Tested the Type-R in Sweden, my impressions!

So I was invited to the local Honda dealer today to check out one of the first cars in Sweden. I was allowed to take it for a first test drive and here are my thoughts:

1. It looked a bit better in reality, not super stylish but it looked aggressive and quite cool.
2. The interior was quite nice, not Audi quality but OK and I kind of like the design how it looks also.
3. The seats were very good, both supportive and comfortable.
4. The turn in is very good and it is not setup to under-steer, it felt neutral.
5. It felt slower than I was hoping, my M3 E46 feels quicker in a straight line.
6. The shifter felt good, but far from as good as an S2000 (Although I understand that you will never get the same feel in a wire based shifter as you get with a good RWD manual car where the shifter can be connected in a much stiffer way to the gearbox)
7. When you changed gear under full acceleration, you get a split second of no torque when you go on the next gear. This felt quite poor and a N/A motor normally has much better pickup and feel when you get the torque back as son as you put your foot down. Here you can clearly feel that the engine is small. My M3 has much better feel just when you put the next gear in and push the pedal down. An S2000 is also better in this respect.
8. The clutch is too easy to operate and could have been harder, feels like a granny car.
9. It does not make any sound, aftermarket exhaust is probably a must! Can someone please make a good exhaust with nice sounds and no drone?

In general I liked it, but I would not buy one new, the FK2 had terrible resell value so I will wait and see if you can get a FK8 cheap in about 2 years. I hope than that you can buy upgraded coolers so it is possible to run 400hp at the track without issues.

iqbad said:

So I was invited to the local Honda dealer today to check out one of the first cars in Sweden. I was allowed to take it for a first test drive and here are my thoughts:

1. It looked a bit better in reality, not super stylish but it looked aggressive and quite cool.
2. The interior was quite nice, not Audi quality but OK and I kind of like the design how it looks also.
3. The seats were very good, both supportive and comfortable.
4. The turn in is very good and it is not setup to under-steer, it felt neutral.
5. It felt slower than I was hoping, my M3 E46 feels quicker in a straight line.
6. The shifter felt good, but far from as good as an S2000 (Although I understand that you will never get the same feel in a wire based shifter as you get with a good RWD manual car where the shifter can be connected in a much stiffer way to the gearbox)
7. When you changed gear under full acceleration, you get a split second of no torque when you go on the next gear. This felt quite poor and a N/A motor normally has much better pickup and feel when you get the torque back as son as you put your foot down. Here you can clearly feel that the engine is small. My M3 has much better feel just when you put the next gear in and push the pedal down. An S2000 is also better in this respect.
8. The clutch is too easy to operate and could have been harder, feels like a granny car.
9. It does not make any sound, aftermarket exhaust is probably a must! Can someone please make a good exhaust with nice sounds and no drone?

In general I liked it, but I would not buy one new, the FK2 had terrible resell value so I will wait and see if you can get a FK8 cheap in about 2 years. I hope than that you can buy upgraded coolers so it is possible to run 400hp at the track without issues.

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I had similar driving impressions when I test drove it 2 months ago. The problem is the price in the U.S. market. With ADM from some dealers in CA, I can get a BMW M2. What is the Type R price in Sweden in US dollars?

The Type-R is about 48000 usd and if you want a m2 you have to pay approximately 75000 usd. The fk2 dropped about 35% during the first two years but I think maybe the fk8 will hold its value a bit better. It is a better car and it looks nicer.

To be fair comparing the M2 or M3 to the Type R is not apples to apples. It's competition is the STI, RS, Golf R (or GTI Clubsport, Cupra, etc if you are in Europe). Against those cars it's shortcomings are less glaring and it outshines those cars in handling prowess.

iqbad said:

So I was invited to the local Honda dealer today to check out one of the first cars in Sweden. I was allowed to take it for a first test drive and here are my thoughts:

1. It looked a bit better in reality, not super stylish but it looked aggressive and quite cool.
2. The interior was quite nice, not Audi quality but OK and I kind of like the design how it looks also.
3. The seats were very good, both supportive and comfortable.
4. The turn in is very good and it is not setup to under-steer, it felt neutral.
5. It felt slower than I was hoping, my M3 E46 feels quicker in a straight line.
6. The shifter felt good, but far from as good as an S2000 (Although I understand that you will never get the same feel in a wire based shifter as you get with a good RWD manual car where the shifter can be connected in a much stiffer way to the gearbox)
7. When you changed gear under full acceleration, you get a split second of no torque when you go on the next gear. This felt quite poor and a N/A motor normally has much better pickup and feel when you get the torque back as son as you put your foot down. Here you can clearly feel that the engine is small. My M3 has much better feel just when you put the next gear in and push the pedal down. An S2000 is also better in this respect.
8. The clutch is too easy to operate and could have been harder, feels like a granny car.
9. It does not make any sound, aftermarket exhaust is probably a must! Can someone please make a good exhaust with nice sounds and no drone?

In general I liked it, but I would not buy one new, the FK2 had terrible resell value so I will wait and see if you can get a FK8 cheap in about 2 years. I hope than that you can buy upgraded coolers so it is possible to run 400hp at the track without issues.

Click to expand...

Fair points

how did it feel for normal driving? Was it nice and smooth? Good torque down low? I'm coming from a focus st with a 93 flash and air intake and it has a really good feel. I'm looking for an upgrade if possible. 99 percent of the time I'll just be driving to work

I thought it felt slower than expected new as well and realized a few things after about 2,500 miles. Not only has this thing really come to life after about 1,500 miles, but it still appears to be getting faster. It also is MUCH more responsive in +R mode (duh, right?). I agree that the turbo lag on shifting is noticeable & slightly annoying. My previous Accord V-6 MT had instant throttle response, but obviously a naturally aspirated V-6 is a different animal.

It's important to understand this is not a 0-60 set up, nor where this car shines. Boost seems to be retarded in 1st & 2nd gear to manage wheel spin, so it doesn't pull like a big displacement motor from a dig. Where this car really impresses is above 60 mph. It feels like it gets full boost in 3rd - 6th & it absolutely flies from 60 up. It is certainly set up to impress on a track, not stop light to stop light. It really is difficult to drive this car to its potential on the street if you are being responsible.

The more I drive the FK8 the more I like it. The handling is just superb for FWD; so balanced & everything is uber tight.

Thanks. I will definitely have to drive one then. My focus st has a small turbo and it doesnt pull hard beyond 3k rpm, but the torque is there down low with no noticeable power loss between gear shifts. It actually feels like a big displacement motor down low. The Cobb tune made a world of difference beyond 3k rpm. I has hoping that since the torque numbers are there for the Type R it would give me the same feel. I also think they are going to go with a 1.5 in 2018 for the st which will probably hurt and big gains from the aftermarket. I really wish they had these in town to test drive, but I'm thinking this is such a limited run I may never be able to test drive one. I may just look at a mustang gt. Base models are cheaper than the type R, but I really like the feel of the smaller car better. Decisions, decisions.

J35W2 said:

Boost seems to be retarded in 1st & 2nd gear to manage wheel spin, so it doesn't pull like a big displacement motor from a dig. Where this car really impresses is above 60 mph. It feels like it gets full boost in 3rd - 6th & it absolutely flies from 60 up.

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I don't know whether that's true about 1st and 2nd being limited but I did think it might be as my car just feels like it doesn't want to be hurried too much until you get into 3rd, then away we go. The other thing I noticed, coming from a Focus ST with a Mountune 275hp kit, is that I wasn't revving the CTR enough to start with because the ST seemed to make its power lower down the range and didn't need revving as high so I was used to changing up earlier. That was actually quite handy to help with not overdoing things till the break-in was done on the CTR, but since then I've retrained myself to take it nearer to the red line before changing up and you really do feel the benefit! I think if I'd kept changing up where I did in the ST I would have been a bit disappointed with the CTR, as I'd have been missing the top end rush.

I really enjoy the thrill of acceleration from a dead stop and in that regard, my CTR disappoints. On the other hand, this car has so much goddamn power when it's in its power band ~4k RPM and moving 60 miles an hour. It's so incredibly easy to move from 50-90 mph and you can get some scary acceleration in that band. It's also smoooooth when doing it. You step on the gas, look down at your speedometer, and go "oh shit..."