Nearly, but not quite unfaithfull

[George K]

I was very excited to read about the new Japanese Civic type R. Apart from a boring 4 door saloon body, the prospect of 225 PS, 8,400 rev limit, reasonable torque, Brembo 4 pot callipers, 18" lightweight rims, gear type LSD, proper independent rear suspension etc was very tempting. Still not a class winner, but getting there.

A bit more research showed that it weighs 1,270 kg (Clio 1090) and is the same length as a 3 series (770 mm than the Clio); so to be competitive the Clio needs the same power to weight ratio. This works back to just over 190 bhp, which Ben R is quite confindent of achieving without doing anything too radical. So the Trophy 'rides' again

 

[Cue]

my thoughts too - if I didn't have a trophy and were put off by reno's customer services and 'frenchness' I'd consider the new 'teggy' (i know it's not one but it may as well be).

 

[Steve]

]my thoughts too - if I didn't have a trophy and were put off by reno's customer services and 'frenchness' I'd consider the new 'teggy' (i know it's not one but it may as well be).

I was about to say just this ^ so just removed Cues quote marks. :lol:

I was actually referred to as the DC-5 guy at the weekend, I hoped no-one noticed my temporary glitch in otherwise unceasing trophy worship! I've been having bad dreams about a stripped out E36 M3 with roll cage and track suspension. Purely as a road car. Bloody Evo.

 

[fazedesign]

Yep the Civic sounds pretty good! Shame we only get the watered down version over here...

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The FD1 will be hitting shores here very soon from people I've spoken to.

Will be well worth a look if you wanted something slightly more practical.

George - What have you got in mind with Ben @ AW to achieve 190bhp if you don't mind me asking mate?

 

[George K]

Space Monkey. I have contacted Iain Litchfield who will have a demo some time in June. I don't need the practicality as we have family barges to deal with luggage, old limbs and dogs! However for competitive hill-climbing I have paused for considerable thought because of the weight and size, which will only serve to highlight the relative lack of mid range grunt on these engines.

AWT mods will be reworked inlet, cams and re-map.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Was going to say Iain was due a demo soon.

The K20 isn't about mid range grunt tbh, it's a sensible 2.0 before 5800rpm then a hooligan above to the redline. Which is actually a wider power band than the Trophies.
Easy to get back in the power band by dropping a couple of cogs. Becomes very natural very quickly.

Ben is the man to see, I look forward to the progress on this thread.
Good luck :wink:

 

[trophy176]

I nearly bought a 55 plate civic type r before the Trophy!!

Loved the engine, styling, reliabilty and no rattles. Test guy said lets take it on some twisty roads and show you what it's really about! So we did. I was shocked! My old 51 plate 1.2 dynamique on toyo's would have beat it. It literally slid all over the place and the steering just didnt feel right.

Still like Civics and when I see one I always wonder! But then I hit a corner in the Trophy and know what it's really about!!!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I nearly bought a 55 plate civic type r before the Trophy!!

Loved the engine, styling, reliabilty and no rattles. Test guy said lets take it on some twisty roads and show you what it's really about! So we did. I was shocked! My old 51 plate 1.2 dynamique on toyo's would have beat it. It literally slid all over the place and the steering just didnt feel right.

Still like Civics and when I see one I always wonder! But then I hit a corner in the Trophy and know what it's really about!!!

Sorry mate, we were talking about the FD1 (New JDM CTR) not the old shape EP3 or new shape FN2.

The EP3 was very good round corners, not as good as a 182/Trophy purely because it lacked feedback & was using EPS.
The FD1 using hydrolic steering the same as the DC5's & will offer plenty of feedback.

 

[trophy176]

Codes are way over my head!!

I d like a test drive in the japanese ctr - looks good. Integra's are cool to but costly for what you get. 15k? EVO8/9 territory.

 

[Guest]

It's a nice car, but for that price, it's wrong-wheel-drive, unfortunately.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Codes are way over my head!!

I d like a test drive in the japanese ctr - looks good. Integra's are cool to but costly for what you get. 15k? EVO8/9 territory.

You can pick up a decent DC5 for as little as 12K now :wink:

 

[trophy176]

Yeah but it would be an 01/02. Would have to be newer than the Trophy so it looks like I am progressing!!

Fancy rear wheel drive one day maybe a 350z. Watched this excellent Japanese race film the other day D"someit"! Cant remember name but there is a guy called Bunta in it!

 

[Steve]

350Z, 964 RS or E36 M3 Evo on a diet for me. I don't see the point in selling the Trophy until I can get something that's a brilliant drivers car, significantly more powerful and rear wheel drive. As front drivers go, it's hard to compete with the little red rocket.

Ideally I would like to keep the Trophy and buy back my 205 so I've got every car I've ever owned lined up in a big old garage when I'm 70. Retirement would be fun then.

 

[George K]

But for competition these move you into the 400 bhp plus 4WD class and would not get a look in.

Interestinlgy enough at Wiscombe a 190 hp Mk 1 Golf, which probably weights under 850 kg is the nearest to them - the Power to weight ratio is about 220 bhp/tonne - to match it the Tophy needs 245 bhp or such a severe diet as to completely ruin it for anything else. Hence my passing interest in the Civic - but as I said at the beginning iI soon found hatt suffers from the same problem as the 197 - 1,270 kg.

 

[pete g]

Honda

Hi George,

How goes the Comp this year in SW?

I thought I might see you at Colerne/Llandow (being a sprinter)

Colerne was very wet early doors but Llan better.

Ref the cars, the only modern FWD HB to get near CT would be Integra.

Older as you say Mod Mk1 GTI or 205.

I wanted a light weight RWD road/comp car.... what do you think?....

Lotus Elise/Exige mate, drive one once thats all it will take they are that good...

 

[George K]

Pete G, I am having to limit my activities to Wiscombe this year as we have a lot of other commitments. Although Dunkeswell is on again, i really did not enjoy the new course - far too tight - OK for Karts or RWD Escorts!

Did a Wiscombe a couple of weekends ago - the Saturday was on list 1a tyres - so had to run the PE2 - running them at 28/26 took a second off my best equivalent time last year - still not megga fast but I was pleased with progress considering that my only mod so far has been to remove the a/v and replace it by a 75mm feed fully blended into the airbox. I could have reverted to 1b for the Sunday but decided to stay with the PE2 so as to get a more consistent baseline. amazingly both days were completely dry, must be a record for the first event there!!

There is another Wiscombe next w/end so will hope that it is not too soggy and will switch to the V70A.

I did think about the Integra, but the DC5 is again quite heavy and seems to have a slghtly suspect handling reputation.

If you want to go RWD, the MkII Escort is very light, there are zillions of bits and the engines are very tunbable - 1700 pushrod works well. The problem with the Elise/Exige is that the development budget is never ending and I would never be happy, even if the limitations were the driver, which I know would be the case. My original choice of the Trophy was because I reckoned that costs would be more controllable - so far I think that is the case.

 

[pete g]

George,

Sorry about your limited events.
If you want one sprint to save for near you its Chivenor in Sept, course is awesome worth about 5 Dunkeswells!
Or come up my way for Colerne or Combe both great/fast.
I have done both tracks in Trophy, goes well on both.

I like Mk1/2 Escorts but did that 25yrs ago, most rust buckets now.
I have had Cossy since then - now thats a RWD car worth talking, they had to rewrite the BTC rules to stop it!!

Why this dev scare with Elise?
They are great straight from box, or basic tune and set of springs/dampers and you have a class winner, I got mine for less £ than the CT.
Tell you, I have driven all sorts and there is not much to touch the Lotus, weight/size/cost/handling/looks/cabin.... ticks all the boxes.

Pete.