FD2 FTW!!

Greetings everyone to our last post from our Honda Appreciation segment. Not to say it will be our last Honda on OH, but its not often that we do back to back features on the same brand! Today we will look into a model that probably made Honda a household name all around the world. 


Introduced in 1972, the Civic was what the world needed. A cheap, reliable and fuel efficient car. Of course the Civic is much more than what it used to be. Where the original one was only a mere 140 inches long the newer counterparts are almost 30 inches longer. 


Dimensions though were not what made this car so popular among the JDM Petrol heads! It was the fun that you could have in one! Now I know the Civics always gets a good battering from the general public for been loud brash cars driven by the rebelling youth. But what he have here is not some kind of Frankenstein monster (much the case with the modified Honda's in Sri Lanka) painted in some hideous colour scheme. 

This here is the real deal. The Honda Civic Type R. The ultimate Civic that you can buy off the shelf. Janak Melvani's pride and joy! 

It is pretty similar to the car it is based on, the Honda Civic FD. This was the first time that the Type R was offered in a 4 door format. Unlike the first the generation EK9 (Which we all love to bits!) and the EP3 the FD is the first Civic to give the rest of the family members a slice of the 9000 RPM spine tingling action! 

It might look like an ordinary Civic, but in all honesty almost every single bit in the Type R is different. The whole chassis for example has been adhesive bonded to save weight and constructed mainly with aluminium in such a way to be ultra strong making the car's handling characteristics to be quite sublime. Honda claims that it is 50% more stronger than the DC5 Integra Type R but even though it is a much larger car, it is only 1.8 Kg heavier. 

The bumpers are designed to be more aerodynamic and there is a little diffuser hiding under the rear bumper. 

and the exterior look is completed by quite a fairly sized spoiler.

I must say though it is quite a good looking car! 

I shall let the pictures do the talking! 

The EK9 Type R was famous for its handling. I have been told, that even for a front wheel driven car it was more than capable in the bends. It has not changed with the FD2R. The original recipe that Honda used in the first generation still lives on, albeit in a bigger package. Helping the car achieve this are these unmissable Brembo brakes. 

Couple that with the outstanding suspension set-up and what you get is one extremely fun car! Mind you those lovely wheels are 18 inches in size!

Wrapped in some grippy Dunlop rubber! 

The red badge on the front end, differentiates this from its more regular brother. But of course you see these badges even on three wheelers sometimes! Sad! 

Stepping inside, a lot has changed! Type R's interiors were remembered for one thing. And that was the black interior with the bright red Recaro seats! Most of that is gone now, but you do get red stitching! 

Instead of regular gauges you get this two stage dash taken from the Millennium Falcon (Jokes, but it does look like the inside of a spaceship!) .You get your idiot lights, tachometer and temp gauge on the lower stage, and your speed, fuel and VTEC controller on the upper section. 

I am glad though that Honda gave us a regular tachometer. You really need to see that needle touch the excess of 7000 revs! *Insert VTEC kicked in joke here* 

The red Recaro seats are gone sadly. But you do get these very supportive Honda designed items with their own Type R motif. Even the Momo steering wheels offered on all the Type R variants have been replaced with a Honda item!

Type R's were also remembered for their gear knob. But I must say the redesign on this one is quite impressive. The position and shape of it made for some slick gear changes! 

Gotta love 6 speed gear box! 

One way to recognise an authentic Type R! 

Nice key tag Janak! Turn the key, put your foot on the clutch.....

 push the big red button and prepare to go craaaazy!

What that button does is turn on the mother of all JDM engines. Unlike the 1600 B16 seen in the EK9, this has a 2000cc K20 Twin cam I-VTEC motor. 

Pushing out 222 Horses with 215 Nm of torque and redlining at 8600 RPM's the K20 is one sweet motor. VTEC kicks in at 5800 rev's if you must know! 

and helping it sing its rorty tune is this exhaust. It is the stock item and in low rev ranges its sounds very subtle. But once you got the pedal to the metal it gives out a completely different note!  

No feature is complete without some rolling shots! 

I must add that it was a great experience to ride along in the car. Thanks Janak! 

As the sun set, it was time to say Goodbye to the Type R....

And its time to say Good bye to you as well! Big Thank you to Janak Melvani and Alex Darius! Until next time....

By Charith Kulasiri

Comments

  1. Love this car! Keep up the good work!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks bro!

      Awesome work Charith :)

      Cheers!

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    2. Sorry for the late reply Preveen ... Yes i did own a VZR :) Which is now owned by a good buddy.

      Delete
  2. Love this car! Keep up the good work!

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  3. im just loooking at this...suddenly i heard my baby boy is crying....oh..cmon..let cry little bit till i come putha... lol...

    Enjoy every single bits... and man... too sad that type R are not made until 2014... :( and out of all Rs... FD is my hero ! and Charith..again... super captures and love the FX... and Janek, if u happen to sell ur R, let me be the first to know !

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  4. Nice article machang.

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  5. And should've mentioned the fact that this is with the mugen kit coz not all fd2's look this good. Ep3 and dc5 both came with 6 speed boxes so this is not the first but this is the best out of the lot. 😄 Keep writing machang and hoping to see a DC5 and a EP3 as well. 😛😛😛

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for that, point noted! :) If I can find a DC5 and a EP3 owner willing to share their cars over here, it would be great!

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  6. I'm sure u can get a dc5 to pose for u even though some of the best examples are not there anymore. Ep3 will be the problem only 2 in the country.

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  7. love this car bro. the Best ever I sow in Sri lanka. :)

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  8. Awesome car and awesome captures....a nice clean Type R

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  9. Great to see this beautiful monster, thanks for the article.

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