Had the alignment tweaked on Friday. This car may have had the steering recall done locally. Not much out but adjusted anyway and it seems to have helped. The traction light less constant

There is further room for improvement to me though. Potentially more aggressive rubber

Anyway here is another press view

.https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-...kful-for/49905

I have only done 700ish miles which demonstrates how the OH dislikes it (it so low!) and tbh it works for me and the dogs

Ok the dogs don't like it but can't talk..

I like it

I remain a rwd evangelist though but the handling and steering are surprisingly excellent

 

Warming to the car now. It's way better without the dogs in when you can enjoy the grip, of which there is a lot. It does not feel like a hot hatch which is a weird way of complimenting it I suppose. All the controls are bang on, especially the steering and that wheel feels so much better than leather.

Only on about 800 miles

25mpg ish

Another mod

Not very exciting but the boot was getting covered in dog hair and it sticks like.. sh.. to the standard carpet. It took me an hour to vacuum before fitting this

Anyway, luxury for the dogs (little one out of shot)

 

Johnny finally did a vid


If you watch around the 8 minute mark (just before) he puts it in +R mode and the way he bounces in the seat is borderline hilarious

 

Some Americans paint the spoiler body colour



I dunno.. I can see why, it's arse is not the best angle

 

I want a white FL5.

 

White is the purist colour yes. But not for me. Had to be red or the blue they do.

Anyways, great car, fun, fast and lots of feedback, was in Cambs this weekend and it's a great mile muncher too

 

Nice!

If your experience with fuel economy is anything like mine with my FK2, it'll progressively improve. I was doing regular 330mile runs to South-West and by the time it had 147k totally reliable miles on it, it was returning 44mpg when cruising at 72, unfortunately it was rear-ended and insurance wrote-off. It's a good mile-muncher and I believe the FL5 has adaptive cruise (hopefully an improvement on the FK8). Engine/exhaust sounder better as it aged as well.

All the dampers needed replacing (understandably) at between 100-125k and it was cheaper to put Ohlins on than replace with OEM. However, doing that proved how great a job Honda had done as it needs someone really smart with geo to set it up properly, and then you're always in compromise mode since you lose +R damping. Stick with OEM and better tyres when I get an FL5.

I prefer RWD too but on balance the FK2 was better handling than the S2 Exige, and lift-off oversteer on the FK2 is very controllable. Some were modifying the FK2 engine (not without problems), I never really thought it needed it since it was more about how fast you could throw it through corners.

Never really got on with the FK2 looks so I'll be on the look out for an FL5 later, hope you enjoy it!!

 

I won't be doing those sort of miles but yeah getting on with it and you are right, it's a feedback and handling car and it does not need more power at all, loads of 'area under the curve' grunt.

I am too old for the looks of the FK2/8 so they never really interested me but I did consider the latter when I started researching this. It's bigger and I believe the previous gen was faster in a straight line. I read positive reviews of all of them after a very underwhelming drive of an FN2 many years ago and 2 golf GTDs owned by err indoors put me off FWD.

Mine is probably on sub 1500 miles still as I work remote, use a bike when I (rarely) do go in to the office and have a couple of other cars to share the load.

It's an impressive thing, the handling is very very good. The engine is very turbo with a big surge in torque quite low in the revs - on this and sound I think I prefer NA or SC to that but turbo is definitely faster and more effective, just not as "pure" and sounds like a Dyson

Overall as a daily it's very hard to beat even at that price

I think I would be quicker round Donington in this than in the 380+ brake S2 but that's a hunch

 

Yes, FN2 was a bit of a miss, I found it really harsh, but given low price they seem to be attracting non-Honda fans who just want to experience VTEC.

I never got to check the pace of the FK2 against the FK8, but it would slowly pull away from the contemporary Focus RS at NSL speeds. You more than likely already know this, but switching VSA off improves the throttle response, I found the FK2 in non-R mode with VSA on tiring to drive the throttle response so over-damped. Funnily enough, I started dailying the FK2 when I discovered this as it was just as economical as the Jazz I'd been using to take the lion's share of miles.

I've no doubt your hunch is true enough for you to get round a fast track quicker than the S2k. You could be silly ambitious with corner entry speeds and fix it mid-turn, I guess this what hot-hatches are about! I've only sat in an FL5 but I wonder how the visibility is working for you (compared to the likes of the S2k) as the FK2's visibility scored low with me. Those 265 tyres must make a difference also.

On tyres, I used PS4S for about 65% of my car's life, mainly because of their outright grip and wear, the OEM Conti CSC3's were terrible in the wet/cold. However, the PS4S feel a bit imprecise so was always following alternatives, best I tried were Conti CSC7 by quite a margin, lots of feel with no sacrifice in performance or grip so stuck with them. Also tried Goodyear Eagle but poor wear and relative performance.

Again, that dyson-like sound made an exit for me about 70k miles, but I think it might be more down to Honda updated the air filter as a matter of course.

Other bonus was I was able to extend the Honda warranty twice, about £650 every 3 years, though it only paid for the first front damper (£1,200 fitted) when it gave up, them fairly claiming 'wear' for the 2nd.

 

Yes FN2 harsh and with too little power for too much weight. I was totally underwhelmed but I am not great at judging cars, it takes me about 1k miles so I'd be a shit tester

The addition of a turbo was vital unless they went bigger capacity which is not Honda's way really. On the plus side we have a bullet proof motor in all of these cars

The a pillars are big but being used to the CRV I suppose it feels normal. My boosted one also has gauges up there.

I've tried the TC off (tx for the tip!), like it. Along with stupid stop start shit and the speeding beeps I would prefer a permanent solution