Dmur197
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 82
- Location
- Ballymoney
Hi, bit of an overdue update. I have had my FN2 for around 8 months now, I didn't make a thread for it earlier as to be honest, I didn't think I would own it long enough to be worth while, or even like it enough to spend money modifying, but it has slowly grown on me more than I first imagined.
I have had an itch for a Honda for quite some time, but well looked after EP3's and DC5's seemed to be impossible to find which left me with the FN2, which is widely regarded as the worst Type R Honda ever made, but owning a Honda was an itch I had to scratch so thought I’d give it a go anyway as I personally like the way they look and love the interior. Although I think a rich red FN2 looks fantastic, they all seem plagued with paint fade and lacquer peel. I've already owned a couple of black cars, silver and sapphire blue didn't appeal to me so that left the Championship White Edition with the LSD.
Before the civic I had my liquid yellow Clio 220 Trophy... Liquid Yellow Clio 220 Trophy
I was very happy with the Clio but I was starting to miss the NA sound of my previous RS197 and wanting the fun of a manual again. Then I saw my FN2 up for sale for a decent price so took the plunge.
So it’s a 2009 Type R GT with 58k, full service history and had a K&N Typhoon intake and a Milltek cat back so sounds fantastic without being daft. When I bought it it needed a very thorough deep clean, detail and general tidy up. It was covered in tree sap, tar, fallout and swirls.
A few of the tidying up jobs I completed was replacing one of the rear arch trims as the original one was scuffed, found a second hand one on eBay for £25 which was a big saving. I also wanted to repaint the callipers as they had been refurbished white in the past but I preferred the original red and then finished by hand painting the embossed Type R logo. While the wheels were off I deep cleaned and ceramic coated them and gave the arches a good scrub.
After the exterior was cleaned and protected I moved onto the interior. I used menzerna 2500 and a microfibre cloth to polish the speedo screen as there is a UV protective coat which hazes and scratches over time and then recoated it with Chemical Guys Jetseal as I had it in the garage and claims to have good UV protectant which would replace the one I had just polished off.
I fitted a short shift kit and a new alcantara gear gaitor which I feel matches the interior of the car better than then original leather feel one. The shift feel was good before but it has been improved further with this modification, bit of a hassle getting the trim removed to gain access to the shifter but was straight forward enough. The shifter coupled with the weighted skunk2 knob makes the shifts feel perfect.
The biggest turning point of my opinion of my FN2 was when I put the Eibach springs, camber shims and camber bolts on, it transformed the way the car feels. While it was in I also got the Mugen wing painted and fitted along with a new mesh for the GP splitter and fog intakes which transformed the way the car looked.
As it sits now, for a daily driver I don’t think it can be faulted, the Eibach springs are slightly more compliant on the road than the standard springs, the build quality is better than the equivalent RenaultSport Clio of its age which I am well familiar with. The seats are super comfy and hold you really well, and when the mood takes you, it’s great fun with the legendary K20 and LSD. I appreciate it’s not as exciting as a “proper” Honda like a DC5 or S2000 but for what I need it is perfect. When I do go to sell it will probably be for an S2000 now that I have dipped my toe in the Honda scene.
Future plans would be a quick “winter prep” where I’d like to give the arches a clean, detar the paint, give the wax a top up to keep it protected until spring time when I’ll see if it would benefit from another polish.
I will need some new discs and pads as there feels to be a slight warp in one of the discs and change the gearbox oil as they tend to give trouble so best to keep them looked after. I also wouldn’t mind a slightly louder exhaust but need to be careful not to make it too loud like the stereotypical civic.
I will keep the thread updated with any future developments.
I have had an itch for a Honda for quite some time, but well looked after EP3's and DC5's seemed to be impossible to find which left me with the FN2, which is widely regarded as the worst Type R Honda ever made, but owning a Honda was an itch I had to scratch so thought I’d give it a go anyway as I personally like the way they look and love the interior. Although I think a rich red FN2 looks fantastic, they all seem plagued with paint fade and lacquer peel. I've already owned a couple of black cars, silver and sapphire blue didn't appeal to me so that left the Championship White Edition with the LSD.
Before the civic I had my liquid yellow Clio 220 Trophy... Liquid Yellow Clio 220 Trophy
I was very happy with the Clio but I was starting to miss the NA sound of my previous RS197 and wanting the fun of a manual again. Then I saw my FN2 up for sale for a decent price so took the plunge.
So it’s a 2009 Type R GT with 58k, full service history and had a K&N Typhoon intake and a Milltek cat back so sounds fantastic without being daft. When I bought it it needed a very thorough deep clean, detail and general tidy up. It was covered in tree sap, tar, fallout and swirls.
A few of the tidying up jobs I completed was replacing one of the rear arch trims as the original one was scuffed, found a second hand one on eBay for £25 which was a big saving. I also wanted to repaint the callipers as they had been refurbished white in the past but I preferred the original red and then finished by hand painting the embossed Type R logo. While the wheels were off I deep cleaned and ceramic coated them and gave the arches a good scrub.
After the exterior was cleaned and protected I moved onto the interior. I used menzerna 2500 and a microfibre cloth to polish the speedo screen as there is a UV protective coat which hazes and scratches over time and then recoated it with Chemical Guys Jetseal as I had it in the garage and claims to have good UV protectant which would replace the one I had just polished off.
I fitted a short shift kit and a new alcantara gear gaitor which I feel matches the interior of the car better than then original leather feel one. The shift feel was good before but it has been improved further with this modification, bit of a hassle getting the trim removed to gain access to the shifter but was straight forward enough. The shifter coupled with the weighted skunk2 knob makes the shifts feel perfect.
The biggest turning point of my opinion of my FN2 was when I put the Eibach springs, camber shims and camber bolts on, it transformed the way the car feels. While it was in I also got the Mugen wing painted and fitted along with a new mesh for the GP splitter and fog intakes which transformed the way the car looked.
As it sits now, for a daily driver I don’t think it can be faulted, the Eibach springs are slightly more compliant on the road than the standard springs, the build quality is better than the equivalent RenaultSport Clio of its age which I am well familiar with. The seats are super comfy and hold you really well, and when the mood takes you, it’s great fun with the legendary K20 and LSD. I appreciate it’s not as exciting as a “proper” Honda like a DC5 or S2000 but for what I need it is perfect. When I do go to sell it will probably be for an S2000 now that I have dipped my toe in the Honda scene.
Future plans would be a quick “winter prep” where I’d like to give the arches a clean, detar the paint, give the wax a top up to keep it protected until spring time when I’ll see if it would benefit from another polish.
I will need some new discs and pads as there feels to be a slight warp in one of the discs and change the gearbox oil as they tend to give trouble so best to keep them looked after. I also wouldn’t mind a slightly louder exhaust but need to be careful not to make it too loud like the stereotypical civic.
I will keep the thread updated with any future developments.
Last edited:
