Living with a DC5

[Civiclised]

Hi Chaps,

Having trawled through your search funtion, you seem a very helpful bunch!

I could potentially get a DC5 soon (depending how nice the boss is regarding my bonus next month!). I've looked through the site and founds lots of useful info on buying a DC5, what to look for etc. But my question is more about what they are like to live with.

I've always had Hondas but never imported ones. In fact I've never had an imported car! The obvious problems I can see are to do with insurance and parts, but is it really that bad? What are the difficulties in owning a DC5 and what can I expect? (apart from a huge grin!)

Congrats on a great site guys, thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Duncs]

welcome,
first of all this is my first Honda, but i have had imports before so,

insurance is expensive, so that is a problem, (depending on age/location) but it is available.

parts is not an issue, they are all available and i have yet to hear a non helpful dealer (some are DEFinetly more helpful than others) so do not let parts put you off, servicing, dealers will do that.

as for living with, well i have no regrets, it is an easy car to get on with, after all it is a Honda, depends what you want from it i suppose, mine is used occasionly for work, occasionly tracked and occasionally carries wife and an occasional child.

 

[Civiclised]

Thanks for the reply Duncs. From what I've found, I should be able to get insurance if some of you others have.

I'm 24 with 6 years NCB, no points (yet) and IAM qualification (geek!). I live just outside London in Surrey. Car won't be garaged though.


My useage will be very similar to yours (if you exchange occasional wife for occasional girlfriend and subtracted occasional child - I hope). To be honest, I don't do many miles as I work in the city and commute daily by train. I want the car for me and for my own fun as I'm a Honda enthusiast! Having said that, I will still need to go to Sainsburys in it so I can't opt for anything too radical like an Aerial Atom!

Are there any silly things like manuals being in Japanese etc? Sat Nav only having Jap maps on it? Anything really! I'm completely new to import cars!

 

[Duncs]

as it is only a Jap spec car (not available outside japan) everything is in japanese,
books, who needs them, the honda manual workshop manual is avail on here via a link to download, the 'user' guide is in japanese, but these cars are not exactly 'fully loaded' so you can work most of it out, don't forget we are here to help anyway!!!!
if your car comes with a jap spec radio/etc junk it and buy a uk spec with sat nav, if your using the car as described don't bother with sat nav just buy a good ICE system.

 

[Civiclised]

Anyone had any regrets about buying their DC5? Just trying to get a full picture before I decide!

 

[mikegsi]

no regrets whatsoever, in fact, this is the first car ive owned for more than 7 months, coming upto a year of ownership now and still as happy with it as the day i first got her

 

[Gaz 1]

I've had mine for 4 months and it gives me such a grin each time a drive it, you will not be disapointed with it whatsoever truly brilliant cars 8)

 

[dan the man]

a coupe with a massive hatch boot so still practical really. never lets me down, goes like hell and returns good MPG. sorted 8)

 

[dc5-2ltr]

This is my first imported car too...dont do a lot of miles in her...got her last September..still have the biggest grin every time she comes out of the garage..pretty economical,insurance not too bad, dead nippy, sooo reliable cracking ride/drive, still soo rare(prob less than 450 in uk).vtec,vtec,vtec :xvtec: xthumbsup \/

 

[rayray]

The car is great, Although would say that for some on an every day basis, the ride can be very very hard. I have had comments from passengers that own the civic type r that have said they where suprised at how firm the ride was (great on the twisties!)
Ive had the DC5 since I was 21 and being young I dont mind the ride at all, to me its all part of the fun in driving such a pure/raw front wheel drive beast! Im sure many others will agree with the smiles per mile factor!
:wink:

 

[Breeze]

All good from me too. I got mine some months back. I have a work car so don't drive it to work but mine comes out on the weekend for every drive even just down to the local shops (strange how a two minute walk becomes a 30 minute drive when I go in the car). The car is fantastic but tkes a bit of taming. It is not an everyday wrx which any wanker can jump into and look like a pro. It does bite back a bit if you are not careful but the car is so communicative you know when you have poked it in the arse a bit too hard and you can settle it a bit.

Your typical understeery low powered fwd (thinking my current model modeo zetec) you can come into a roundabout hot and have it in a high gear like second ready for getting the power down on exit. Jab the brakes and accellerate and wiggle round the roundabout. Try that in the teg and the high compression engine at revs turns an awesome handling fwd into a bit of a lead tipped arrow. The combination of jabbing the brakes and the compression braking starts her understeering like the worst of them. Instead you need to be a lot smoother, go in a gear higher than what you think you need and (smoothly) jump on the accelerator earlier and it will just pull you where you want to go whilst not scrubbing off any speed. To much accelleration and turning and it will do a rwd on you and the back will step out. It is a very balanced car and will respond appropriately to the drivers inputs. Getting it right gives you a great grin factor, getting it wrong isn't as messy as it could be.

This coupe had the most rear leg room (more than Nissan silvia) and a huge boot. My kids love going everywhere in it despite the hard ride.

If you want a fast and economical sports car with power througout the rev range and reliable and practical then this is the one for you.