New RCF Owner

Jgtcracer · May 2, 2022

All,

Recently posted a topic regarding an RCF I was considering in Swindon. I ended up purchasing the car so thought I would put up a few pictures along with first impressions.

Love the engine note, reminds of the ISF so much!
Getting approx 24mpg combined with exclusively being driven on country roads on the commute to work.
Ride is firmer than I imagined though I'm getting used to it.
My butt is too big for the seat!

Having spent the weekend with the colour I decided as the paint was in such good condition and I wanted to do a cermaic coat etc to try and extend its life as long as possible. Did it over this weekend and although to do it properly takes ages, really happy with the results. Am going to ceramic coat wheels over the next few weeks also. I used the Clansman Shelby ceramic coat and its really easy to apply but does take a little elbow grease to buff back (I now have arms like Popeye!)

My Civic is probably going up for sale over the next few days so asked the wife to take some photos and used the opportunity to get at least one of the cars together.

NemesisUK · May 2, 2022

Lovely car, wishing all the best with it. 👍

BTW, that Civic looks huge in comparison! Is it just the perspective, or are they really that much bigger than the RC-F?

Rob RCF · May 2, 2022

Looks great in that colour! I like the way it changes to a brighter almost more yellowish hue where the light hits it at the right angle.

How would you compare it to the CTR? I was considering one before I got my RCF, but just couldn't quite get past the aggressive styling and wanted something a bit more "grown up". But I keep hearing how great the CTR is to drive.

Jgtcracer · May 2, 2022

20 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Lovely car, wishing all the best with it. 👍

BTW, that Civic looks huge in comparison! Is it just the perspective, or are they really that much bigger than the RC-F?

Thanks. Its the perspective. There is very little in it to be honest, RCF is a little longer and the Civic is a little taller. What's noticeable when you put them together is how long the RCF bonnet is. Similarly to the RCF, the Civic's engine is behind/straddling the front axle but as the motor is smaller it allows the front end to be more compact.

Arnett · May 2, 2022

Love this colour so much, really happy your glad with your purchase

Jgtcracer · May 2, 2022

5 minutes ago, Rob RCF said:

Looks great in that colour! I like the way it changes to a brighter almost more yellowish hue where the light hits it at the right angle.

How would you compare it to the CTR? I was considering one before I got my RCF, but just couldn't quite get past the aggressive styling and wanted something a bit more "grown up". But I keep hearing how great the CTR is to drive.

Its a tough question to answer as its comparing apples to pears. Even with all the hype around the Civic and it's ability to handle, I cant overestimate how much faster it is on the edge than anything even close to it's price point. The RCF is noticeably faster in a straight line, sounds way better, is a much nicer place to be inside and the build quality is on a different scale. I would however be mindful if I met one out an about on a county A/B road as I'm not convinced I would be able to keep up with the Civic (in the dry!).

I purchased the RCF as I wanted something new and different and don't regret it in the slightest. The Civic will however always have a particularly soft spot for me as its probably the 'best' car I have ever owned.

Rob RCF · May 2, 2022

1 hour ago, Jgtcracer said:

Its a tough question to answer as its comparing apples to pears. Even with all the hype around the Civic and it's ability to handle, I cant overestimate how much faster it is on the edge than anything even close to it's price point. The RCF is noticeably faster in a straight line, sounds way better, is a much nicer place to be inside and the build quality is on a different scale. I would however be mindful if I met one out an about on a county A/B road as I'm not convinced I would be able to keep up with the Civic (in the dry!).

I purchased the RCF as I wanted something new and different and don't regret it in the slightest. The Civic will however always have a particularly soft spot for me as its probably the 'best' car I have ever owned.

Thanks for sharing. I agree that the RCF isn't quite at home on a tight twisty road, whereas it's a CTR's natural habitat pretty much.

I'm a bit of a Honda fanboy as I used to have a CRX and then an Accord Type R (great and underrated car). I think that's what drew me to the RCF, to have a naturally aspirated engine again when everything else is going turbocharged and German cars are all the rage.

Jgtcracer · May 2, 2022

4 minutes ago, Rob RCF said:

Thanks for sharing. I agree that the RCF isn't quite at home on a tight twisty road, whereas it's a CTR's natural habitat pretty much.

I'm a bit of a Honda fanboy as I used to have a CRX and then an Accord Type R (great and underrated car). I think that's what drew me to the RCF, to have a naturally aspirated engine again when everything else is going turbocharged and German cars are all the rage.

I too am a bit of a Honda fanboy. Also had an Accord type R, Civic Type R, Crx VT and SIR. I must admit, the V8 from the ISF is what drew me back for the same reasons as you. Always liked different and struggle with the German marques. Turbos are undoubtedly effective but a car is all about ‘feel’ for me rather than numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s going to take me a little while to fully settle into the new car but I’m already super happy.

BTCC_ Racer · May 3, 2022

Lovely motor for sure! I have a Honda Integra DC2 - owned it for 14 years or so, Ive been getting the itch to sell it on as I no longer drive the car. The new CTR prices are holding strong and above list, maybe one for the future. Must be a completely driving experience that CTR?

Jgtcracer · May 3, 2022

7 hours ago, BTCC_ Racer said:

Lovely motor for sure! I have a Honda Integra DC2 - owned it for 14 years or so, Ive been getting the itch to sell it on as I no longer drive the car. The new CTR prices are holding strong and above list, maybe one for the future. Must be a completely driving experience that CTR?

Yea, completely different! I hadn't previously driven an RCF before purchasing my car and at the end of the first day I was secretly a little gutted with the experience. I think the problem was that I was comparing it to the Civic, something designed to handle like its on rails. I have completely changed my opinion of the car over the last week or so as I'm now thinking of it more as a 'Gentleman Cruiser' than an out and out handling machine. Its made me appreciate the RCF's strengths more and really enjoy them. I find myself taking my time and enjoying the comfort, stereo, cruise control. The Civic has these things but they were installed as an afterthought. In the RCF they are the real deal, having been designed from the ground up to be a part of the experience!

I sound like a Lexus salesman but the whole thing feels more 'grown up'. Worst thing that ever happened to the RCF was getting compared to the M4 time and time again by the press. I now understand the car far more and recognize that its supposed to fill a gap the C63/M4 can't fill due to the performance they pursue.

Don't regret the purchase for a second anymore, find myself enjoying it more and more as each day goes by.

hockeyedwards · May 3, 2022

Congrats and welcome to being a fellow F-er! Always good to have a new car clean to your own standard. Forum is full of topics or you can just ask and everyone is easy going and happy to help 🙂

What are your thoughts on adding to it, or are you content as is?

Jgtcracer · May 3, 2022

36 minutes ago, hockeyedwards said:

Congrats and welcome to being a fellow F-er! Always good to have a new car clean to your own standard. Forum is full of topics or you can just ask and everyone is easy going and happy to help 🙂

What are your thoughts on adding to it, or are you content as is?

I’m considering rear window tints, wheels black and de-chrome. Axle back muffler delete or resonator delete but depends on best option. Other than that, leave it as it is!

hockeyedwards · May 3, 2022

Sensible 😛 depends how much V8 noise you want, mid-pipe is where the noise can be gained the most. Do update with pics when you've altered the wheels and de-chromed 😄

B1RMA · May 4, 2022

Does your car have the optional TVD? although opinion is divided I really like what it does and just switch it on along with the sport selector.

Jgtcracer · May 4, 2022

27 minutes ago, B1RMA said:

Does your car have the optional TVD? although opinion is divided I really like what it does and just switch it on along with the sport selector.

No it doesn’t, it’s something I was initially keen to have but as time went on it became less of a priority for me. I would of loved it, along with a sunroof but I would of ended up waiting forever for the perfect car! I’m realistically not going to push the car hard enough to notice a difference.

Marcus

FTBBCVoodoo · May 4, 2022

On 5/2/2022 at 6:14 PM, Jgtcracer said:

All,

Recently posted a topic regarding an RCF I was considering in Swindon. I ended up purchasing the car so thought I would put up a few pictures along with first impressions.

Love the engine note, reminds of the ISF so much!

Getting approx 24mpg combined with exclusively being driven on country roads on the commute to work.

Ride is firmer than I imagined though I'm getting used to it.

My butt is too big for the seat!

Having spent the weekend with the colour I decided as the paint was in such good condition and I wanted to do a cermaic coat etc to try and extend its life as long as possible. Did it over this weekend and although to do it properly takes ages, really happy with the results. Am going to ceramic coat wheels over the next few weeks also. I used the Clansman Shelby ceramic coat and its really easy to apply but does take a little elbow grease to buff back (I now have arms like Popeye!)

My Civic is probably going up for sale over the next few days so asked the wife to take some photos and used the opportunity to get at least one of the cars together.

Sounds like you went on same journey as me from ISF to FK8.

I was toying with an RCF but new job (albeit with a decent car allowance) has me commuting 2 days a week from Poole to Basingstoke so the FK8 remains as the fun daily driver. The wife has joined the Lexus club with an NX300h which is slower than death but "comfortable" 😉

Currently waiting to get my hands on the new Civic Type R before I decide what to jump to next. Also a Honda fan boy having owned 2x DC2's, a DC5 and an S2000.

To keep me interested, my FK8 has now been "tweaked" to over 400bhp and is a rocket (not that it was slow before)

I will confess that she doesn't sound anywhere near as nice as my old ISF although the Remus valved exhaust has helped improve the standard exhaust note 😉

Jgtcracer · May 4, 2022

1 hour ago, FTBBCVoodoo said:

Sounds like you went on same journey as me from ISF to FK8.

I was toying with an RCF but new job (albeit with a decent car allowance) has me commuting 2 days a week from Poole to Basingstoke so the FK8 remains as the fun daily driver. The wife has joined the Lexus club with an NX300h which is slower than death but "comfortable" 😉

Currently waiting to get my hands on the new Civic Type R before I decide what to jump to next. Also a Honda fan boy having owned 2x DC2's, a DC5 and an S2000.

To keep me interested, my FK8 has now been "tweaked" to over 400bhp and is a rocket (not that it was slow before)

I will confess that she doesn't sound anywhere near as nice as my old ISF although the Remus valved exhaust has helped improve the standard exhaust note 😉

Initially I was also hanging on for the new civic coming out but the more I read about it and the more screenshots I see, the more turned off I became. The competition is moving on at a greater rate that the civic will be able to and I do wonder what it’s going to be able to do to distinguish itself from its rivals. I can’t help but feel the FK8 will be the one that will always have that ‘Halo’ status due to the critical acclaim it received when it came out! Even the styling is less obnoxious then when it first arrived on the scene. The new one feels very USDM in its styling.

You never know, with a bit of luck the civic won’t sell and I get to keep both 🤣. If you didn’t know you any better you would think I’ve just got it for sale on auto trader to keep the wife happy!!!

Rob RCF · May 6, 2022

On 5/3/2022 at 7:03 PM, Jgtcracer said:

Yea, completely different! I hadn't previously driven an RCF before purchasing my car and at the end of the first day I was secretly a little gutted with the experience. I think the problem was that I was comparing it to the Civic, something designed to handle like its on rails. I have completely changed my opinion of the car over the last week or so as I'm now thinking of it more as a 'Gentleman Cruiser' than an out and out handling machine. Its made me appreciate the RCF's strengths more and really enjoy them. I find myself taking my time and enjoying the comfort, stereo, cruise control. The Civic has these things but they were installed as an afterthought. In the RCF they are the real deal, having been designed from the ground up to be a part of the experience!

Anything specific that disappoints you about the RCF's handling or is it all just down to the weight?

I don't mind the weight too much, at least the car has the power to overcome it once you downshift, and at least you have the luxury and refinement that goes along with it.

My biggest problem is with the transmission or the transmission programming. I like the smoothness in normal mode if I'm just having a chilled drive, but I feel like the modes could be tweaked. Normal mode should be a bit more sporty with the transmission not being so lethargic to downshift, more like how it is in Sport. I'd question whether we need a "Sport" mode at all and just go straight into the full Sport S+. But I can't complain too much when these modes are just a twist of the dial away, just annoying to keep changing between them. It's usually on the motorway when I leave it in Normal because I want the ECO light to come on if I'm cruising at around 70mph, but then if I stomp on it to overtake someone it sits there for 2-3 seconds seemingly deciding "do I need 6th gear? 5th? No? 4th?" and by that point you're already at 80+ mph wondering why the hell it couldn't just drop straight to 3rd and give you a decent shove of acceleration. I thought an automatic transmission was all based on hydraulic fluid and clutches so it should be able to go from 8th to second with a big enough blip of the throttle.

My last car, admittedly had a DCT, but any time you pushed the pedal all the way down to the kickdown switch it would immediately wake up and downshift to the lowest possible gear to give you maximum acceleration. It did this consistently no matter which mode you were in, even ECO or manual, the latter of which was particularly annoying!

My solution with the RCF usually just means a bit more more pre-emptive action, like if I'm anticipating an overtake I might shift into manual mode and drop down to a more appropriate gear or if I just want a quick burst of punchy acceleration after cruising on the motorway can always go into Sport S+ and then it's usually much quicker to respond.

On 5/3/2022 at 7:03 PM, Jgtcracer said:

Don't regret the purchase for a second anymore, find myself enjoying it more and more as each day goes by.

This seems to be a theme with these cars. Once you start to see them for what they are and get more familiar with the way they drive and respond, it's hard to imagine many other cars that are quite so well-rounded.

B1RMA · May 6, 2022

I just put mine in Sports and use the paddles, if I'm doing a long journey (which is never these days) I'd just keep it in auto, although when the wife is in the passenger seat auto is always used.

This is due to her claiming I once put her neck out in my RX7 when I checked if the turbos were picking up properly.

I like the fact that the car just tightens up in accordance to your driving style.

Rob RCF · May 6, 2022

1 hour ago, B1RMA said:

I just put mine in Sports and use the paddles, if I'm doing a long journey (which is never these days) I'd just keep it in auto, although when the wife is in the passenger seat auto is always used.

This is due to her claiming I once put her neck out in my RX7 when I checked if the turbos were picking up properly.

It can be a bit disappointing when our other halves don't quite share our enthusiasm for spirited driving! But I think we have to realise that not everyone has an easy time in the passenger seat. My partner is the same, she's a bit of a nervous passenger and I usually keep it in normal and auto when she's in the car. She's fine if we're on a big open road though, it's usually narrow roads and other vehicles close by that make her nervous.

The worst (even for me) is on multilane roundabouts when people drift out of their lane and get waaay too close. Happens all the time for some reason, people apparently just don't know how to stay in their lane during a turn, they cut across so consistently it's often better to just hold back.

Moleman · May 6, 2022

11 minutes ago, Rob RCF said:

The worst (even for me) is on multilane roundabouts when people drift out of their lane and get waaay too close. Happens all the time for some reason, people apparently just don't know how to stay in their lane during a turn, they cut across so consistently it's often better to just hold back.

Sometimes I feel they take the instruction "straight ahead" to mean just that. You would never believe some roundabouts have more than one lane.

Jgtcracer · May 8, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 11:53 AM, Rob RCF said:

Anything specific that disappoints you about the RCF's handling or is it all just down to the weight?

I don't mind the weight too much, at least the car has the power to overcome it once you downshift, and at least you have the luxury and refinement that goes along with it.

My biggest problem is with the transmission or the transmission programming. I like the smoothness in normal mode if I'm just having a chilled drive, but I feel like the modes could be tweaked. Normal mode should be a bit more sporty with the transmission not being so lethargic to downshift, more like how it is in Sport. I'd question whether we need a "Sport" mode at all and just go straight into the full Sport S+. But I can't complain too much when these modes are just a twist of the dial away, just annoying to keep changing between them. It's usually on the motorway when I leave it in Normal because I want the ECO light to come on if I'm cruising at around 70mph, but then if I stomp on it to overtake someone it sits there for 2-3 seconds seemingly deciding "do I need 6th gear? 5th? No? 4th?" and by that point you're already at 80+ mph wondering why the hell it couldn't just drop straight to 3rd and give you a decent shove of acceleration. I thought an automatic transmission was all based on hydraulic fluid and clutches so it should be able to go from 8th to second with a big enough blip of the throttle.

My last car, admittedly had a DCT, but any time you pushed the pedal all the way down to the kickdown switch it would immediately wake up and downshift to the lowest possible gear to give you maximum acceleration. It did this consistently no matter which mode you were in, even ECO or manual, the latter of which was particularly annoying!

My solution with the RCF usually just means a bit more more pre-emptive action, like if I'm anticipating an overtake I might shift into manual mode and drop down to a more appropriate gear or if I just want a quick burst of punchy acceleration after cruising on the motorway can always go into Sport S+ and then it's usually much quicker to respond.

This seems to be a theme with these cars. Once you start to see them for what they are and get more familiar with the way they drive and respond, it's hard to imagine many other cars that are quite so well-rounded.

Although I initially was a bit disappointed, I've changed my tune over the last couple of weeks. Its handles solidly and seems to carry speed particularly well. I think the problem was I was comparing it to something that is designed to give a different experience. I can definitely feel the weight though the level of refinement that car has can sometimes mean the speed I'm going is quite high before it feels 'fast'. Turn in is markedly different to my previous car due to the rear wheel drive setup, being able to feel the car 'rotate' around me when pushing on, similarly to how the ISF does it. In the Type R you use the LSD to pull you around the corners, and can feel this through the steering wheel.

As for the gearbox, I'll drive in auto unless I'm wanting to play in manual in which case I like Sport. I quite like being able to short shift sometimes and find that in Sport+ the car will stop me shifting up occasionally. I assume its just trying to keep the revs up.

Jgtcracer · May 8, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 12:23 PM, B1RMA said:

I just put mine in Sports and use the paddles, if I'm doing a long journey (which is never these days) I'd just keep it in auto, although when the wife is in the passenger seat auto is always used.

This is due to her claiming I once put her neck out in my RX7 when I checked if the turbos were picking up properly.

I like the fact that the car just tightens up in accordance to your driving style.

I get this, one of my daughters love it but my youngest and wife aren't fans of spirited driving. Once managed to convince the wife to do a standing start in my R32 GT-R and I've regretted it ever since!

Jgtcracer · May 8, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 2:35 PM, Rob RCF said:

It can be a bit disappointing when our other halves don't quite share our enthusiasm for spirited driving! But I think we have to realise that not everyone has an easy time in the passenger seat. My partner is the same, she's a bit of a nervous passenger and I usually keep it in normal and auto when she's in the car. She's fine if we're on a big open road though, it's usually narrow roads and other vehicles close by that make her nervous.

The worst (even for me) is on multilane roundabouts when people drift out of their lane and get waaay too close. Happens all the time for some reason, people apparently just don't know how to stay in their lane during a turn, they cut across so consistently it's often better to just hold back.

99% of the time I'm the driver so when I take the passenger seat it tends to make me ill, unless its dual carriageway etc. I'm not sure if its just me but I tend to feel a little nervous too, I think my perception of speed is completely different when I'm not in control.

As a passenger it feels like everyone is mental and drives too fast though I'm not a hypocrite so wont say anything!

ubersonic · May 8, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 11:53 AM, Rob RCF said:

My solution with the RCF usually just means a bit more more pre-emptive action, like if I'm anticipating an overtake I might shift into manual mode and drop down to a more appropriate gear

If the RCF transmission works like the ISF transmission then you don't need to shift to "M" for that, the flappy paddles still work in "D" it's just you don't have to use them like you do in "M". I.E if you're going for an overtake and want to drop a few gears you can use the down paddle to drop to your selected gear then afterwards either up paddle back or just hold the revs and the car will resume control of gear selection after a few seconds.