General Comments:
Before I bought the Euro R, I had just sold my BMW 330ci, so I was expecting quite a significant downgrade in performance. However I must say I was very much pleasantly surprised by the Euro R.
The red top H22A had some serious punch when it is revved into Vtec. For what it is, a moderately sized NA engine, it certainly has a lot of power in the top end to match the power of V6s. Overtaking on open roads was a breeze, and 100km/h to 140km/h is easily achieved in a few seconds in 3rd gear. Pity the Vtec kicks in quite late at 5800rpm, and the engine redlines at 7400rpm, making the best bits of the engine available in a very short time!
The handling of this car is also exceptional; whilst it is a FWD, I had to push it fairly hard to feel any understeer. I’ve found the factory Euro R suspension set up to be quite good, not harsh enough to make daily driving a pain, but solid enough to handle itself nicely when thrown around at speed.
Overall the car was performing very well (as well as being very, very cheap to run and insure for a car of this caliber) until I noticed some strange rattling noise from the low revs (1500rpm to 2000rpm) one day on my way to work. Didn’t pay too much attention at first, but it got worse and worse, until a point when I realised the big end bearings are on their way out. By then there was a considerable loss in low end torque and Vtec had less oomph. Very sad indeed as I was quoted a ridiculous amount to rebuild the engine and it was probably a cheaper option to replace the whole engine.
In the end I had it sold as I couldn’t be bothered with the cost/time for a transplant or a rebuilt.
Despite the bearings crapping out, the Euro R is still a very good car. Can’t be compared to turbo cars in sheer power, but they definitely have their place as a well engineered and well balanced sports car.
For people looking at buying one, yeah why not, but best is to find one with less than 100,000kms on the clock, as I was told the R-engines will need a lot of work once they age.
8th Nov 2010, 09:55
Did I miss something? Didn't you say your transmission lasted another 100K miles? Honda uses re-manufactured replacement parts, such as engines and transmissions, and not new ones.
Also, you bought this as an investment? And who told you a Honda was a good investment? A 1969 Boss 429 is a good investment in cars. A modern commuter car is nothing but a depreciating asset that you will spend a lot of money on. This is true about any brand and model of new car at this level. Even if you have no problems with it, it still depreciates and costs money to own.