Well I'm back after driving the FN2 GT Type R on a mixture of roads, including roundabout laden dual carriageways and on some twisty backroads. I gave the guy at the dealership a bit of a fright
Well, start off with the looks. It's an incredibly good looking car from all angles at the front. I like the front lip, the mesh grille and the headlights. The MPV wipers kind of spoil the shape though. From the side it looks as if they didn't really know what to do with the back end of the car. It gives the impression that the designers really didn't know what to do and joined up a few lines. It has a very aggressive stance, and the side reinforces this, but the back end is extremely fussy. It's kind of like when you draw something and give up by just joining two lines together with a ruler. One line on the car leads into more that lead sinto more. I stand by my initial comments of the first pics that were released. The wheels are nice though, and look much better in real life.
The inside is very nice indeed, and makes my DC5 look old. But the buttons all over the steering wheel and dash make it feel like your in a BMW packed with extra's. The seats are not too dissimilar form my Recaro's and are a major improvement of the EP3 non premier seats. The wife sat in the back and she was impressed with the room, and the extra storage space under the seat. The driving position was far too high though, even when the salesman opened the door I looked and thought the car sat too high. Overall it's a really nice place to be on long drives and the daily commute, but on a track there are far too many things to mess about with.
Onto the drive then. The salesman went out first, and blatantly didn't have a clue. He dropped it into 2nd at 50 and went straight onto the limiter for a good 5 seconds before finally changing. I was just thinking, give me the keys knobber. Finally I got behind the wheel and off we went. Played around with the low end torque, of which there seems more then the EP3 before finally caning it in third from about 30 mph. The engine note is louder then the EP3, a bit like an open cone filter, but less hard edged, I think due to the extra sound deadening. The car picks up very nice, and incredibly smooth due to the low cam switch and the fake VTEC hit being taken out. But it was a little too linear, even my KPRO'd DC5 has a noticeable step up after about 5k rpm. The car does shift though, on cam it revs quickly and the gears are over quickly, far too quickly I think, are the ratio's that much shorter?
Went over a few round abouts, hard on the brakes, fast through the corner and hard on the gas for the first time. I don't know if it has traction control or not, but it was extremely tight. Even in the complete lack of steering feel I got the feeling that the car didn't want to unsettle. So the next one I give it the full beans as if I was sat in my DC5. It under steers a a bit, but under control and the slight lift off can is rewarded with the back end wanting to slide out, even though it was far too easy to do so, a bit too easy I think. When this happens, it does take care of itself very well and responds to inputs from the driver eagerly. The seats hold you in nicely too, all adding to the experience. Overall the car is very nice to drive, though it felt heavy. I got more of a feeling that the car handled the weight well to the car handling the changes in direction well. It's certainly more civilised then the EP3 when you push on, but it lacks a certain hard edge of the old car that made it fun to drive. In the FN2 you get the feeling that you're being taken care off rather then you taking care of the car. Need I mention again that it feels heavy? Speed wise it seems fast, and could probably keep up with the old EP3 to about 70-80 but after that I think it would be left wanting.
It would be a great family car for someone who wants a fast hatchback that's practical and comfortable on long journeys, but I don't think it's a car for the Type R enthusiast. Buy a DC5 instead or stick with the EP3 as from what the salesman said today, the prices should stabalise now. In a way I'm disappointed that the car felt the way it did. After reading some comments on here I was thinking that I'd be in for a surprise, but I wasn't. It feels slow, feels heavy, the back end doesn't feel in control , and while it corners well it didn't feel fast you kind of get the feeling that you should be going faster but the car can't. You certainly don't get that "wow" factor that most get from the EP3.
I preferred the drive of the FN2 over my old EP3, but the EP3 was much more fun to drive aggressively. The EP3 is the hooligan car and the FN2 is the grown up conservative car.
Sorry Honda, but you'll have to do better for me.