Anyone Daily Drive a Civic Type R in Winter
 

Looking to get a daily driver which would be used in winter, while my first thought was a WRX given their great AWD system, but I'd consider a Civic Type R if it could handle winter conditions (with the appropriate tires and rims). Anyone with the Civic Type R drive theirs in winter ? We get a moderate amount of snow in London, and I do a fair bit of highway driving. I like the 4 doors and Turbo motors on both, not looking for the best performer necessarily as both cars have enough power for me and my family. Thanks for any replies.

Hi Joey. I love these threads. I'm in the same situation for April's next car. We need 4 doors, easy entry, plenty of leg room (2 teen boys), trunk space...and a manual transmission- a tall order so says my Subaru dealer. So, a used Forester (2015-2018) is in the cards. Timing chain, 30 mpg, fuel injection (rather than DI which they switched to in 2019). We took one out and I have to say, quite an impressive package with tonnes of room and features and lots of glass. The manual XT left a long time ago and I hate, hate, hate CVT's...so NA it is.

But, I really, really like the TypeR. just be prepared for double the entry fee vs. a Forester. Now, if I could have ONLY one family type car (and no s2000), the WRX would be on the short list- I think it does virtually everything decently- its the car you convince the wife is practical while you take the onramp to the 401 at 90. I guess the golf R is also a choice.

There is a guy here in Sarnia who dailies his TypeR wearing 18 inch winter rims and tires- so we know its possible. With the LSD and traction control, its a better choice than any of the SUV's out there which will sap all the life out of you.

Civic Si 4 door?

darcy

Thanks Darcy lots of great info in your reply. Yeah my wife's god son has forester and it is very impressive any time he takes us out in it, very capable for sure. The WRX checks off most of the boxes for me and my family. Honda is just making it easier to get into one of their cars as Subaru doesn't seem to have nearly as many promotions as Honda at any given time. Lots of thinking to do on this one. The Civic Si is also a possibility. Thanks for the info on the winter driven CTR, 18 inch winter rims is still huge, wow, I was hoping I could go with smaller rims in winter but I need to research this further.

Just wondering about the extra 135 + hp going through the front wheels

Also, is there a wing delete for the Civic Type R, I just can't get used to the rear wing, despite it being very functional I think it would look better without the wing cosmetically.

You'll be fine if you know what you're doing.

After decades of winters in the Snow Belt (downwind side) of the Great Lakes (Cleveland, Buffalo, Watertown NY) where it snows to depths requiring depth gauges on the roadsides, I can affirm the three (3) Subarus in our family, one each Legacy, Outback, and Forester, were never stuck in the snow with nothing more than good all-season tires -- and knowing when and how to drive in these conditions. Never any concern for my wife or daughter driving on these roads. Never a "snow day" during the 4 years my daughter drove 30 miles each way each day while teaching at SUNY Canton in North Country. Easy on the gas pedal. AWD doesn't stop any quicker, though. :)

-- Chuck

^ thanks Chuck. While London is in the "snow belt" of Ontario it is nothing like the areas that you mentioned when it comes to monstrous snow storms like they get just across the lake.

My other daily is an awd Honda and I know it does nothing for stopping and they still slide around the same, but I do love h ow they can launch from a stop with ease and how they can plow through most snow drifts as well.

My first year CRX was FWD and she could plow thru snow drifts few other cars could. I can recall walking thru a few drifts before attempting to get thru them. I'm sure there were all-season tires on that car. The MGB stayed in the garage all winter. :)

Unrelated: She died when struck from behind while stopped by a just restored mid-1960's 427 Ford Galaxy at highway speeds. Drove her home with the wheel base significantly shortened (after prying the sheet metal away from the tires).

-- Chuck

There is a guy who daily drives his Type-R up here at the Honda plant in alliston. I'm sure it's not much different than any other new FWD given proper tires.

yeah tires would be the key part of driving one in the winter and keeping your foot out of the accelerator when things get dicey, lol.

Traction control is so good on most modern cars I don't think anything FWD would be an issue. Get good snow tires and I wouldn't worry about it. I drove my 911 all winter last year on 245/305 20" snow tires lol. It's AWD and barely snows anymore in Toronto but still, never had even a little issue with traction.

I bought a Subaru Ascent recently. It's better in snow that the 911. But I hate both the tranny (CVT) and the engine (small laggy like a mofo turbo). Everything else is great though lol.

Thanks Norm, wow those are some huge winter tires on the Porsche.

I wonder if that is the same engine and tranny combo as in the WRX ? I wasn't able to drive the WRX yet to see if it is laggy or not.

I'm not sure on the WRX tranny/engine combo but the delivery of the power on the Ascent makes perfect for snow in that it doesn't want to kick out or plow. It also makes it boring AF which is probably fine for a 5,000 lb SUV but not sure if that's something a typically WRX owner would want. So I'm guessing the drive train on the WRX is at least slightly different.

It's no different then any other car, Joey. Just because it has 300hp or whatever it is doesn't mean the accelerator is a on/off switch and it's either 100% power or nothing at all. In Normal/Eco mode these cars feel like a base model civic and drive very tame. At the end of the day it's still a FWD Civic, so with good winter tires there's no reason why it wouldn't work.

No different than trying to drive my truck 395hp/410tq with an empty bed and aggressive A/T (not snow) tires.

good to know , thanks Norm. I'll look into that further.

Thanks Fernando, that makes sense, yeah If your truck is okay then the Civic should be fine with proper tires. Thanks

Yes ^^put 4 space savers on :LOL:

I had a test drive today in a Subaru WRX. The WRX hit all of the bases for me, a rather nice platform for a daily driver. A WRX Sport has pretty much everything I need, and it runs quite well. Oddly enough Subaru wants to pay more money for my Honda trade than our local Honda dealers will pay.

I have an appointment Monday to look at a CTR at a local Honda dealer.

While at the Subaru dealer I had a chance to sit in a sport BRZ. While it isn't the type of car I need right now, I have to say the BRZ is very nice , the seats on the uprated model are amazing, with a nicely finished interior. Having an almost 50/50 weight split is nice, an available torsen LSD and Brembo brakes, plus high quality Sachs dampers. It has 4 seats if you should ever need them, though the rear seats are very tiny. RWD is nice as a 3 season car, but I wouldn't want to drive one in winter. I was rather impressed with the layout of the car.

We've decided to go with a 2019 Subaru WRX Sport in world rally blue. It was just more practical for our needs as much as I loved the CTR. The Subaru buying experience was miles ahead of the last Honda purchase I made, quite refreshing how they do business.

I can't wait to do my own oil changes, the oil filter sits high up and vertical in the engine bay, like between the radiator and intake manifold, such an easy way to change oil filters, what a novel idea.

Thanks for the reply and info. I think the WRX was the most practical way to go without getting an SUV, and everyone in the household can drive it. I just feel safer putting my son in an AWD for winter conditions. He is too new of a driver to control a RWD vehicle in winter, but I was quite impressed with the BRZ design and interior, I would love one as second car.

Hi man.
I daily drive a CTR and i survived the hardest snow off in Toronto 2 weeks ago so i think you will be fine most of the time as long as you have winter tires. it does take a long time to warm up both the engine and trans in the winter, during the coldest days the trans is still not feel right even with a 20ms cruise. Too much opening in the front letting those freezing air in XD. Plus you might get frostbite on the Aluminium shifter so a pair of gloves is recommended
I would say go with a type r, it's cheaper than the rivals and it get pretty good gas milage as well and the hatch is just provide so much more usability.

cool, that was certainly a good test of the vehicle, that was a nasty storm for sure. I never thought about heat in the engine and tranny in cold temps but I can see how that happens. The Type R is a great value, and fuel economy is really good, 4 doors and a hatch is hard to beat. It's a great car for sure.

only if you get one at MSRP. I'm lucky that a dealer would give me one at that price. Any mark up is a no for me on this car

Yeah the ones I was looking at were not priced above MRSP, London Honda has three of them and they don't seem to be moving all that fast. I refuse to pay any premium on any vehicle.

apparently dealers in Ontario can't sell cars above MSRP, or so the google told me. Plus, no car- none- is worth paying above MSRP for. ever.
But, you know who's born every minute.

darcy

The Google is correct. I have a contact at Honda Canada and was told that the law was laid down to all the dealers in Ontario, absolutely no selling over list price.

Jim

^ they do find other ways of making up the profit though. After the salesperson is done with you they lock you in the sales manager's office and won't let you out until they sell you some type of useless crap from life insurance to rustproofing.

Having bought a Subaru this month it was very refreshing in that they didn't want to sell me any other crap other than the actual vehicle, they don't charge admin fees or anything extra on the vehicle cost.

Very nice, yeah I'd love to see it.

Who could refuse an offer and accolade like that, I'm in. :)

I might have my WRX in my driveway in 10 days time if you come after that. I think my WRX can give the Civic Type R a run for the money if we were racing on banana peels lmao

Hahaha this part made me laugh because it's true.

When I bought my new truck in 2017 I told them I work at a dealership and knew how this worked yet the manger still tried to sell me life insurance, warranty and so much crap. He kept getting upset with me because I declined everything, and he huffed and puffed when I told him I wanted the truck with nothing - not even the $299 for the stupid wheel locks because someone had to go take them off since they were already installed. (Oh no that's so hard to do) What a joke.

The best part is then he told me if I didn't get it rust proofed and used my own method it would void the whole trucks warranty... I told him to go fly a kite because that's false. Yes it will void the warranty on the rubber seals, but I'll take that loss over some BS "rust proofing" aka a rust module aka a blinking light that does nothing. Obviously I have this luxury, but weekly indoor washes of the underside/frame of my truck keeps it looking the same way it did 2 years ago.

Honestly I'm a bit bias because I'm a tech, but I'd still trust a dealership for service. Sales however? LOL. I lost all the hope I never had to being with - and it's even worse now that I've seen how sales tactics are for the last 8 years at my Honda dealership.

Fernando you are exactly right on all of that, it is the business managers and sales managers that have ruined the buying experience in recent years, Honda dealers have changed dramatically in their sales approach, high pressure sales tactics combined with lots of b.s. claims, and zero transparency in how the pricing is generated.

When I walked out of the Subaru dealership I said to myself "these guys don't try to sell you anything other than the vehicle, how nice". I was in the business manager's office for about 5 minutes there. At Honda they keep you in there for hours hoping that their water-boarding techniques will break you down so you buy something extra from them. lol.

Honda dealers now have this used car trade in value calculator on their websites, it all looks legit and the numbers they spit out look reasonable, but when you go into the dealership to work with the trade in values they are nothing close to eachother, so why bother having that estimator on the website just to waste your time.

Oddly enough I never had an issue with the service department or the parts department at Honda, they still seem straight up to me, regardless of their pricing. But the sales departments have take a big turn for the worse.

In 1999 I was buying an Accord sedan. Deal sort of done including floor mats (not included at the time). We get into the business office, and I am reviewing the printed deal before signing and I decide the deal wasn't good enough. I have them throw in a rear spoiler. After some bickering, they agree. Print up a new deal. I ask to take a final look and the bastards had removed the floor mats. I freak on them. I am about to walk out the door, and the sales manager says to me " you are going to blow this deal over floormats!" I tell him, NO, YOU are blowing this deal over floormats! I will get this deal down the street!! He fixed the paperwork and we signed the deal. Don't ever take anything for granted with these guys!

Jim

I will agree- we were at the London Subaru dealer yesterday dealing with Jeff the head guy of the day- it was your experience that inclined us to check out the used manual forester. He was absolutely excellent to deal with.
Our concern on that specific car was the previous owner didn't clean the underside often enough as the bolts etc were fairly rusted- not a functional issue, but it just didn't look nice.

just to keep on topic- Would I drive a typeR in the winter? maybe on the dry days- but the heavy slush days not so much.

darcy

Yup I've had that happen to me, where they change the final sales agreement from the initial one that you sign and the end result is a worse deal for you unless you spot the changes and put up a stink with them.

Anyone else notice the new Hondas have dozens of sales representatives floating around, they are literally stuffed into every corner of the sales floor, and they don't seem to stick around for more than a few months at a time, high rotation of sales staff. Higher numbers of sales reps has to equal less sales per rep. In the old days they had much fewer sales staff but they hung around for years likely because they had high amounts of individual sales to make it lucrative for them to stick around. You could easily have the same sales rep for a number of your vehicle purchases over the years.