A few comments about the CTR by people are a little off the mark.
1. "Too light on the front end affecting traction"
Not true, the actual balance is more towards 65/35 weight over the front/rear, hence the light rear end if not driven with respect, and the nose heavy front end when it comes to tight, wet, er, corners.
2. i-VTEC is not VTEC.
Yes it is. The difference is quite simple. The old VTEC engines employed a 3rd cam lobe at higher revs to force a more aggressive mixture. This is so the car can run at lower bhp at low revs, meaning better mpg. VTEC is actually an economy feature rather than a power one.
i-VTEC saw the introduction of a system similar to the Renault et al systems of variable valve timing in addition to VTEC, which allows the engine to deliver more precise changes to torque and economy, especially when outside of high cam.
3. Engine Failures
There is no specific issue with the K20 in any incarnations. Whilst some people suffer failures, which can happen to any marque and be down to any number of reasons, I happily did 125,000 hard driven miles in my CTR with no engine problems whatsoever.
The main weak areas of the car are the paint finishes, which can be atrocious, and steering system that is both poor on feel (not accuracy or speed, though) and reliability.
4. Resale values
Whilst the actualy amount you lose between the CTR and the Clio may seem fairly similar, what you should actually be comparing is the percentage of loss that you have over say, a 3 year period- not the cash amount. Have no doubt that the Civic has a better residual than the Clio, which in one way is good as it makes the Clio an absolute bargain secondhand.
5. Fuel Economy
Both cars are surprisingly good for economy. The Clio because its pretty light and the engine is an efficient design, the Civic also due to pretty good aerodynamics, relatively low weight and the VTEC system. Under 5900 revs the Civic is only achieving around 160bhp.
Having done around 1500 miles a week in my Civic, 60mph on the motorway equated to 45mpg- that is not a lie or false claim. I would imagine at similar speeds the Clio could achieve something similar.
Its easy to use urban myths and jump on bandwagons, but the point is both cars are very good, and have their pluses and minuses. The Civic is a better all round vehicle, is more practical, will hold its value better, will be easier to sell, is better built and is likely to be more reliable over 3 years. The Clio has more equipment, is a more fun car to drive and is cheaper to buy (though not necessarily cheaper to run).
