Type R

Yesterday i test drove 4 potential next cars.

S2000

New Teg

New Civic Type R

Clio 172

At the begining i had already made the decision to not get the 172 or CTR, having driven both before, but thought it might make a reasonable comparison.

First up the New CTR, as before the steering lacks the dynamics of the old, the interior, desperatly needs brightenly up (Where's the obligatory Recaro's). Now last time i drove the CTR it was in the wet, but yesterday was dry, round a few round abouts down some country lanes, very impressive handling with a far touquier engine making life easy, but with tight corners, whach the throttle down coming out and you get wheelspin, i did not like that. Overall very good, but the Bread Van looks just don't cut it for me.

Next up the 172, wow the surprise of the day, what with excellent traction, and rorty engine, it felt really good. You can push this car so hard and i came out with a massive smile, and thinking to myself why i would not have one. Reason 1. Reliability, i had a 16V Clio a few years back and had numerous trips back to the garage. Reason 2. Cabin is too cramped for my liking.

Anyway up to the the 20K+ barrier, into the S2000, oh my god the power is just incredible, and it feels like your gonna take off at around 7000rpm, what an excellent engine, that makes you want to floor it at every moment, which is where my slight problem is, coming out of a roundabout in my car, i can floor it as soon as the car is pointing where i want it to go, with the S2000 you can't back end just doesnt grip aswell. Apart from that i love the interior, even thou 2 seats, feels spacios.

The NEW Teg, am i convinced at 23K this is as good as the old, well Yes i am, it excells in many ways the old one couldnt, yes it is not as raw and has been tamed a little bit, but with the extra 40BHP, it flies, and i very much doubt much would stay with this standard for standard, the steering is point it where you want and hit the floor, and it goes. The i-VTEC engine does not sound as good, but goes a lot better. The interior is very good quality, and seems better knocked together, it looks so much better in the flesh, and i have fallen for it.

So i am waiting to hear back from Insurance companies on quotes, which will ultimatly decide.

I believe there is only five in the country but would appreciate peoples thoughts and possible other motors.

Thankx

jon hill

stunning

one major point would be what you plan on doing with it - if its a straight replacement for your ctr, so a whole bunch of track days, i'd vote against the s2000, and against the new itr. I would guess that parts and upkeep of the new itr would be a killer if you're running it on the track. But maybe I'm wrong about grey import running costs ? And the s2000 isnt dynamicaly strong enough. I'd probably still vote for an old itr if you're loosing your current car

If you're keeping your ctr, then i'd say go for the s2000. There'll be nothing in it performance wise on a public road, and the s2000 is comfy, fast and convertable (ive a friend with one, and i think they're great). Its a different experience than the fwd things. Only issue is the possible new s2000 appearing soon affecting depreciation.

tough choice

Type R

I have found a possible solution, i have been in contact with Litchfield, who will import me a stripped down version minus all the extras for 14.5K.

At that price i could afford to buy a run around, and use the Teg as Track toy, but then i guess this opens up to having a Cat or Westie.

GaryC

Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...
Buy the Westie...


SCREAM IF YOU WANT TO GO FASTER

IntegraR

Type R, what exactly is stripped out of it? if you could let me know, Id be very keen at that price, but just how stripped out are we talking?

I imagine all the performance bits, alloys etc are same as the standard right?

Cheers

Type R

Things it shares with the Road version

Wheels and Tyres
Bodyshell and Bodykit
Gearbox
Clutch
Suspension
Engine - 225BHP
LSD
Brembo's
Electric mirrors and windows


Things that are removed

All interior- ie no back seats, no passenger seat.
Differnt steering wheel - not Momo
No airbags
Same dashboard i believe
Carpet
Central Locking

Some things which are removed like the sun visors, fog light, etc will need to be fitted at extra cost to pass the SVA.

Give the guys at Litchfield, very helpful, although i get the impression they havent seen one yet, although two are on the way to the UK.

Type R

Gary do you reckon it would be good idea to buy a Westie ?

IntegraR

Cheers, thats a tad too stripped out!! for me anyway, but what a track car.

Guess Ill have to keep dreaming.

jon hill

mmm... it really is a pure track car

But for ~£5000 you can have totally mental class A road saloons road legal race car (civic for example), which will have ball park performance (just guessing to be honest, but they're about the 180 bhp mark and probably weigh less with track focused suspension, cage, etc). And if you damage it you dont have to wait for bits to be sent over from Japan... Finally, you can enter the odd race or two to add to the track days.

Or go get a caterham

I love the integra, but i'd really worry about parts and damage if i took a new model import on the track.

Can I have a go in yours though ???

Type R

If i were to proceed with getting the track version, i would have it seem welded, with roll cage and an extra seat put in for passengers.

Jon no problems mate.

At the moment i am holding off, whilst checking out further plans.

I really want one with the lux pack, but that is the mistake i made before, i end up stripping all the reletively lux stuff off, and throw it around the track.

I really need to buy a Track car and a sensible motor, although my CTR for Track and ITR for road would be an awesome combination.

I worked out my planned mods for this year to the CTR, would amount to 4K, and that is one of the reasons i thought it might be nice to change.