FN Type R? - real life

[Ankh87]

Hi all.

I'm looking to move away from my Bugeye Impreza WRX due to it costing a hell of a lot to run as a daily. I'd rather not spend £360 a month just on fuel to work and back taking it steady all the way. I do 35 miles to work and 35 back. 90% of that is motorway.

I'm really not wanting a diesel as well I know I'll get bored after a while so option is FN Type R. What are people's real life experience with them a daily commuters? Can they take 370+ miles a week? Fuel consumption expected? Should I just bite the bullet and get a diesel?

Cheers

[Andy S15]

Ankh87 said:

Hi all.

I'm looking to move away from my Bugeye Impreza WRX due to it costing a hell of a lot to run as a daily. I'd rather not spend £360 a month just on fuel to work and back taking it steady all the way. I do 35 miles to work and 35 back. 90% of that is motorway.

I'm really not wanting a diesel as well I know I'll get bored after a while so option is FN Type R. What are people's real life experience with them a daily commuters? Can they take 370+ miles a week? Fuel consumption expected? Should I just bite the bullet and get a diesel?

Cheers

I do around 250 miles a week in mine, mixed driving but mostly B roads. It's great, but very stiff. I've improved the ride quality on mine by dropping from the 19's to the 18's and it's much better now. Practicality is great, loadspace is huge and flat folding rear seats is a bonus. Comfort is good, seats are very comfortable, refinement is decent, no excessive road noise (especially for the class). I put my foot down now and then and I usually get around 32mpg on the computer. I've had as much as 44mpg on a 150 mile trip to Devon at 60 the whole way.

You may get tired of it on motorways all the time though, its too stiff to ever settle down and you'll constantly be driving to avoid road imperfections. They are good all rounders, but for your frequency of motorway use it might not be the most sensible choice. Drive one and see what you think - but avoid the factory 19's, and go for the GT pack so you get the extra toys (cruise etc).

[Ankh87]

Andy S15 said:

I do around 250 miles a week in mine, mixed driving but mostly B roads. It's great, but very stiff. I've improved the ride quality on mine by dropping from the 19's to the 18's and it's much better now. Practicality is great, loadspace is huge and flat folding rear seats is a bonus. Comfort is good, seats are very comfortable, refinement is decent, no excessive road noise (especially for the class). I put my foot down now and then and I usually get around 32mpg on the computer. I've had as much as 44mpg on a 150 mile trip to Devon at 60 the whole way.

You may get tired of it on motorways all the time though, its too stiff to ever settle down and you'll constantly be driving to avoid road imperfections. They are good all rounders, but for your frequency of motorway use it might not be the most sensible choice. Drive one and see what you think - but avoid the factory 19's, and go for the GT pack so you get the extra toys (cruise etc).

Thanks. I'd 100% get a GT. Cruise control would be ideal for me. Making sure I stick to 60mph. I think I get around 26-28mpg out of the WRX but any time I boot it that soon drops to low 20s which is far from ideal. I tend to do say 20 miles on motorway. 10 Miles on A roads which are mostly dual carriageways and the 5 miles or so are city centre roads so I'm hoping if I got a Type R that it would return more than 30mpg if not around 35mpg. I know that these are not eco cars but the only other option would be a 2.2 Type S which wouldn't be as much fun.

[kurt535]

i think this is the only modern car i currently like, probably followed by the mad renault alpine.

real world mpg is still @ the 31 level though

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/car-culture...

[NorthernSky]

A motorcycle should give you speed thrills like your Subaru, and will slash your fuel bill by half or more if you get something that'll do 70 mpg :-)

[Sillyhatday]

You easy get over 30mpg if your doing motorway miles.

I usually get 26mpg when using it for work, which is all B road or A road. Being more sensible this week and managing 28mpg.

I went to Scotland which took 7 hours. 5 hours at 70 - 75 on cruise control, an hour at 50mph and the last hour more stop start. It managed 350miles and 38mpg. That was brimmed to fuel light very on

[JamesL]

I've daily driven an FN2 for 3 years and 30K now. Sticking brakes is the only really reliability issue I've had in all this time

I average 31mpg on a shortish commute without really trying so mid 30's is easily reachable as long as you stick to 60ish.

They aren't great on motorways at 70+ because of the short gearing.

Mine is on 18's with progressive springs, new shocks, mounts, drop links etc with a fast road geometry setup the ride has improved from appalling to just terrible. Not as bad as my old cooper S though and it doesn't bother me much. Handling is lovely and direct and the geo setup removes the cars tendency to understeer as standard.

Interior is lovely but rattles (probably due to the stiff ride) and is comfortable for me (5"8 slim) GT is a must and there are plenty about.

Gearbox and engine are a wonderful combo and despite what people think low down grunt isn't a problem. Very flat in the mid range though and only a decat manifold and remap can really fix this. Obviously it loves to be wound out and is very engaging. Just don't expect it to be much if any faster than the average diesel repmobile. Many times more fun though.

I love mine as a daily and for the very occasional track day but its a very marmite car so an extended test drive is a must. When I was looking for mine I drove most of it's peers (focus ST, Golf GTI etc) and personally found the Type R less civilised, comfortable and slower but ultimately more fun and engaging a drivers car.

Hope that's of some help

[Ankh87]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I use to own a 2005 Corolla TS with lift similar to vTec so revving the car to get the most out of it isn't a problem for me as I know how to drive these types of cars. As long as the seats comfy then I'm usually OK. I'm not the biggest person in the world and so fitting in isn't a problem.

My only concern is that I'm still going to get rubbish economy from it as my WRX is a wonderful car when it's working and not eating my wallet. Is it worth the swap?

[JamesL]

I think if you're managing high twenties out of an Impreza then the same driving would net you 35+ out of an FN2. Other running costs would be cheaper as well. Only you can decide if that's worth it.

By the same logic you'd probably net 50-60 mpg out of most diesels.

FWIW I moved out of an E46 M3 into a 1.5 DCI clio for work to help save money for a house/wedding and I could only hack it for 2 months before I split the difference and bought the civic. My wife has just given birth to our first so I expect the Type R is gonna be sticking around for a few years yet!

[Ankh87]

I only get that mileage in the WRX because I do a long run on the motorway and I never have any fun in it.

If I do change I hope that I won't miss the sound and torque of boost. I do very much like the FN Civic and if I choose to go for the Type S 2.2 then I think I'd be OK with it after a remap.

[Sillyhatday]

Pure mototway driving youll piss 35+ mpg. Even driving like a nut, it'll be between 20 - 25. So you can have a bit of fun still.

I got a 3.2 flat 6 boxster. I thought the torque would spoil me. Far from it, I like the character of both now

[NicCTR]

Do you need to sell the Scooby to fund your replacement? Or could you afford to buy a cheap wafty diesel for Mon-Fri and save the Scooby for the weekends?

I know you'd then have VED and insurance for two vehicles, however, I would imagine it may work out cheaper than your current £360 pm fuel cost

[Ankh87]

NicCTR said:

Do you need to sell the Scooby to fund your replacement? Or could you afford to buy a cheap wafty diesel for Mon-Fri and save the Scooby for the weekends?

I know you'd then have VED and insurance for two vehicles, however, I would imagine it may work out cheaper than your current £360 pm fuel cost

Yeah the WRX would need to go to fund the next car.

I've looked at having 2 cars and I wouldn't actually save much as the fuel bill for a work horse would still be easily £150 a month at a minimum. If I use the girlfriends Picanto I spend £180 in that a month. So it's not really worth it as the idea is to cut down the total cost.

I can run the WRX and have enough money left over but it's come to a point where I'd rather cut down the fuel cost and use that money on other things like house and modify my next car. WRX doesn't get any mods at the current moment as I don't have the spare cash for them.

My options are:
Sell the WRX and buy a car I like with better MPG.
Keep the WRX and SORN it until I'm in a better situation and buy a cheap car
Keep the WRX and drive the girlfriends Picanto whilst she terrorizes the streets in it. Which would make me feel like the car isn't mine and she doesn't really like to drive it because she thinks it's horrid to drive.

[PixelpeepS3]

I had an EP3 and commuted through East London daily for around a year.

Worst. Car. Ever.

suspension is too hard for the st road surfaces, engine is not torquey enough lower down to be 'cheeky' and if you do manage to find a long enough piece of road to let 'vtec kick in, ya'll' it sounds like you are a lunatic to other road users.

don't get me wrong i loved the car for when i was driving for pleasure but for the 9-5 ratrun it was awful.

I didn't have the FN2 for long but i can't imagine it would be much different.

[NicCTR]

PixelpeepS3 said:

don't get me wrong i loved the car for when i was driving for pleasure but for the 9-5 ratrun it was awful

+1

Current EP3 owner. Absolutely love it on B road blasts, however, my Mon-Fri commute is uncomfortable and laborious due to the disgraceful road surfaces in south Hants.

Fortunately I have use of my brother's Mk5 Golf whilst he's in SE Asia finding himself

[Integroo]

I had an FN2 on 19s. Ride quality was atrocious. Economy of c30-35 on motorway runs but much less if you booted it - low 20s not uncommon.

Cabin was comfortable enough but pretty rattly and cheap feeling. Seats are tight. Radio pretty st.

Liked it 5% of the time I was hooning it. Hated it the rest of the time.

Edited by Integroo on Friday 27th April 13:02

[chrismc1977]

Integroo said:

I had an FN2 on 19s. Ride quality was atrocious. Economy of c30-35 on motorway runs but much less if you booted it - low 20s not uncommon.

Cabin was comfortable enough but pretty rattly and cheap feeling. Seats are tight. Radio pretty st.

Liked it 5% of the time I was hooning it. Hated it the rest of the time.

Edited by Integroo on Friday 27th April 13:02

An Impreza to an FN2 R really isn’t going to suit if you want economy or refinement.

It’s essentially a Civic Type S with a better engine. Saying that- they need thrashing to give their best so there goes your economy...

Ride quality as standard is terribly poor as well.

Given all the practice Honda were calling upon right from the Integra DC2/Civic EK9 days then the FN2 as a run-out N/A Type R could & should have been much much better.

If ever the tag of ‘a Type r for the masses’ were true then the FN2 ticks that box.

A contemporary Golf GTD/FN2 CTDi with a remap would be much more appropriate

[Commander2874]

As a daily it might get a bit frustrating due to what has already been highlighted (harsh ride..etc) but i absolutely love mine! I get the train to work so have it for general driving and b road blasts. Great cars and very reliable. My average for the year was 27mpg