I managed to get a 5 lap stint in a Civic yesterday.
The engine was better than i remembered, it was certainly less VTEC than i remembered on the road drive i took it on, torque was actually quite reasonable at low revs, i was impressed. Straight line speed was also good, id say about as good as 172, but splitting hairs to differentiate the two.
For normal road tyres the car gripped well, my worry was that it wouldnt be able to put the power down without a fight but it wasnt really a problem. Handling wise though, the best word i can think of is numb, the feedback i wanted just wasnt there and as you can imagine this isnt very helpful when youre trying to be commited. Even though its not too much heavier than a clio that extra weight still pissed me off a lot, like a lot of hot hatch backs its just not the same anymore, theyve grown up too much!
However once again, that gearbox, WOW! The position and action of it was superb, so much better than the clios.
So, overall the plus points are the engine and gearbox but the main minus point is the handling which is a major thing for me. Most people wont go for it 80% on the road, let alone 100% so i couldnt blame anyone for getting a CTR as its perfectly capable but personally i wouldnt. Ill also stand by my claim that it looks butt ugly, it was parked next to a grey S3 which looked boring but so much more handsome than the CTR!
Anyway hope this helps anyone thinking of getting a CTR or 172.
-Rob
