.

rob878

ok guys thanks for all your replies they have been much appreciated. My mind is made up now. I have another 12 months before the car is paid off, so sod it the new type r is out then i will have a look at then, and i'm sure i'll change my mind umpteen times before then. So now it's off to Leeds and get the car remapped for 260 bhp and hope it holds togethor for another 12 months.

rob

Andy M3

Damn. I was about 2 post my opinion

rob878

You may as well Andy the more reasoned responses i get the better picture i can form of the car and whether it is going to be something i will want to live with long term, or whether it is completely unsuitable for my needs.

Rob

Andy M3

I was going to say - despite the fact that you use fast A roads, I don't think a CTR is that flexible. To get the most it needs a good tanning, as you know. This could become tiresome.

So, I was going to say, have you thought about something like a BMW 3 series sport.

eg 330 Ci Clubsport 02

http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD...a?id=315058602
http://pictures.autotrader.co.uk/ATD...a?id=315058590

£14900

It is a bit of a drivers car, can work on A roads, and motorway, is safe, comfortable, reasonable on fuel, but it works across the rev range. You can hammer them like a 4 pot screamer or let it work it's torque band like a turbo car. RWD ensures good balance, and the fact it is modern means it will stay on the black stuff too.

Just a bit of a out the box suggestion ?

Spankathon

BMW........... are you trying to turn him into an arrogant c*nt of a driver..??

Andy M3

no. Are you trying to stereoytype ?

rob878

Thanks for that Andy i have had a look at a few 330 coupes but never seen a club sport at such a low price. To be honest i think now i will wait till the car is paid off have some fun with a chip and destroy a few front tyres and try and not to torque steer into a ditch.

Carrying on the BMW thought i have had a look at a ZM Coupe, it seems pretty much ideal, first and foremost the wife hates the look of it which is always the first sign i use when choosing a car. It's boot is big enough take my kit bag and looks like it would be a fun car to drive up and down to and from work. And hopefully now the new Z4 Coupe has been released the price of the original Coupe might fall a little. (Always seems to happen to me with every bloody renault face lift).

Spankathon

So you're saying that all BMW drivers are like that are you..?

Andy M3

Like what Are you Engrish, you speaka my L-A-N-G-U-A-G-E ? ?

super6four

Hey Rob.

My 02 CTR has now covered 68k. Driving between Oxford and Bath every (week) day. So I am sampling the delights of the M4 and the nice twisties either end. So I do a fair chunk of mileage. Whilst the car was stock i had many miles of trouble free driving. And in my own experience I did not find I needed to 'rev the nuts' of it just to get along. Or indeed found it gutless off cam. Remeber the vtec 'only' gives around 10 percent extra. And out of vtec it is just as quick if not quicker than any other regular 2ltr. Fine for a motorway blast. Ok you do have that option to slip downn a few cogs, hit the red fun zone and then you can get along pretty sharp. my point is it really is a flexible car, weather its crusing along or blasting round those B roads. I would add that it can have issues with a lot of road noise but after I binned the Bridgstones for Toyos that has all but gone. And the overall drivability has increased 5 fold.

Yes the chassis is firmer, but not unbarable. And the exhaust is not at all noisy, untill you really push it and then the noise is excellent. Nothing wrong with that .

My parents live in the Borders (nr Hawick) so I know the roads you mean well as i travel up there often goinf via the A1 and going by Newcastle. On those roads it really excels. Easy a mach for my wifes Ver7 STI (in the dry).

It is now quite extensivly 'tweeked' now so is a much firmer ride. With uprated suspension, Supercharger, header etc etc. It has covered 28k with the charger on and still has not missed a beat. A testament to Honda's reliability. I also have to ad i am still running the stock transmission, and that (so far) has held up well.

As for which car to get. Well on paper the facelift is a 'tad' better, but the pre looks so much better, without that stupid clowns nose sized Honda badge on the grill and those imho over fussy rear lights.

Have to say, yes I am a fan, and as I have said often so am a bit biased.

If you want more info pop along to

http://type-r-owners.co.uk

A good site with a more relaxed atmosphere than the 'other' CTR forum

Anyway what ever you go for, enjoy...

John57

I have just flicked through alot of the posts on this thread .......

I had a CTR for 18 months - a pre facelift 53 plate. I loved it but wanted turbo power; thus it got sold for a Scooby!

The steering is vague and it is rubbish in the wet as the wheels just spin - but .....

I don't think the suspension is that hard or did I find it that noisy! I took it to Scotland (from Surrey) and we loved it. Not too tiring at all.

The suspension on a BMW sport model such as a 330i is far harder and they tramline - thats why I got rid of the 330i I had before the CTR / S2000 we bought.

As for power low down and needing to be thrashed - I don't agree. Yes, the exciting bit up the top end is really different than the rest but it is far more driveable than a Scooby before the turbo comes in and really smooth. I was really surprised by the TOTAL lack of power a Scooby has without the help of the turbo whereas a CTR manages fine and before you know it it's round into the Vtec zone. To get around the 'problem' I PPP'd our WRX which has been fine.

Reliability and rattles - in the 18 months we had not one rattle or anything at all to take the car to the dealer for apart from a service!

That said, would I buy one to replace a 225 Meg - no I don't think so. I would put up with what you have for another year and then look. By all means get a test drive or two though ..... you may love it. For as much as others on here obviously didn't like aspects of the CTR, I did. You may find you love it !

Just my views FWIW

rob878

Thanks for that, i have basically decided to keep the meg for another year and see what comes out then. The new type r will be out hopefully, so that should be worth a look. To be honest i couldn't face loosing the toys the meg has. So fingers crossed for a years trouble free motoring.

rob