Honda Accord 2.2 Type-R Review

Overall Rating

Very quick
Great handling
Nice interior (I like it, others don't)
Cheap servicing compared to Evo & Subaru
Engine sounds like an F1 car over 6000rpm!!

Front tyre's wear quickly
Needs lowering a bit (too high up)
Very quiet exhausts (good point for old people)
Very little tuning parts & mods available

Introduction To The Type-R:

Many of you may be familiar with the already acclaimed Integra Type-R, but it's quieter and subtly more impressive counterpart the Accord Type-R is well worth a look if you're considering buying a performance car such as the Honda Type-R range. It's 209bhp engine will propel you from 0-60 in 7.1 seconds and give you a top speed of 140mph, although some may tell you it's 0-60 is anything between 6.8 and 7.2 seconds.

It's a front wheel drive, but don't let that put you off it's other rear wheel drive competitors. Saying that, you can get a 4 wheel drive version imported from Japan but they are so rare if you get one I want to have a drive!! Thanks to the rigid body and the new and improved steering system, it has a lot more feedback than the Integra Type R, which was heavily criticised for this. It turns very smoothly, consistently and responsively which in my opinion is in the league of the BMW M3.

Unlike the Integra's 1.8 and Civic's 1.6 engine, the extra torque of the 2.2 Accord Type-R gives sufficient pull from 2000rpm, making it a very smooth ride. Power climbs nicely up to 5,500 rpm, then the high speed cams cut-in with the VTEC, and the engine goes wild until 7500rpm and the rev limiter cuts in before you know it. In fact the first time I started driving this, I kept hitting the rev limiter in 2nd gear as I expected it to keep going, but 7,500 revs is pretty high! That's something you'll have to get used to, but it only take a few days then you stare at the revs needle to convince yourself that you aren't piloting a fighter jet.

Compared to the standard Accord, the Type-R chassis has been strengthened by at least 30% (some say up to 40%) which is an impressive feat. It's got great suspension, which is much harder than a standard Accord but definitely a lot smoother than a Mondeo V6 or Vectra GSi (I hate Vectra's!)

The Accord Type-R is made here in the UK, but the engine is hand-finished in Japan which makes you feel very special indeed. I've also heard that there are only two specially trained technicians involved in this process! There are few imports around, in fact I've not seen any so this does help a tiny bit with insurance being a group 16 but insurance companies insist they are imports so if they do just hang up. I pay just over £600 to insure my 2000 Accord Type-R and that's with a totally clean license, no accidents, convictions and a full no-claims discount. Oh, that includes my business mileage too.

Buying the Accord Type-R:

My first choice of car was actually a Mitsubishi Evo VI, but with high servicing and running costs, and one very expensive car will put anybody off that will be travelling to work everyday. I then thought about a BMW M3, but they were way out of my price range considering I've never really been a fan of BMW.

I've always thought of the Honda Accord of a bit of an old mans car, that was until I sat in the Type-R! The first time I sat inside of an Accord Type-R was actually in 2001. It was in a Honda dealership nearby my work, and this particular silver model was going at £17,995 which the dealer told me was a good price. I never thought I'd be able to afford one, but the closer look inside definitely stirred something inside of me which came back a few years later.

I finally bought one for myself in December 2003 for £12,500 which is an excellent price for an X registration with 38,000 miles on the clock. As expected it has a full service history and immaculate bodywork and the Honda dealership even gave me 12 months road tax and a 12 month Honda warranty. I think I got a great deal, as it was originally up for £12,995 and at the time this was the only good example within 100 miles of where I live, and in the colour I wanted RED!

In fact, there are only 3 colours to choose from; Red, Black or Silver. My last car which was a black Honda Civic Coupe just got dirty looking so quickly, and I've had two red cars before which always stood out from the crowd! Silver was clearly not an option, as it reminds me of that awful TV advert for the Toyota Corolla, you know the one where the moron in a restaurant tells his girlfriend through a megaphone "I've got a Toyota Corolla " then a few moments later, "and it's silver". All I can say is, IDIOT!! They had to cut the advert short there because what actually happened was that his girlfriend stabbed him in the eye with the fork and left him.

If you are ever thinking of buying an Accord Type-R privately or through a back street dealer then take my advice and don't do it. For starters you won't get a warranty, and if you do then it'll probably be with someone like Warranty Holdings which should be avoided at all costs. Secondly, it's unlikely to have been checked over properly and I know that all Honda dealerships sell their cars with long Honda warranties, new MOT and a good service before they let you take it away.

The Test Drive:

I highly recommend taking your next potential car out for a long test drive of at least 10 miles. Any good Honda dealership will let you do this, in fact my local Honda dealer let me take my Type-R out for a 20 mile drive with my girlfriend on our own. This way I could relax and drive the car properly and test it's performance on the dual-carriageway (the car, not the girlfriend!).

When I drove it out of the showroom the first thing I noticed was how comfortable the Recaro seats held me in place. I've sat in many Recaro bucket seats before and they are normally very tight, but these were a nice (wider) fit that still held you in place like glue and were finished in Alacantra which is an expensive hard wearing suede like material but softer to touch.

Driving the Accord Type-R through the town was surprisingly pleasant for such a car. My first thought was how quiet it was considering Honda made this a lighter version to the standard Accord by reducing the amount of sound deadening. When I got on to the slip road I saw the dual-carriageway was empty so I put my foot down and watched that rev counter approach 5,000rpm with ease, and I was impressed! Before I knew it, I felt like Captain Piccard.

'Engage!' the VTEC kicked me in the arse and we're now doing warp factor 10! The VTEC will actually kick in at around 5,500rpm and I noticed in 1st and 2nd gear it quickly increases the speed. At this point I turned round to see the look on my girlfriends face, and I could tell I had her immediate approval to buy the car.

One thing I'll never forget is the great big wing on the rear of the car, as I kept catching a glimpse of it in the corner of my eye when I turned round to the side. It doesn't get in the way though, as the view through the rear view mirror kindly looks underneath the rear wing to the small dots I left behind oh they're cars still joining the dual carriageway! Another use for this rear wing (which is actually meant to improve the handling at high speed with the down force of the air), is to use it as a reference point when reversing. Sounds silly, but it works!

Members' Comments onl9nux's Review

• gilesyboy on 3rd Oct 2004

  Can any one who owns an accord help me with a couple of points, I am looking at a 2nd hand one at the moment and the red paint on the engine block has peeled off in places? Is this a normal occurance?
  
  Also how many keys do you get with the car??? Should there be an overide key for the immobiliser??? It is a W-2000 reg.

• l9nux on 1st Nov 2004

  Hi,
  
  Yes, I wrote this review about and my Accord Type-R which also has this problem. It seems to be fairly common, but it's not that expensive to get it re-painted and the DOHC VTEC polished up again to look nice and shiny!
  
  Don't let this put you off buying one though... I'm so pleased with mine and I've had it nearly 1 year now.
  
  Ray.

• JamesO on 31st Jan 2005

  Yep, paint is going on my block a bit, but it's nearly 6 years old and not a problem - exceptional engine.

• JamesO on 31st Jan 2005

  Agree generally; but noisy exhaust? I'd rather not sound like a Chav thanks! The engine is fantastic inside the cabin at over 5500rpm. I'd disagree about private buying - bought mine off a guy who had good reason for sale - he'd clearly cherished it and had it main dealer serviced early...as have I over the last 3 years. Mine is welcome to any inspection when I sell it this summer. You won't find a better performance bargain for under £8k second-hand?? EVO Magazine have independently and reliably tested 0-60 at 6.1 sec.