[coxeterj]

Really is a mega car. Grip in the dry is incredible for a FWD car and the engine really is a piece of art. It really likes being thrashed and revs so freely for a turbo engine. Gear changing is so precise and snikety snikety that you change gear just for the hell of it. The looks are very divisive but there is no doubting that Honda have made a remarkable car and I suspect on a technical bit of road us RS owners would struggle to keep up. 

 

 

 

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[terminator x]

Find that hard to believe as the RS3 is 100hp up and handles pretty well imho. For what it is though I agree they've done well.

 

TX.

 

PS I've owned two Honda ITR's in the past a DC2 and a DC5 so I do know how good a Honda gear change / handling can be

Edited by terminator x, 08 March 2018 - 06:43 PM.

[coxeterj]

Its a couple of hundred kilos lighter than the RS and it does lap the Nurburgring faster...... In fact it even lapped the ring 5 seconds quicker than the TTRS. You should try one and you will see what I mean. In a straight line the RS is quicker and off the line the Type R will be obliterated.....

Edited by coxeterj, 08 March 2018 - 07:05 PM.

[BillTheButcher]

I met one of these on a test drive while I was out test driving an A45 yesterday (MB and Honda dealers are round the corner from each other). Impossible to say how hard he was pushing (although the noises the Honda was making suggest "quite hard"). Neither he nor the Honda salesman seemed impressed with the outcome. 

[RS777]

I guess an alternative to a Golf R it may be a hard choice but I agree the shear force on launch for the RS3 has it for me. I do love the Honda VTec engines and I know turbo charged S2000s were doing some monster 1/4 mile times in the day.

 

I don't mind the bonnet vent but on the whole I am not too keen on the looks. To me it looks like a Civic with an aftermarket Jap look bodykit, especially the back arches. I much prefer bodywork that is made to look a certain way than the look of stuck on parts like the Liberty Walk bodykits on things like GTRs and various supercars. Having had the DSG in the Sirocco I will never go back to a manual box again and feel when I chose them previously it was part nostalgia & part 'being a drivers car' pressure.

[coxeterj]

I guess an alternative to a Golf R it may be a hard choice but I agree the shear force on launch for the RS3 has it for me. I do love the Honda VTec engines and I know turbo charged S2000s were doing some monster 1/4 mile times in the day.

 

I don't mind the bonnet vent but on the whole I am not too keen on the looks. To me it looks like a Civic with an aftermarket Jap look bodykit, especially the back arches. I much prefer bodywork that is made to look a certain way than the look of stuck on parts like the Liberty Walk bodykits on things like GTRs and various supercars. Having had the DSG in the Sirocco I will never go back to a manual box again and feel when I chose them previously it was part nostalgia & part 'being a drivers car' pressure.

 

In traffic you do miss the slush box! You are never going to get that same launch experience in a Civic and the front diff is certainly at the limit as to how much more power it can take.

[MacD]

Is it just me that thinks it looks chav?

[135i king]

I doubt anyone thinks it looks elegant bud.. I & many others like the shouty chav look in a hot hatch, the Mk2 focus rs was the first example & did it brilliantly. Mind you I do think these look better in person than on pictures. Yet to drive one but I have booked in! Cox did you test drive a dealers car or was it a friend's?

[BillTheButcher]

Is it just me that thinks it looks chav?

 

It's not just you. Front-on it looks OK; quite aggressive and mean. It gets worse as you go around the side and the back is just awful, especially with the optional extra wing at the top. From behind I think it's the ugliest car on sale today.

[RS3Dell]

Is it just me that thinks it looks chav?

Fast & Fu#ked up more like it 🤔

Dell.

[T-800]

It’s everything you want from a Jap hot hatch in my opinion.
I had both the EP3 and FN2 loved them both at the time especially the futuristic FN2 at that time I had a focus ST as well and the FN2 made it look average

[BillTheButcher]

I had a nine-month-old EP3 which I kept for almost three years. Great little car. Then I tried a Mk4 Golf R32 and there hasn't been a single Japanese car since that's tempted me to move away from the German brands.

Edited by BillTheButcher, 09 March 2018 - 09:00 AM.

[RS3Dell]

I had a MK2 16v Golf at the time & always loved the Mitsubishi Evo5/6 but just can't do the interiors 😕

Dell.

[Ozmosis]

I am sure it is a very good car to drive, plenty of rave reviews about it. But, and this is the big but, I could not live with the looks!

I also have a bit of a soft spot for Honda due to previous cars I have owned.

[coxeterj]

I doubt anyone thinks it looks elegant bud.. I & many others like the shouty chav look in a hot hatch, the Mk2 focus rs was the first example & did it brilliantly. Mind you I do think these look better in person than on pictures. Yet to drive one but I have booked in! Cox did you test drive a dealers car or was it a friend's?

 

It was Bracknell Hondas demo with 9 miles on the clock. 

[coxeterj]

I had a MK2 16v Golf at the time & always loved the Mitsubishi Evo5/6 but just can't do the interiors

Dell.

 

The interior is not bad, and the infotainment system isn't nearly half as bad as the journos are making out.

[coxeterj]

It’s everything you want from a Jap hot hatch in my opinion.
I had both the EP3 and FN2 loved them both at the time especially the futuristic FN2 at that time I had a focus ST as well and the FN2 made it look average

 

Those high revving engines are unforgettable. I actually probably rate the EP3 as one of the best hot hatches of all time.

[T-800]

Those high revving engines are unforgettable. I actually probably rate the EP3 as one of the best hot hatches of all time.

For me the EP3 was all about the engine

The FN2 just had the bonus of the nicer interior.......so far out there at the time.

[coxeterj]

For me the EP3 was all about the engine

The FN2 just had the bonus of the nicer interior.......so far out there at the time.

 

The FN2 was a nicer all round package but wasn't quite was fun as the EP3 in my opinion. The FN2 was a great looking car at the time.

[T-800]

The FN2 was a nicer all round package but wasn't quite was fun as the EP3 in my opinion. The FN2 was a great looking car at the time.

Agreed

Dropping the multi link rear suspension in favour of a torsion beam set up on the FN2 to save £££ was a mistake too.