Help me decide--2019 CTR or 2018 M2?

[VinRRR]

I would take the M2 over the CTR. Like some others mentioned, the M2 is a 60K car, and the CTR is a 35K. One is a luxury sport performance coupe, and one is a economy performance hot hatch. So if you’re used to the luxury, the premium feel, the features comfort and the refinement of a C43, you’ll find yourself being more satisfied with the M2. The CTR is a great car for its price, and I love it. But it has its short coming. It’s loud on the highway, crappy stereo system, rattles, vibrates, no heated steering wheels, no heated seat, no automatic seat, etc. But I love it because of its mod ability. Parts are cheap and Honda reliability. It is also very easy to work on. Can’t say that about BMW.

Despite all the hype around the Type R, I find it the same as my 2013 Evo X, which was first released in 2007. It’s more refined and has better tech than the Evo X, but the driving experience is similar. So to me, the type R isn’t all that impressive as how it is hyped up on the internet. What impresses me is how Honda is able to pull it off with the FWD platform.

I think the ownership experience is something to consider as well. I’m sure you know this with your C43. BMW offers 3 years maintenance free. My X3 had 4 years of maintenance free, and I never had to worry about it the first 4 years. Just drop it off at the service department, take a nice loaner and come back whenever it’s done. Also, in term of reliability, I think BMW is pretty reliable if you take good care of it. Yes, it comes to maintenance, its expensive and parts are expensive, but that’s the price you pay for owning a luxury car. My 2015 X3 has 45k miles on it now, and so far, I have zero issues. I think it comes down to expections. When you pay more for a car, you expect more so any small things happen, you’ll bring it to the dealer to fix (rattle). I went nuts when my X3 had a rattle in the dash. When you own a cheaper car, you tend to expect those to happen. My Type R has rattles here and there, but I accepted it.

That’s my opinion. Both cars will be a future classic. You can’t go wrong with either choices.

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[samji]

CTR is really easy to drive fast. Lift off/trail brake through a turn, you can get on the throttle pretty early half way through. Stiffen up the rear and you can rotate easier. In stock form it carries tons of speed through turns. It took me awhile to actually find the limit as I wasn't sure how fast I could actually go, mainly because I couldn't believe the car was sticking to the road this fast. Understeer is there, but I've mainly only really noticed it on low speed very tight turns. The rear brakes will help a lot with that automatically after it understeers.

From watching people's reviews of the m2 it seems to over steer very easily. In Matt Farah's track review he was pretty annoyed by how heavy it felt and that it slid all over the place. Though if you're not planning to track it then that doesn't matter much.

Not sure on how easy it is to add power to the m2, but the FK8 is stupid expensive for a little gain.

Don't really have a suggestion to what to actually get because I'd be biased towards the type r. Though I know it's easier to drive fast and less butt clenching on very tight twisty roads

I think this may be the best answer.

I actually don't need any of the practicality of the Type R like OP. If it came in a coupe form, I would've bought that over the 4 door any day.

At the end of the day, the M2 is slightly more expensive to maintain and both are about the same in terms of making more power (we aren't talking about the M2C since we're comparing MY18 models) as both need considerable amount of money to make reliable HP. Example, the Type R with FBO/Tune will make about the same power as a Golf R with just a tune.

- The Type R will be easier to drive faster for the majority of us even though objectively, the M2 is probably faster in most situations when driven by a professional racecar driver. Both can be competitive track cars with some modifications.

- M2 = Effortless (bordering on too much) oversteer vs CTR = situational oversteer (off throttle oversteer does happen, given the right conditions). Type R will understeer on some corners, like if you're going downhill around a tight corner on off-camber tarmac. Can't get around physics when the front two wheels are doing all the steering, stopping and putting the power down.

- Both cars have relative cooling issues

- If you want to do touge style driving, type R may be easier to manage with more predictability in its handling. If you like to hoon around on skid pads and sound/style is important, M2 all the way.

- Biggest reason I chose CTR over and M2 though, is because for a little bit more $$ over a used M2, I was able to get a brand new CTR. Objectively speaking, the M2 should be the better buy since it comes with more standard options, more power, more refinement and arguably better looks. But I couldn't shake off the feeling of wondering if the previous owner took care of the car and did all the maintenance on time. I think if the M2 was 10k cheaper, (in the 25-30k range), I probably would've went with the M2. But with the used prices at the time I was in the market for a car, I felt like a new CTR would be better on the long run since I can control/monitor all the maintenance from the start.

 

[Frackz]

And just like that you became the most hated person of the internet.
I'm the #1 hater.

no way buddy that award is yours LOL.. i see your from FL... and i woke up to a whoping -2C today.. lol

 

[heavyD]

Copying and pasting from the BMW website vehicle technical specs lol.

Adding to the thread-

The M2 is a good car for sure but it can't really compete with the Type R because the Type R outdoes it all over the place for way less. The M2 competition is a much better comparison to the Type R but is again hard to justify the price increase.

The Civic Type R gets better lap times than the BMW M2 on the Nurburgring and in basically every single track that has been tested by automotive journalists. Simply put, the Type R is a higher performance track car. Fact is, the Type R gets better lap times than modern M3s and M4s on the track too.

The Type R has a better stick shift than the M2. BMW doesn't make a car at any price with a stick shift as good as the one in the Type R. That by itself is honestly enough reason to pick the Type R imo.

The Type R has better seats than the M2 and also a better driving position. The seat isn't even straight in the M2, you are facing forward at an angle.

The Type R is much lighter than the M2.

The Type R can corner at higher speeds and can brake later into corners than the M2.

The Type R is lower cost to maintain and is going to be much more reliable long term.

The Type R will hold its value much better than the M2.

Practicality is no contest of course - the Civic Hatch is the best in class hatchback for a reason.

Normally a car that is a great value has a whole bunch of drawbacks but the Type R really doesn't have many. It's an exceptional car for its time.

Where are all these tracks where the Type R is faster? The Honda Nurburgring Type R time doesn't count because it was a pre production car.

M2 is a few seconds quicker around VIR;

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15099558/bmw-m2-at-lightning-lap-2016-feature/

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23132568/2018-honda-civic-type-r-lightning-lap-2018/

Here's a thread from here that shows apples to apples times on the Nurburgring by Sport Auto magazine on a production Civic Type R vs M2 which are basically a dead heat.

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/new-ctr-nürburgring-test-in-sport-auto.20360/

Little doubt the Type R is an overachiever but the M2 is so much quicker in a straight line and RWD > FWD for fun factor. Also the track times of the Type R don't translate to the street where it's relatively average in straight line acceleration pales to a lot of fast SUV's. The M2 is fast on the street like it is on the track. I fear the OP will miss that fun he had with the Focus RS as the Type R just isn't capable of that kind of fun on the street while the M2 is.

 

[ez12a]

CTR is a much more refined version of the MS3. If you dont see yourself buying another MS3, get an M2.

 

[boosted180sx]

if i was to do it over again, i'd probably get a M2.

 

[tailsctr916]

Both plate forms is good it just come down to how fat your pockets is cause if your looking to get the most out of both vehicles the m2 is going have a higher ceiling. But if your looking for a fun daily and you need the practicality from the hatch i would go with ctr. If you care about straight line performance/ freeway pulls the m2 definitely going be the winner with its higher ceiling. Most of the people that have the ctrs has less then 400whp with fbo and tuned. With the m2 and tune its not even comparable. I love my type r but its not for everyone. I didn’t mention nothing about the track cause both is more then capable and comes down to drive mod.

 

[TPDxSI]

You're asking this on a civicx thread, so most of the answers will be CTR. I'd take the M2 9 times out of 10

 

[GeezR]

If you are serious about doing track days, look at the answers in the recent thread "Questions about track setup for Type R" and threads referenced there. I sold my Type R after 6 months as it was going to cost too much $ to get it track-ready. Probably the nicest car I have ever owned, and that includes my '08 M3. But the Type R has too many systemic problems that surface under hard track use and track use was part of my plan for the car.

 

[junktea1]

I test drove an 2018 M2 for about 10 miles. The experience imo vs. a CTR is completely different. Reliability, cost of maintenance, looks, etc. Minus the rationality & based upon solely driving experience of a stock car w/out modifications, I prefer the M2.

Raspy, loud. I feel like I'm driving a go-kart with oversteer. CTR is more conservative, quiet, reserved. Minus the $ consideration, the M2 is more fun. Not considering track specs, mods., etc.

 

[Zeffy94]

If you are serious about doing track days, look at the answers in the recent thread "Questions about track setup for Type R" and threads referenced there. I sold my Type R after 6 months as it was going to cost too much $ to get it track-ready. Probably the nicest car I have ever owned, and that includes my '08 M3. But the Type R has too many systemic problems that surface under hard track use and track use was part of my plan for the car.

Curious, what were the biggest issues that led you to sell? (And what'd you sell it for if anything?) The obvious one I know about is heat soak on prolonged track days.

 

[123sillyboy123]

I changed a big RSB and it changes how the car behave exiting corner high speed, i meant, it wont oversteer like how RWD but I do manage to oversteer it tiny bit depends on the throttle.
My neighbour works in dealership, he constantly driving between a M2 and Type R.. I asked him which one he likes more, he said Type R all day long. I personally never drive a M2 so I cant compare to give you review.

 

[fatherpain]

How about this scenario:

A 60k M2 (that must be kept stock)

VS

A 60k modded Type R.

In this hypothetical question, you are hard capped at 60k to spend and no resale. It’s a keeper car

 

[kwk1]

When I used to auto cross first was with FWD my times were faster, but RWD was just more fun. On the street, no difference to me.

 

[RS27]

I was a bmw insane enthusiast nutjob from 2000-about 2014. Owned 15 of them. Still have a slick top E46 M3. The last of the greats. Take my advice. Do NOT buy what the suv-loving BMW has become. They make absolute garbage cars now. I am in the service industry with heavy ties to the local BMW service center. The stories are horrifying. You think Honda has gone soft of reliability? Boy do I have stories for you.....

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