Buying a Type R FK8. Help and advice needed please!

[FoneiFNS]

Hello everyone, first thing first let me start by saying that I'm a TOTAL car noob and have only owned city cars and cheap sedans, so my general knowledge of cars is zero to none.

The CTR FK8 will be my very first sports car that i'm planning to own for a long time (5+ years), so I'm doing a lot of research before purchase so as to get to know it ASAP and take proper care of it instead of running into maintenance hell.

I currently live in Italy and unfortunately the CTR FK8 is an extremely rare car here, so trying to look up info about it and its ownership experience in Italian has proven to be difficult due to lack of general data, plus the italian forums about the CTR are quite inactive so my last-ditch attempt is asking the international community.


I've watched a couple vids and read some threads about its most common issues. So here are my questions about them:


1) Stock wheels/tires

- Should I replace ONLY the tires with thicker 20"s? YES/NO

- Should I replace BOTH wheels/tires with 18"s? YES/NO

- Should I just keep them stock and purchase a wheel/tire warranty? YES/NO



2) Weather conditions and choosing the right tires

- Summer, winter or all seasons?



3) Rust issue


- How bad can it get? What should I do to minimize it?

- Should I worry about rain when my ride is parked outside? Heard that water can get inside the hood scoop and damage the spark plugs. (was thinking about purchasing a weatherproof car cover)



Additional info (in case you want to give me a more detailed answer):

(WHEELS/TIRES RELATED QUESTION) I live in the northern part of Italy and the roads are somewhat decent, with highways being very well maintained (no potholes whatsoever) and urban roads with a lot of cracks, crevices and some shallow to medium sized potholes. Big potholes are rare but luckily get filled quick enough.

(TIRE CHOICE and RUST ISSUE RELATED QUESTION) Italy has a Mediterranean climate with very humid winters and sultry summers. The place where I live has a private enclosed parking space but no access to garage(s) so cars are parked outside and exposed to the weather....




Thank you everyone in advance for your answers and I apologize if this type of thread has already been posted before.

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[tinyman392]

Hello everyone, first thing first let me start by saying that I'm a TOTAL car noob and have only owned city cars and cheap sedans, so my general knowledge of cars is zero to none.

The CTR FK8 will be my very first sports car that i'm planning to own for a long time (5+ years), so I'm doing a lot of research before purchase so as to get to know it ASAP and take proper care of it instead of running into maintenance hell.

I currently live in Italy and unfortunately the CTR FK8 is an extremely rare car here, so trying to look up info about it and its ownership experience in Italian has proven to be difficult due to lack of general data, plus the italian forums about the CTR are quite inactive so my last-ditch attempt is asking the international community.

I've watched a couple vids and read some threads about its most common issues. So here are my questions about them:

1) Stock wheels/tires

- Should I replace ONLY the tires with thicker 20"s? YES/NO

- Should I replace BOTH wheels/tires with 18"s? YES/NO

- Should I just keep them stock and purchase a wheel/tire warranty? YES/NO

Honestly this is up to you. Some people really like the feel of the stock 20" rims, but there are gains and losses from moving away from them. Also keep in mind that a decent compromise would be to get a set of 19s (something like the Motegi MR924) with a 245/35/19 tire. It would offer the majority of the handling characteristics of the 20" while offering a little more sidewall.

Medium-sized pot holes may be problematic, but it's typically the bigger ones that get you with the stock rims. Some members here have had a lot of luck with their 20's (I never had an issue with the one winter I ran them in Chicagoland, city of potholes) while others have no luck and bend 2-3 rims in a year.

2) Weather conditions and choosing the right tires

- Summer, winter or all seasons?

Tires have an optimal temperature range they prefer to work in:

• Summer: 30C or higher, they'll typically be able to run all the way down to 5C, but I probably wouldn't do it lower than 10C. These are good for dry and wet weather.
• All season: -10C - 25. You can run them warmer and it is safe to do so, but they won't have as much traction as a summer in those conditions. Going colder than -10 is doable too, but once you start getting in the lower temps, you're better off with a winter tire. These types of tires are typically safe even below -10C (as long as you're not driving like a maniac) and can handle light snow (<6cm). If you regularly see plowed roads, you'll be fine with this.
• Winter: 0C or lower is where they're optimal. If you run them while it's warm out you'll wear them out completely. Typically not recommended to run them above 5C. If you see snow and ice, this is the tire you'd definitely want.

These recommendations are general and will vary depending on what specific tire you choose.

3) Rust issue
- How bad can it get? What should I do to minimize it?

- Should I worry about rain when my ride is parked outside? Heard that water can get inside the hood scoop and damage the spark plugs. (was thinking about purchasing a weatherproof car cover)

This car is generally very new still, so rust issues are very rare. There are oil-based anticorrosion sprays that you can reapply annually. Undercoating seems not so recommended nowadays. Keep in mind that the metal is zinc plated from the factory (I think it's zinc), so realistically unless you're driving around in salt, rocks, etc that will damage and/or eat the plating, you'll likely not see rust (outside surface rust on some surfaces.

Additional info (in case you want to give me a more detailed answer):

(WHEELS/TIRES RELATED QUESTION) I live in the northern part of Italy and the roads are somewhat decent, with highways being very well maintained (no potholes whatsoever) and urban roads with a lot of cracks, crevices and some shallow to medium sized potholes. Big potholes are rare but luckily get filled quick enough.

(TIRE CHOICE and RUST ISSUE RELATED QUESTION) Italy has a Mediterranean climate with very humid winters and sultry summers. The place where I live has a private enclosed parking space but no access to garage(s) so cars are parked outside and exposed to the weather....

Thank you everyone in advance for your answers and I apologize if this type of thread has already been posted before.

 

[wildbilly32]

I am guessing you don't have snow so why buy all seasons unless you do? We do have winter around here so I did replace the stock tires with all seasons in case we need it as a second winter car...unlikely though. I moved from the 30 aspect to a 35 aspect tire and gained 1/2" taller sidewall to help protect the rims. Throws the speedometer off just a small amount but the handling is still stable and very similar to the stock tires.

 

[Eugene_Fk8]

for daily: I'm fine with 20s, but they do get damage from bad roads very fast.
for track: you will need 18s

weather condition will apply only to whether you will need winter tire. As long as the area you living doesn't go below 0 at winter, no need for all season just go all the time to summer tires.

no rust so far after a year, I'm living in LA.

 

[JDM Power]

You may find some information about rust, here :

 

[TheGreekFreak]

Good choice on first performance car. Some people go straight into higher horsepower RWD cars and take out crowds on sidewalks at car events. While preferable to start in even slower sports cars to really learn about controlling vehicles with various drivetrains at the limit, this FWD hot hatch with all the nannies should be plenty safe unless you have absolutely zero common sense.

For your questions, you'll get different answers depending on who you ask, but here's my approach:

1) I put 245/35/20 michelin AS3+ tires on my oem wheels as my "winter" all season set. These are good enough in the dry for most spirited street driving but the stock summers are still just a bit better when pushing the car hard through the corners (most people won't notice). Like others have mentioned, I always do good all season tires for months where the temps are lower, and a summer set of wheels/high performance summer street tires (like the michelin PS4S) in the summer. Gives you the best of both worlds. Don't buy a quick car and cheap out on tires! Others keep the summers on the stock wheels and get smaller wheels for their all season set, since it gives you even more sidewall and smaller tires are cheaper.

2) I always go performance all season for colder months and performance summers for warmer months. I put the summers on the lighter wheel set and the all seasons on the heavier. Others will swear you NEED winter tires instead of all seasons.....I do just fine here in Boston, even in light snow, but I also don't drive much in the snow and never in heavy snow.

3) No one knows about long term rust yet, it's too soon, but I always wash the undercarriage with a pressure washer once a week in the winter to knock the salt off. Should be enough and doesn't take long. DON'T use automatic car washes, go to a bay and do it yourself so nothing touches the paint and swirls the shit out of it. Also, learn to properly wash your car, as most people don't and mess up the finish.

But you're in italy, I wouldn't worry about rust as much unless you encounter salt up north or something. Seriously though, learn to properly wash, seal, and wax the car yourself and it will be fine outside. If you do it right, maintaining it isn't bad (maybe two thorough wash, seal, wax sessions a year with regular washes + top off inbetween).

 

[Salespunk]

Hello everyone, first thing first let me start by saying that I'm a TOTAL car noob and have only owned city cars and cheap sedans, so my general knowledge of cars is zero to none.

The CTR FK8 will be my very first sports car that i'm planning to own for a long time (5+ years), so I'm doing a lot of research before purchase so as to get to know it ASAP and take proper care of it instead of running into maintenance hell.

I currently live in Italy and unfortunately the CTR FK8 is an extremely rare car here, so trying to look up info about it and its ownership experience in Italian has proven to be difficult due to lack of general data, plus the italian forums about the CTR are quite inactive so my last-ditch attempt is asking the international community.


I've watched a couple vids and read some threads about its most common issues. So here are my questions about them:


1) Stock wheels/tires

- Should I replace ONLY the tires with thicker 20"s? YES/NO

- Should I replace BOTH wheels/tires with 18"s? YES/NO

- Should I just keep them stock and purchase a wheel/tire warranty? YES/NO



2) Weather conditions and choosing the right tires

- Summer, winter or all seasons?



3) Rust issue


- How bad can it get? What should I do to minimize it?

- Should I worry about rain when my ride is parked outside? Heard that water can get inside the hood scoop and damage the spark plugs. (was thinking about purchasing a weatherproof car cover)



Additional info (in case you want to give me a more detailed answer):

(WHEELS/TIRES RELATED QUESTION) I live in the northern part of Italy and the roads are somewhat decent, with highways being very well maintained (no potholes whatsoever) and urban roads with a lot of cracks, crevices and some shallow to medium sized potholes. Big potholes are rare but luckily get filled quick enough.

(TIRE CHOICE and RUST ISSUE RELATED QUESTION) Italy has a Mediterranean climate with very humid winters and sultry summers. The place where I live has a private enclosed parking space but no access to garage(s) so cars are parked outside and exposed to the weather....




Thank you everyone in advance for your answers and I apologize if this type of thread has already been posted before.

My CTR lives outside in the rain. No issues, it is a modern car. If rain hurt it there would be class action lawsuits in the US.

Regarding tires, unless the temperature gets below 40 degrees F/3 degrees C consistently I wouldn't worry about All Seasons. It is normally 45 degrees F in the mornings here and it is a non issue.

 

[FoneiFNS]

Honestly this is up to you. Some people really like the feel of the stock 20" rims, but there are gains and losses from moving away from them. Also keep in mind that a decent compromise would be to get a set of 19s (something like the Motegi MR924) with a 245/35/19 tire. It would offer the majority of the handling characteristics of the 20" while offering a little more sidewall.

Medium-sized pot holes may be problematic, but it's typically the bigger ones that get you with the stock rims. Some members here have had a lot of luck with their 20's (I never had an issue with the one winter I ran them in Chicagoland, city of potholes) while others have no luck and bend 2-3 rims in a year.



Tires have an optimal temperature range they prefer to work in:

• Summer: 30C or higher, they'll typically be able to run all the way down to 5C, but I probably wouldn't do it lower than 10C. These are good for dry and wet weather.
• All season: -10C - 25. You can run them warmer and it is safe to do so, but they won't have as much traction as a summer in those conditions. Going colder than -10 is doable too, but once you start getting in the lower temps, you're better off with a winter tire. These types of tires are typically safe even below -10C (as long as you're not driving like a maniac) and can handle light snow (<6cm). If you regularly see plowed roads, you'll be fine with this.
• Winter: 0C or lower is where they're optimal. If you run them while it's warm out you'll wear them out completely. Typically not recommended to run them above 5C. If you see snow and ice, this is the tire you'd definitely want.

These recommendations are general and will vary depending on what specific tire you choose.



This car is generally very new still, so rust issues are very rare. There are oil-based anticorrosion sprays that you can reapply annually. Undercoating seems not so recommended nowadays. Keep in mind that the metal is zinc plated from the factory (I think it's zinc), so realistically unless you're driving around in salt, rocks, etc that will damage and/or eat the plating, you'll likely not see rust (outside surface rust on some surfaces.

Thank you so much for such detailed answer! After some consideration about the weather in my place, I guess i'm gonna go for 20" tires all-season and keep on the OEM wheels.

As for rust issues, i'll check the car rigorously often.

I am guessing you don't have snow so why buy all seasons unless you do? We do have winter around here so I did replace the stock tires with all seasons in case we need it as a second winter car...unlikely though. I moved from the 30 aspect to a 35 aspect tire and gained 1/2" taller sidewall to help protect the rims. Throws the speedometer off just a small amount but the handling is still stable and very similar to the stock tires.

Yep. Snows very rarely here at my place and as mentioned in my post, Italy has very humid winters.... So very light snowfall (less than 2 times a year) but mostly moderate rain.

There hasn't been a blizzard in 17 years so I guess all-season tires are the way to go. Although summers tend to become very hot and sultry (+35C / >95 F)

Thanks for the help!

for daily: I'm fine with 20s, but they do get damage from bad roads very fast.
for track: you will need 18s

weather condition will apply only to whether you will need winter tire. As long as the area you living doesn't go below 0 at winter, no need for all season just go all the time to summer tires.

no rust so far after a year, I'm living in LA.

I'm sure i'll keep this car as a daily drive and it probably won't see the track since I have very little leisure time.

I manage a small business with my family and basically work 6 days and a half out of 7. My workshift is about 80 to 90 hours a week. So only free time is every Sunday(s) afternoon.

Going out for some spirited driving would be enough for me to enjoy this ride.

Winters don't get too cold in my city so I guess i'm gonna go for all-season tires that offer more sidewall compared to the stock ones. I'm just too scared of plotholes now after seeing many CTR owners complaining about tires/wheels getting damaged by them and the urban roads condition here is terrible!

Glad to hear rust is not a common issue.

Anyways, thanks for the help!

You may find some information about rust, here :

Thank you. Gonna watch them and take notes

Good choice on first performance car. Some people go straight into higher horsepower RWD cars and take out crowds on sidewalks at car events. While preferable to start in even slower sports cars to really learn about controlling vehicles with various drivetrains at the limit, this FWD hot hatch with all the nannies should be plenty safe unless you have absolutely zero common sense.

For your questions, you'll get different answers depending on who you ask, but here's my approach:

1) I put 245/35/20 michelin AS3+ tires on my oem wheels as my "winter" all season set. These are good enough in the dry for most spirited street driving but the stock summers are still just a bit better when pushing the car hard through the corners (most people won't notice). Like others have mentioned, I always do good all season tires for months where the temps are lower, and a summer set of wheels/high performance summer street tires (like the michelin PS4S) in the summer. Gives you the best of both worlds. Don't buy a quick car and cheap out on tires! Others keep the summers on the stock wheels and get smaller wheels for their all season set, since it gives you even more sidewall and smaller tires are cheaper.

2) I always go performance all season for colder months and performance summers for warmer months. I put the summers on the lighter wheel set and the all seasons on the heavier. Others will swear you NEED winter tires instead of all seasons.....I do just fine here in Boston, even in light snow, but I also don't drive much in the snow and never in heavy snow.

3) No one knows about long term rust yet, it's too soon, but I always wash the undercarriage with a pressure washer once a week in the winter to knock the salt off. Should be enough and doesn't take long. DON'T use automatic car washes, go to a bay and do it yourself so nothing touches the paint and swirls the shit out of it. Also, learn to properly wash your car, as most people don't and mess up the finish.

But you're in italy, I wouldn't worry about rust as much unless you encounter salt up north or something. Seriously though, learn to properly wash, seal, and wax the car yourself and it will be fine outside. If you do it right, maintaining it isn't bad (maybe two thorough wash, seal, wax sessions a year with regular washes + top off inbetween).

Thank you very much for the answer! First two lines had me laughing hard. Were you mentioning the Ford Mustang? LOL.

I believe I won't push the car too hard nor abuse it. I consider myself to be a responsible driver, I always use turn signals, abide to the traffic laws, never got pulled over by cops, never drove under the influence, never got fines of any sorts in my 4 years since I got my driving license so i'll really try my best to keep my future CTR in top-notch conditions.

As for tires, my final decision seems to be gravitating towards all-season 20" and keep the OEM wheels.

Extra thank you for the washing advice!

My CTR lives outside in the rain. No issues, it is a modern car. If rain hurt it there would be class action lawsuits in the US.

Regarding tires, unless the temperature gets below 40 degrees F/3 degrees C consistently I wouldn't worry about All Seasons. It is normally 45 degrees F in the mornings here and it is a non issue.

Glad to hear that! I may get a weatherproof car cover in case rain gets heavy during fall and winter though!

Thank you for the contribution!

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