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Litfuse

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Nearly 18 months ago, I put a deposit on a 2019 Civic Type R that was listed in my area for $2k under MSRP. I went the next day, excited as one could be to pick up my new car only to find they sold it out from under me. The dealer’s GM apologized for the inconvenience and promised me their next allocation for the same price. It left such a bad taste in my mouth I decided to buy a new 2019 Grand Sport C7 Corvette instead. That was a mistake. I never connected with the GS C7. It was a very capable car, but rather numb and boring on the street. After nine months of ownership, I sold the car and bought a new 2020 Miata ND2. It is my fourth Miata and I absolutely love the car. Actually, my new Miata is my favorite of the 61 cars I have owned in the past twenty years.
Over the past few weeks, I got the itch to get something else to add to the fleet. I test drove a new Mustang GT, GTI, STI and a Type R. I quickly narrowed my choice down to the STI and the Type R. I really enjoyed the rawness and responsiveness of the STI. After driving the Type R once again, I enjoyed its precision and refinement. After much thought, I purchased a new 2021 Type R today and will pick it up next Saturday.

I will say that even though my choice was to purchase a Type R, my experiences with Honda dealerships continued to leave a bad taste in my mouth. From high ADMs, to lack of transparency on purchasing the vehicle to the lack of customer care and respect. I nearly bought an STI instead. Honda really needs to get some of their dealerships in check. With all of this being said, I decided to push through the negative experience and hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel when my ownership begins next Saturday when I pick the car up from out of town.

I look forward to seeing how it compares to the previous cars I have owned. I realize that I need to slow down my car purchases and enjoy the car instead of chasing the next best thing. I think the CTR is going to be a great companion to my ND2. For those who are interested, some of the highlights of previous cars I have owned are: 1999 Civic SI, protuned 2005 STI, FBO and tuned 2006 GTO, FBO and tuned Mazdaspeed Miata, 2007 S2000, 2007 Lotus Elise Type 72d, 2016 tuned Miata ND1, too many Jeep Wranglers to mention from mild to extremely wild, 2019 Grand Sport C7 and finally my 2020 ND2.

I look forward to being part of the CTR community!
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SDAlexander8

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I’d say you've experienced most of the best “affordable” driver focused cars of the last two decades.

I really feel like we are looking at the last taste of true drivers cars as we move into all small engines w/ turbos, hybridization, and fully electric vehicles where you feel absolutely nothing when you drive them.

I’ve only just become more of a car enthusiast within the last few years since I can actually afford to drive something other than a beater. I test drove an AP1 S2000 and was shocked by the rawness of it. It took one shift into 2nd gear driving out of the dealership for me to look at the salesman and say “this is nothing like my Si”

How was the manual shifter in the grand sport compared to the type R? I’ve also always wondered what those late GTOs were like. I don’t see many left on the road.
 
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Litfuse

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I’d say you've experienced most of the best “affordable” driver focused cars of the last two decades.

I really feel like we are looking at the last taste of true drivers cars as we move into all small engines w/ turbos, hybridization, and fully electric vehicles where you feel absolutely nothing when you drive them.

I’ve only just become more of a car enthusiast within the last few years since I can actually afford to drive something other than a beater. I test drove an AP1 S2000 and was shocked by the rawness of it. It took one shift into 2nd gear driving out of the dealership for me to look at the salesman and say “this is nothing like my Si”

How was the manual shifter in the grand sport compared to the type R? I’ve also always wondered what those late GTOs were like. I don’t see many left on the road.
I consider myself to be very fortunate in regards to the cars I have driven and owned. I’m afraid you are right about the evolution of cars to a more autonomous driving experience. My favorites have been my Miatas and my Elise. Definitely drivers cars. The high powered v8 cars I have owned seemed like one trick ponies, minus the Corvette. The C7’s shifter was adequate, but lacked feel, like much of the car. A great car at one tenth (just cruising around) or at an extreme pace on the track. I enjoy the Type R shifter, but I actually think the shifter feel in my ND2 is better. On the flip side, one of my favorite things about the STI was the mechanical feel of the shifter. Not precise, but raw. I like to feel what a car is doing!
 

StanMan

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You'll love it. I'm at 2 years and 26k miles on my 2019 R and owning it has been nothing but a pleasure. I still have the feeling of "damn that's way too much fun" every time I get home from a drive. I don't think I will ever sell it.
 

SDAlexander8

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I consider myself to be very fortunate in regards to the cars I have driven and owned. I’m afraid you are right about the evolution of cars to a more autonomous driving experience. My favorites have been my Miatas and my Elise. Definitely drivers cars. The high powered v8 cars I have owned seemed like one trick ponies, minus the Corvette. The C7’s shifter was adequate, but lacked feel, like much of the car. A great car at one tenth (just cruising around) or at an extreme pace on the track. I enjoy the Type R shifter, but I actually think the shifter feel in my ND2 is better. On the flip side, one of my favorite things about the STI was the mechanical feel of the shifter. Not precise, but raw. I like to feel what a car is doing!
You might like some of the products that Acuity instruments sells for the civic shifters. Or even the fully adjustable shifter they sell for a more mechanical feel. I really like the solid cable bushings upgrade on my Si.
 


NapalmEnema

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Welcome, and you made the correct choice. Long line of performance cars myself and I just love love love this car. Does everything well.
 

wishistillhadmyITR

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Welcome, just got my CTR last weekend and it literally took me 3 years of on and off searching and 2 cars in between (Focus RS and M2). I hope the hype remains real- the car is fantastic so far.
 

yansag1982

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Nearly 18 months ago, I put a deposit on a 2019 Civic Type R that was listed in my area for $2k under MSRP. I went the next day, excited as one could be to pick up my new car only to find they sold it out from under me....

...I purchased a new 2021 Type R today and will pick it up next Saturday.
Hey congrats!
Hope this time you took out your phone and took photos and videos of you with the car all excited in the showroom to make sure they really get it, it's YOUR car this time ?
What colour is it? do you have a picture of the beast?
 

NapalmEnema

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Welcome, just got my CTR last weekend and it literally took me 3 years of on and off searching and 2 cars in between (Focus RS and M2). I hope the hype remains real- the car is fantastic so far.
Had mine a year and a few days now - love every chance I get to drive it. You won't get bored with it I'd wager.
 

wishistillhadmyITR

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Had mine a year and a few days now - love every chance I get to drive it. You won't get bored with it I'd wager.
I hope so! Last 3 cars lasted < 20k miles each. Car is amazing so far.
 


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Litfuse

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Hey congrats!
Hope this time you took out your phone and took photos and videos of you with the car all excited in the showroom to make sure they really get it, it's YOUR car this time ?
What colour is it? do you have a picture of the beast?
Here’s a picture of the car. I pick it up next Saturday.
Honda Civic 10th gen Full circle... 4ED3F91F-E69C-4C80-A135-87BC1293FDEF
 
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Litfuse

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Here’s a pic of my C7. I sold that car to get the CTR and my ND2.
Honda Civic 10th gen Full circle... 744ABE50-2343-49D2-B54F-1A669B562EF9
Honda Civic 10th gen Full circle... 88591CCD-5EBA-41DC-BC88-F975CD0045D7
Honda Civic 10th gen Full circle... 8C2F97C8-172B-4403-9E98-3FEE542CBA3E
 

NapalmEnema

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Great change I had a vette before and found it very numb as you did. This car is a scalpel and has wonderful driver feedback.
 

richy_rich619

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I 100% agree with you on Honda needing to have some discussions with Honda dealerships. (Well at least the SoCal dealers). I was almost not going to get the type r because of the dealership experience. I had BMWs and Lexus in the past and the Honda dealership experience was the worst.
 

Unity Performance

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Love seeing your full car list over the years, you have a great taste for driver's cars! CTR and an ND2 is the perfect daily and weekend combo - we have a FBO CTR, and I rented a ND1 Miata while in SoCal in 2019 to rip around the canyons - it's one of the last honest, no gimmick cars out there :)

The CTR comes pretty well balanced, and if the mod bug bites you then you can go many ways with the build. We've added our list of CTR parts to the site if you wanted to browse: https://unity-performance.com/collections/2017-civic-type-r

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