Having owned my Fabia for over 2 1/2 years I am starting to get itchy feet.

I only do around 6k a year in mileage and the reason for the purchase initially was because of the useful performance and torque of the car. I have spent an awful lot of cash on it including a remap, MFD sat nav, leather, cruise control and 312 mm brake conversion. I cannot fault the performance and for the cash it remains an excellent car. Car has 22k on the clock

However there is still the problem over the knocking noise over a series of bumps which is driving me round the bend. ARB link bar replaced lower wishbone bushes replaced, so the other problem could be the gear box mount. It has also got some squeaks and rattles from the door cards and passenger speaker.

I went to France last year and I was a passenger in a Civic Type R for around 30 minutes. The car felt so solid and rattle free and this was over smooth roads and cobbled surface. The car felt quick enough and when the Vtec kicked in it was wonderful.

I appreciate it might get tiring on long journeys and may be a little harsh on our roads not forgetting the fuel. Insurance wise I have had a quote for

Having owned my Fabia for over 2 1/2 years I am starting to get itchy feet.

I only do around 6k a year in mileage and the reason for the purchase initially was because of the useful performance and torque of the car. I have spent an awful lot of cash on it including a remap, MFD sat nav, leather, cruise control and 312 mm brake conversion. I cannot fault the performance and for the cash it remains an excellent car. Car has 22k on the clock

However there is still the problem over the knocking noise over a series of bumps which is driving me round the bend. ARB link bar replaced lower wishbone bushes replaced, so the other problem could be the gear box mount. It has also got some squeaks and rattles from the door cards and passenger speaker.

I went to France last year and I was a passenger in a Civic Type R for around 30 minutes. The car felt so solid and rattle free and this was over smooth roads and cobbled surface. The car felt quick enough and when the Vtec kicked in it was wonderful.

I appreciate it might get tiring on long journeys and may be a little harsh on our roads not forgetting the fuel. Insurance wise I have had a quote for

Thanks for the advice Dave

Several last editions on the web for

Thanks for the advice Dave

Several last editions on the web for

CTR 80-130kmh (few mods, still NA engine)

http://www.na-soft.com/videos/ohitus.mp4 (requires quicktime)

If you do go for a CTR - get one with aircon as they are dreadful for misting up!

Re the rattly windows, I suppose you could argue that this is a by-product of the Type-R ethos i.e. lightened everything, hence lighter, thinner glass but I thought the Civic was a bit softer (and hence better insulated) compared to the more hardcore Integra.

I nearly bought a Civic over my Octy, took a couple out for a test drive and yes they are great fun, but not sure I could live with one on a day to day basis.

The VTEC kick is intoxicating tho - I used to run a Prelude 2.2 VTEC, quite modified and loved every single minute of it - the fact that it ran so low on coilovers that it wouldn't get into most multi-storey car parks made it a tad impractical though :lol:

I owned a CTR from new for 3 years 3 months and px'd it for my vRS. After 45k miles it didn't have one rattle.

stevenh - The glass on the CTR is the same as the normal civic. It was on;y the DC2 ITR that had a thinner windscreen. Mine didn't have AC and i didn't have any trouble with it misting up.

If you only do 6k miles a year i say go for it!! But do get an AC one as they're like a green house!!

CTR 80-130kmh (few mods, still NA engine)

http://www.na-soft.com/videos/ohitus.mp4 (requires quicktime)

Isn't that a little too quick?

I had a test drive of the New Civic 2.2 Diesel in S spec. my impressions are:

Liked the looks at first, dynamic, new, different but I now think they are ugly.

Sublime engine - though I found quite disconcerting that I couldn't hear or tell what gear I was in; no noise up to about 4000rpm and if you look at the gear lever gate you can't tell by the position of the lever (very short through gears).

Ride was better than a VRs more supple but the quality was on say about 5% better than the VRs.

Overlight steering - to servoed. And weaves around in light to moderate winds which I would find tiring over distance.

Performance was fantastic! Certainly a match for a Vrs.

I have also driven the 1.8Sport Petrol - rattles and squeeky dash, better steering (but not by much), gutless engine (compared with the diesel) typical Honda you have to keep the revs above 4000rpm for it to feel as though it will go. Lousy throttle response - very slow for a powerful engine (feels like a 1.4 until it's above 4000rpm)

They seem to been the car hire firms choice at the moment and look constantly dirty.

And the big negative is that they cost

Father owns a CTR and I'd admit it's a great car. Just laps up all the abuse you can throw it.

Just did a run to Newcastle though over the weekend, 200 miles non stop in that is harsh on the back Keep hinting to him about getting a leather retrim.