Hawkeye or type r
 

Two totally different cars. Weight, ability, build etc are light years apart. Drive both then decide.

its very very differnt car indeed, drive one and see is the best advice. Type R as said is much more raw, noise, acceleration and how it drives, it's much more tail happy. There arn't driver aids so no traction control or ABS and the only thing you have to play with is the DCCD.

The gearbox is a 5 speed and is very short ratio (you'll be sitting at 4k rpm at motorway speeds) so depends on if you plan on doing alot of motorway driving.

As far as modding goes depends how far you want to go and what your budget is.

Also the 2.0 will drive very differnt to the 2.5.

they really are chalk and cheese.

Personal choice, daily a hawk, weekend toy a type R.

What i can tell you is a 2.5 6 speed type r is an absolute hoot :D

type r is light and is a good car, but to run power in excess of 400bhp will require an engine build, clutch, gearbox etc. just bere in mind type r is also a very old car.
a type r fully built is properly is very quick. hawkeye much newer etc. as said above two totally different cars. if budget is fairly strict i would opt for the hawkeye.

[QUOTE=iceicebaby1980;11999265]thats a nice car. keep it! ;)

Or buy a spec C Type RA-R best of both worlds :)

I've had a JDM new age STI (MY04), and also bought my 22B with a 6 speed in it, then converted it back to standard, so hopefully I've covered all options in your query.

From my point of view, I thought the MY04 was a nice step up from what I'd had before (and even that was a classic JDM STI). I thought it felt pretty quick, and was almost like a limo in comparison.

The 22B (which is a bit like the type r you're talking about) came with the 6 speed, which seemed to be over engineered as far as the gearbox goes. Maybe its a bit like saying everything else felt so raw, and then the gearbox as "modern"...

When I went back to the 5 speed box of bolts, everything seemed to be about the same level of rawness.

As for how it all felt, I did prefer the older cars, no doubt. The newer ones seemed to isolate you from the road a little more, it was more compliant in the suspension, it also had wider tyres, and generally felt more solid. But the older classics are lighter, felt a bit more flickable, and I think maybe the best way I'd describe how I felt was that the new age is an everyday car, whereas the classics are more weekend cars, if that makes sense.

Agree 100% on the comments around how far you plan to mod. The 5 speed gearbox wont handle anywhere near the abuse that a 6 will, although I understand with the 4.444 ratios out there, they arent that bad, but if you do plan to go nuts, then a 6 speed is a good insurance policy.

I was in the same dilemma. I went for a v5 type r in the end, and don't regret it. I only really use the car at weekends though. If I needed a daily car the hawkeye would have been more practical.

Your best bet is to test drive one really. Gearboxes don't tend to be a problem, unless they are heavily modified. And if you don't get on with the 5 speed . There are quite a few out there with 6 speed conversions.

Im an old fart with a 400 odd bhp blob, and last year a mate gave me the chance to drive his 400 Type R.

All I can say is wow, as many have said above, they are poles apart in almost every department. His has a 6 speed non dccd, which I thought would spoil the experience somewhat but boy was I wrong. The 1st 4 gears disappear at an alarming rate, the sensation of speed and connection to the road is massive compared to my car.

I had to sit down and have a serious think regarding what I wanted from a car, and ultimately I've stuck with my blob as its where I wanted it and the practicality of a 2 door wouldnt suit us.

You definitely need to drive one before making any sort of decision

What about the type r is more appealing to you over the hawk? If it's that rawness your after consider a spec c hawk? Miles ahead of the UK version in every department imo and gives you that raw direct driving feel. I'm in love with mine doubt I'll ever sell it tbh

[QUOTE=iceicebaby1980;11999308][/QUOT

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