I went off with one of my friends today, guy I got the 197 through, and he rocked up in an 07 plate CTR GT, circa 80k miles. While my wife has a CR-V (based on Civic, and has a K20), and I have driven other Civics, I had never driven a CTR, having written it off compared to the turbo'd stuff like Golf GTi, Focus ST and R26.
Anyhow, I asked if I could have a go, drove over a range of roads for around 50 miles or so, and came away really impressed. It is a much more mature car than the Clio, more so than I had expected, and really wore its miles well - having said that the only wear issues I have with my 197 are the seat bolsters (the bolster foam seems to be made of chocolate), the steering wheel (now retrimmed), and the odd squeak and rattle here and there. The interior of the Civic though looked in great shape, sure a few marks on the back of the drivers seat, but nothing untoward, steering wheel looked like new, bolsters were almost perfect, much more refined on the motorway, and a lovely tight gearbox. Other pluses are more space, better fuel economy, and depending on your viewpoint, that dash. Major negatives however are the comedy rear window and the fact that the B pillar, and therefore the seatbelt are pretty tricky to reach around the shoulder bolsters on the drivers seat. All in all though, I was very impressed. If it wasn't for the fact that it would probably cost me 2500-3000, I would even consider swapping. I did miss the keyless go, amazing how much you get used to that.
I remain very fond of my Clio, I think I probably just need to drive it more. Really looking forward to giving it some more track action next month. I was just surprised at quite how good the FN2 was.
Just wondered if anyone else had driven one, and what they thought?
Anyhow, I asked if I could have a go, drove over a range of roads for around 50 miles or so, and came away really impressed. It is a much more mature car than the Clio, more so than I had expected, and really wore its miles well - having said that the only wear issues I have with my 197 are the seat bolsters (the bolster foam seems to be made of chocolate), the steering wheel (now retrimmed), and the odd squeak and rattle here and there. The interior of the Civic though looked in great shape, sure a few marks on the back of the drivers seat, but nothing untoward, steering wheel looked like new, bolsters were almost perfect, much more refined on the motorway, and a lovely tight gearbox. Other pluses are more space, better fuel economy, and depending on your viewpoint, that dash. Major negatives however are the comedy rear window and the fact that the B pillar, and therefore the seatbelt are pretty tricky to reach around the shoulder bolsters on the drivers seat. All in all though, I was very impressed. If it wasn't for the fact that it would probably cost me 2500-3000, I would even consider swapping. I did miss the keyless go, amazing how much you get used to that.
I remain very fond of my Clio, I think I probably just need to drive it more. Really looking forward to giving it some more track action next month. I was just surprised at quite how good the FN2 was.
Just wondered if anyone else had driven one, and what they thought?
