My Review

[rob495]

I drove about 400 miles this past Sunday on a combination of highways, urban stop and go, and a bunch of back road twisties. Spent a total of 8 hours in the driver’s seat. And wow, color me impressed!

Highway – Seats were exceptional. I did not get fatigued and the seats made the long driving hours enjoyable. Your average car guy always talks about looks, performance, MPG’s, and NVH. Seats are rarely a conversation point but boy, driving hours on end will make you appreciate comfortable seats. The road noise was close to unbearable on certain type of surfaces. The cabin is loud! I’m thinking of trying a different brand of tire when these wear out. If anyone can make a recommendation on a quite performance tire (oxymoron, I know), I’d appreciate it. Acceleration was decent but nothing to write home about. Passing power is acceptable. I’m disappointed that this car is equally as quick or even slower than my FK8. If I were the head engineer, I would have left gears 1 and 2 alone and increased boost in 3-5. Oh well. This car SHINES during high speeds and long sweeping corners. I feel it is more stable than my old G80 M3 (base, manual) believe it or not. Side note: I got absolutely destroyed with pebbles and rocks following several supercars at high speeds. So thankful for my PPF!

City Streets – The tires and wheels are not suitable for inner city driving. You have to be hyper vigilant to avoid hitting a pot hole or a sewer grate. Trying to get the power down during a cold day is also tough when accelerating from a stop light, even in 2nd. I do love the visibility though. The Blind Spot monitoring system is great and I appreciate the little windows at the rear C pillars. Makes merging a breeze. Parallel parking is tough only because of the terrible back up camera. The resolution is terrible and the perspective is distorted. I think it is the worst part of the car.

Back roads – I kept up with a 991 Turbo. He would pull me on the straights but could not shake me in the turns. Of course, on a race course, he would have destroyed me but I was very happy with the cornering abilities of the Type R. Brakes were sharp and consistent. I forgot to turn the suspension from R mode to comfort. I wanted a comparison but got so into the drive it slipped my mind. Interestingly, even though I was bouncing in my seat, I did not feel the tires loose contact with the pavement during rough sections of road.

Summary – I absolutely LOVE this car. Excellent combination of practicality, handling, braking, and "specialness". This car is the perfect daily driver for those who have a family. Almost like a toned down Honda Civic GT3. One of the guys I drove with asked me if this car is better than the FK8. It really had me thinking. I think the FL5 caters to those guys who had an Fk8 and want a more mature experience. I love the way the FL5 looks, my wife and I are close to our 50’s so that “extra” look doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

So back tracking a bit, I sold my FK8 several years ago because of the unbearable 1-2 grind and the 3-4 lockout. The 3-4 lockout was so obnoxious, it would happen at low and mid RPM. Of course the dealer said the issues were not reproducible so I sold it for an M2 Comp. The FL5’s transmission has been absolutely perfect thus far. My fingers are crossed! Did I say I LOVE THIS CAR!

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[dandaman15]

Did you play around at all with the other backup camera views? You find all of them to be bad? I agree resolution is low but Honda has always been behind in that aspect, it is unfortunate.

 

[Rpz]

M2 Comp or the FL5?

 

[1971Camaro]

Did you play around at all with the other backup camera views? You find all of them to be bad? I agree resolution is low but Honda has always been behind in that aspect, it is unfortunate.

I need to mention this...

According to an EE i know who has worked on car electronics... there is are some non-obvious trade-offs re camera resolution when designing cars... two of the things he mentioned are:

1) the higher the rez, the more delay for the signal to travel back to the front, be processed, and displayed on the screen in real time

2) the higher the rez for a backup camera, the more bus data/bandwidth is used up -- taking away from other components

Of course, i'm sure there are other issues such as cost of higher quality lenses or CCD sensors, or live video display rez, and other things that they may be skimping on... but i hadn't thought about those 2 until he told me.

Now, having said that, i myself did Not have a problem with resolution, since i don't seem to have any problem seeing and recognizing what is behind me.... What i DO have a problem with is what @rob495 mentioned, "...and the perspective is distorted."

Yes, the barrel/pin-cushioning and distortion are extreme -- making it very difficult to get a true perspective view. it's almost as if they are pushing a wide-angle view too far. It's frustrating because the car responds so well when driving, but then the response in reverse is all weird when interacting with the camera. Most backup cameras have issues like that, but this one is just more extreme. It still works, and before i go putting it on my wish list, i would need to know how much extra it would add to the cost of the car or what else i might lose if it were to be improved.

To be honest... a simple coin pocket, sunglasses pocket, and/or some low hooks or loops to hang things, and USBs and pockets for the back seat, or other utility stashes rank higher for me right now

 

[rob495]

M2 Comp or the FL5?

That is a loaded question, there are so many variables. M2 Comp as a driver’s car was extremely fun. Very quick and agile. I found that the short wheel base and the suspension set up made the rear end kick out at low speeds which made driving entertaining. It wasn’t a handful but enough to make me keep the traction control on. I was surprised to find out that the M2 Comp was much more of a GT car than a sports car. It would gobble up highways with ease. The engine is a gem, didn’t sound the best but had power everywhere in the RPM band. The fixed dampers were crashy (for a lack of a better word), I often wished they would have added the adaptive suspension from the CS. The 6 speed transmission was a little bit of a letdown. I never missed a shift, grinded, or got locked out of any gear but the throws were long and rubbery. The 1-2 shift was a bit tricky, almost like the transmission wanted you to wait ½ of a heartbeat to get it into 2nd. It made acceleration from a dead stop somewhat a chore. Once the car got moving the torque was excellent.

The Type R is much better for my current situation. I have a family so I need 4 real seats, a huge trunk, and decent gas mileage. The Type R is so EASY to drive: clutch petal is light, steering is light, brakes are strong, and stop and go traffic is a breeze. The largest issue for me in the M2 was rear passenger safety. I was worried that in case of an accident, the rear passenger would have to climb to the front of the cabin in order to exit. Hence my trade for the G80 M3. Interestingly, the manual transmission for the G80 is much better than the M2 Comp. I liked the G80 very much, I just did not bond with the car. It may have been the color scheme, black on black, or the overall design. Whenever I exited the car, I never got the urge to look back and admire it. That is completely the opposite with the Type R. The curb appeal is high with the FL5.

So to answer your question: I prefer the FL5

 

[rob495]

I need to mention this...

According to an EE i know who has worked on car electronics... there is are some non-obvious trade-offs re camera resolution when designing cars... two of the things he mentioned are:

1) the higher the rez, the more delay for the signal to travel back to the front, be processed, and displayed on the screen in real time

2) the higher the rez for a backup camera, the more bus data/bandwidth is used up -- taking away from other components

Of course, i'm sure there are other issues such as cost of higher quality lenses or CCD sensors, or live video display rez, and other things that they may be skimping on... but i hadn't thought about those 2 until he told me.

Now, having said that, i myself did Not have a problem with resolution, since i don't seem to have any problem seeing and recognizing what is behind me.... What i DO have a problem with is what @rob495 mentioned, "...and the perspective is distorted."

Yes, the barrel/pin-cushioning and distortion are extreme -- making it very difficult to get a true perspective view. it's almost as if they are pushing a wide-angle view too far. It's frustrating because the car responds so well when driving, but then the response in reverse is all weird when interacting with the camera. Most backup cameras have issues like that, but this one is just more extreme. It still works, and before i go putting it on my wish list, i would need to know how much extra it would add to the cost of the car or what else i might lose if it were to be improved.

To be honest... a simple coin pocket, sunglasses pocket, and/or some low hooks or loops to hang things, and USBs and pockets for the back seat, or other utility stashes rank higher for me right now

I completely agree with you regarding sunglasses pocket and rear seat convenience items like vents and a USB port for the rear passengers. But the resolution and perspective of the camera is such a glaring misstep, there is no excuse for the poor setup, especially for an item that we use every day. I've owned Fords, Kias, and Toyotas. They all out perform the Type R's backup camera. And I'm talking about cars from 2017. Oh well, hopefully someone will develop a replacement lens. I assume that the back up camera is the same for all civics?

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