Yes of course I am nostalgic. And now more than ever. In 1991 I bought new a lovely Silver Honda CRX VTEC. Like the photo. Fantastic car.
The basic specs: Great Handling, 158 BHP at 7600RPM, 970Kg, length 375cm and height 127cm. Sunroof and leather, alloys. Nimble and elegant.
Over the years other cars have come and gone, but trusty Harry Honda has stuck around. This then is the story of initial euphoria and then subsequent disappointment. After a few years of ownership I had decided that a replacment Civic was deserved and eagerly awaited the new model.
Oh woe, they announced a strict 2 seater, with no luggage space, the same engine, and some fancy roof that stowed itself in the boot. It looked like thisNo problem, I'll just wait for the next one.
And so the Honda Civic Type R eventually showed up. Here is the brochure. As an affordable hot hatch it wasn't bad but it was so much bigger and heavier than Harry. It weighed a porky 1204Kg was 414cm long , and a lofty 142cm tall (so embarassing they left it out of the brochure).
What happened to the idea of the sleek low sports car? Were they designing the car for overweight, chavs who wanted to race at the lights. This was more of a fat breadvan with admittedly a racebred engine.
So no problem I decided, I would wait just a little longer. As Harry passed his 15th Birthday I was delighted to see in Geneva 2006 the mockup of the new Honda Civic Type R 2007. Here is the brochure.
What happened to the idea of the sleek low sports car? Were they designing the car for overweight, chavs who wanted to race at the lights. This was more of a fat breadvan with admittedly a racebred engine.
So no problem I decided, I would wait just a little longer. As Harry passed his 15th Birthday I was delighted to see in Geneva 2006 the mockup of the new Honda Civic Type R 2007. Here is the brochure.
It now looks like this
But wait a minute, guess what, it is now weighing in at 1267 Kg, larger 427 cm long, and even higher at 145 cm high. And, they thought they'd remove the independent rear suspension just to make sure the car would handle like a real porker.
So where does this leave me? Well I suppose when the Honda Integra Type R came out I should have just bought that straight away. Or just realised that the game has moved on. Honda is now making cars that look sporty but when you dig a little deeper they may just have lost it. I think a Golf GTi 30 with DSG is now both refined, quicker and a better all rounder.
So where does this leave me? Well I suppose when the Honda Integra Type R came out I should have just bought that straight away. Or just realised that the game has moved on. Honda is now making cars that look sporty but when you dig a little deeper they may just have lost it. I think a Golf GTi 30 with DSG is now both refined, quicker and a better all rounder.
