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How good is the new Civic Type R


renault_is_crap
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If you enjoyed "2 Fast 2 Furious", Honda has built your car. Personally, wild colours and extrovert styling do nothing for me - I'm quite comfortable with my natural dimensions already. Give me understated efficiency and discreet performance potential any day. The Type-R is all very baby-carrot rice-burner, and a little bit vulgar.

The CR-V just does what soccer moms want it to do; no more, no less; it looks quite strange and is rather pointless imho. Not class-leading. The Jazz is cute and well-packaged, but it's expensive and there's no diesel option. Not class-leading. The new Civic is well screwed together, but the reversion to torsion-beam rear suspension is a retrograde step that's hard to understand. [Also alienating a large chunk of your traditional customer base with wild futuristic styling could prove to be a major marketing malfunction; we'll have to wait and see]. Not class-leading (see where I'm going with this?). The Accord is a nice car, undeniably, and that diesel is impressively quiet and smooth, but it ain't the class-leader. The S2000 is a misfit as it offers only 4 cylinders when most of its competitors have six; it's also twitchy near the limit (yes, I've driven one), cramped inside and very frenetic in its power delivery; it's actually quite a disappointing performer unless you thrash seven grades of living hell out of it, and it's a pain in city traffic due to a lack of low-down torque. Definitely not class-leading.

Where do you source your information from, WNS - Auto Express, maybe? Honda don't build class-leaders, at least not for the UK market.

And in answer to your primary question: anyone who needs a VW platform but with better standard equipment and build quality, and at a cheaper sticker price.

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I personally don't like Ricer cars full stop, although I thought the old CTR was decent enough. The new one? Well, it looks better than the standard new style Civic, but it still looks bloody awful!

Good to see that Honda raided the bargain basement at Halfords for those bloody awful alloys too!

Saying that, it'll probably be quicker than the GTI frown.gif

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Well even if the CR-V never goes off road people buy it. I will accept your statement about the S2000 as the 350Z is now better. The new civic is a leap forward in terms of design, at least they have made a better effort than ford at the drawing board. Some of the materials are quite poor in the Civic such as the door handles but the equipment and build quality is very good for being one of the cheapest in its class. All the german companies can make good cars but the prices are disgusting especially the 1 Series.

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  • 1 month later...

[Also alienating a large chunk of your traditional customer base with wild futuristic styling could prove to be a major marketing malfunction; we'll have to wait and see].

Of all things British that I, as an American, have trouble understanding (cricket, upscale/downscale supermarkets, school uniforms that cost more than just buying your kids the frigin' designer clothes, the Campaign for Real Ale), the idea of Hondas being for old folks is perhaps the hardest...

...that being said, why Honda even bothered developing the notchback Civic coupe instead of bringing in the spacey-styled 5-door is beyond me. They should have seen the trend of hatchbacks gaining popularity here coming - it has been for at least four years - even though the Civic Si didn't sell because no one wanted a car that looked like a mini-minivan but only had two doors...

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[ QUOTE ]

the idea of Hondas being for old folks is perhaps the hardest...

[/ QUOTE ]

Old people tend [tended?] to buy them because they were reliable, relatively cheap to buy and run, doesn't ride too firmly over the bumps, liked the dealers and they held their money quite well. All qualities that appeal to older people, who are usually living to a tight budget and just want a way of getting from A to B smile.gif

Sure, Honda have made their fair share of vaguely sporty cars [or sporty versions of cooking-pot models], but as those cars had many of the same qualities, they didn't do much to shake the image. The fact remains that the average age of the buyer of a new Honda tends to be... well... old smile.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just another thought... but having now seen several new Civics in the flesh, imho Honda have achieved the near-impossible in that they have designed a car which makes its driver look faintly ridiculous in any situation. The only other contender for that award is the Peugeot 1007, which looks comical on the motorway and even dafter when the shopping-bag-laden driver is getting soaked in the rain, waiting for the painfully-slow beepy door to open.

I just can't warm to the Civic's styling (don't get me started on the 1007...); it's the Chav of cars, all sportswear and aggression wink.gif

And yes, all of the Civic drivers I've seen so far have been over 50 smile.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

[Also alienating a large chunk of your traditional customer base with wild futuristic styling could prove to be a major marketing malfunction; we'll have to wait and see].

[/ QUOTE ]

Welp, going with the softer, cushier 2001 design did prove to be a major malfunction.

The Civic in the '70s & 80s was the typical My First Car w/ buyer's average age in the 30s.

In 2005? It was 40 years old. The Scion Xa, by comparison, is 30.

[ QUOTE ]

Of all things British that I, as an American, have trouble understanding ...<snip>..., the idea of Hondas being for old folks is perhaps the hardest...

[/ QUOTE ]

Welp, as a fellow 'Merican, I don't agree w/ your perception. Honda's Civic average buyer's age did rise in the US w/ the 2001 much softer & cushier design. Coincidence?

"I think not, baby puppy" said the Russian Blue.

Also, ever looked at who's buying Accords & Elements? Some of the younger set, yes, but there's a distinct segment of older people.

The average car buyer's age is 45. The Accord's is 46 and the Element's is 42. (For comparison, the Element's direct competition's, the Scion Xb's, average buyer's age is 36.)

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