#anyway. got a decent deal on it despite having to sit in a car dealership for like 3.5 hours to get it

[teenagefeeling]

finally got a car i have a car yayyyyyy!!!!!!!!

[smoothshift]

18 Months with a Civic Type R - My thoughts via /r/cars

18 Months with a Civic Type R - My thoughts

Roughly 20 months ago, I had made the decision to look for a Civic Type R that I could buy from a dealer. After a few days of searching, I was able to get one to agree to sell it as MSRP. What I never told the salesperson is that I didn't even know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Good thing he didn't let me take it for a test drive. Although stalling out of the dealership and an obscene amount of times on the way home was embarrassing enough.

Truthfully, for the first few days, I regretted the purchase, because I was doing a shit job at learning how to drive manual. Some people say it only takes a day to get the hang of it; well, for me, it took about a week and then 8 months to become decent at it. Once it all clicked though, I saw why driving manual transmission cars is so rewarding. 20K miles and two unfortunate accidents later (one of which wasn't even my fault), and I've finally reached 18 months as being a Type R owner. The journey has been full of adventure, plenty of mistakes and failure, and lots of opportunities to improve.

So today, while I would love to go out for a spirited drive in my Type R, I am unable to do so due to agonizing back pain that has cropped up in the past week. I believe it's sciatica, I am getting it looked at early next week. But I won't let that cloud my thoughts. In truth, I would like to present my thoughts after being an owner for a decent amount of time.

The great:

Simply put, the Civic Type R is one of the most exhilarating cars to drive, bar none. It doesn't always have to be in max attack mode, but when it is, the engineering prowess of Honda's racing heritage is shown in full force. The steering is practically perfect, the suspension, while lately it's been affecting me, is sublime on most road surfaces. There's barely any body roll, the turn in is razor sharp, and the engine pulls unlike anything I've seen for a sub $35K car. In short, driving it is immensely rewarding. Twisty roads turn into ecstasy when you're all alone. The auto rev match feature is great for people (read: me) who might struggle with rev matching themselves. The negative there is I've become reliant on the feature otherwise I do an awkward rev match / clutch slippy mess myself when I find myself needing to.

No matter what everyone says over the internet, the Type R gets attention, and a lot of is positive. People stare and turn their heads when you pass by. It looks like nothing else on the road, a jet fighter with wheels, and at least to me, I love how it looks. Now, the caveat is, washing this car is a royal pain in the ass. All of those angles make for an exceptionally difficult time to clean properly. At least the Championship White paint doesn't look bad when you're not on top of it if you don't wash it for a few days.

The brakes are fantastic. There is an almost violent level of force when you slam on these brakes, and they are built to handle it. The brakes have saved my ass a couple of times because of idiocy on the road, and for spirited driving, they will meet your expectations and more.

The interior design I love. It's very expressive, and the red does a lot to make the thing pop. One thing I will say is that I wish the back seats matched the front a bit more. It's like they cheaped out back there.

The amount of cargo this thing can hold is insane. I think it holds just a little bit less than my RAV4, and that's saying something! It is an incredibly practical car.

I think it's something to mention that, despite learning manual (TERRIBLY) on the car, which some said is an incredibly stupid idea, I haven't found evidence of clutch slip or excessive wear. To me, that's incredibly refreshing, because I can't understate how much I sucked in the beginning.

Lastly, the fact it's value is still around $30K even with 20K miles on it is a testament to how well this car is selling. Dealers are still marking them up, in fact.

The okay:

The transmission, while rewarding most of the time, does seem to have it's days. I have found that operating the transmission more slowly seems to keep it happy. When you're driving hard, the transmission seems to be more likely to do something stupid, and by that, I mean grind a gear, emit a crunchy shift, or in some cases, lock you out of a gear. All of my grinds have come from high revs (5K or higher) and fast shifts. Shifting slower has yielded less drama from it. The feel of the shifter is great when it is happy though - the gears are just notchy enough to provide you confirmation that it's in gear, and the clutch has a good feel to it. The bite point is a bit vague if I'm being honest, but for the most part, you know exactly when you are engaging the clutch.

The infotainment is like every other 10th generation Civic. It is adequate - it's not going to wow you, and it certainly won't impress you. It does it's job well enough, but you will see the screen lag or freeze from time to time. The factory navigation is fairly slow too. I wish the new infotainment the Accord got would've been dropped into the Civic, but I have a feeling it won't.

Fuel economy definitely depends on how you drive. I average about 28 MPG, which is great for what the car is. The fuel tank however is pretty damn small, at only 12.3 gallons, so you won't be getting more than 310 miles usually if you meet the EPA combined fuel economy. It also requires premium gas, so keep that in mind. I have not tried it with regular 87, because that just seems like a dumb idea.

The bad:

Let's talk about the paint quality. For a $35K car, even if it's just a hotted up version of an economy car, you kind of expect there to be a little more polish and quality. Well, the paint on the Civic sucks, honestly. It is incredibly thin and prone to chipping from the smallest rocks. I lost count at how many rock chips I have on my paint. It's more than I can count on my fingers. I honestly think anyone who plans on DDing this car should invest in PPF for the front bumper. I definitely should've.

The wheels. The wheels look GREAT, BUT, I cannot tell you how easy they are to damage. The car comes stock with 30-series sidewall on summer tires. I bumped into a curb accidentally going no more than 2 mph and I curbed a wheel. The sound the car makes when you hit a pothole is stomach churning, and I am really surprised I haven't killed a wheel or tire yet. I wish there was a smaller wheel option. The 20s work well in performance applications, but for a DD they are overkill. The other part of that equation is tires are insanely expensive for these 20 inch wheels. A set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s cost me around $1650 for 4 tires. Even all season tires cost me around $1400.

​

​

So what's next for me? Well, as I said previously, I'm currently dealing with some of the most excruciating back pain I've ever had to deal with. The pain gets worse when driving the CTR, while it doesn't happen when I drive other cars. I believe it's because my posture in the Type R sucks honestly, but I don't really fault that as a car problem. For many people, it doesn't give them issues, so I won't call it out as a negative.

Ultimately, until I get the back pain sorted out, I'm not able to drive my car. And for me, that is beyond depressing. I love my Type R. I love everything about driving it. It has so much sentimental value to me that I honestly don't know if I could trade it in, even if it turns out that driving it is, at least in my situation, a bad idea. I will never say the Type R isn't a good car, because it's a fantastic car. If anyone wants to buy one, I encourage them to do so. You won't regret it. I don't regret a single part of owning my car. It hurts to sit outside my bedroom window and see my car, all while I am unable to enjoy it.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I'm cooped up all day and have nothing better to do. I feel like I've been slightly decidedly negative about my CTR in the past couple of days on here, and that was never my intention. I want to show that this car is still very much so in my heart and to lose it would be heartbreaking.

​

If anyone has any questions on the car, I'd be happy to answer them. I've got nothing better to do anyways while I sit in agony lol. Hope this helps and thanks for listening!