Finally took delivery of my black gold 182 today and have spent most of the day putting it through its paces. its the first personally (non-company) car ive owned since i sold my CTR which i owned for 2 years and 40,000 miles.. my brother also has a facelift CTR which ive been "looking after" for the last two weeks as he was on holiday. I know these discussions are always subjective but id just like to sum up what i think about the differences.
EP3 CTR (02) (04)
unbeatable gearbox and engine combo obviously largely the same between both. always was disappointed with VTEC in the CTR my mate has a JDM Teg-R and Vtec in that is insane but the Civics i-VTEC was always like hitting one of those rubber counter strips they lay across the road .. you had to be paying attention to notice it .. handling wise its really difficult to sum up, the 04 has improved over the 02 but the DNA is the same.. the rear still feels like its loosely joiend together with rubber bands, especially on adverse camber bends, and ready to twang out just at the wrong moment and in general the car has a really front heavy feeling confounded by the wet, a real source of personal frustration.. the 04 is definitely better in this respect.. the sound is excellent ... just take one through a tunnel and floor it into vtec with the window down if you dont know what i mean. I suppose to sum up the CTR id say it was a frustrating car if that makes sense, it demanded full attention at most times and the characteristics of the engine meant it was always about gritted teeth and the red line, most frustrating of all though was the contrast between the engine/gearbox and the set up of the car.. the K20A is a masterpiece as is the 6 speed box it is attached to but the rest of the car just cant keep up in my opinion. poor traction, lifeless steering (although to be fair it was and is pretty good on the limit) and just a general frustration. a great car though and an utter bargain and surely all masterpieces should have flaws, its just a shame they are so invasive in the CTR.. very quick but i would argue that it wasnt much fun, i cant say i ever had a laugh in a CTR which i suppose was the biggest problem, it could have been so good.. imagine an elise with that sort of engine/gearbox combo ...?
182
big contrast so far... irritations - the auto lights (which take an age to switch off) and auto wipers will take getting used to, the gate for 2nd gear is very very odd as well; i thought i had a dud this morning til i pulled the car up and searched for second gear, a real disappointment if youve ever driven a civic in which it is impossible to miss a gear... bizarre driving position, steering wheel is too big and slightly too far away, zoom and distort rear view mirror ....but on the positive side the engine, never been near a 2 ltr renault until this car, very impressed with the power/torque band, makes a nice noise as well. steering could teach the CTR everything about weight and feel, wet weather handling is excellent, as is the handling in general but i suppose the main thing is the car is fun, loads of fun, just like my old VTS and 306, proper fun, throw it around play with it and it just comes back for more. im sure bits will drop off and im sure that it will lose money much quicker than a CTR and MCS but thats not the point, i spend all week in a lexus gs and its great for comfort and cruising but after 2 years of frustrating CTR ownership i think ive re-discovered why i always loved cars and driving ... cant wait to get it on the track once its nicely run in
