The latest reincarnation of the legendary Civic Type-R in the handsome form of FD2R, is the dream ride many auto enthusiasts would lust after. At a premium price tag that fetches almost RM200k for a brand new unit, owning one would remain the stuff of dreams for many ~ the average wage-earning mass with conventional $$ commitments, the category in which, unfortunately most of us belong to; for maybe another 10 years to come, until it depreciates to a practical to afford price range. So what to do if you need the practicality of a 4-door sedan, want the extra oomph of a race-tuned engine, but you have to work the deal on a rather tight budget?
You shop for a 2nd hand FD-generation Civic, the baseline 1.8 model (2 to 3 years old maybe?) would probably fetch around, say RM90K.
Then you'll need to hunt for a FD2R complete car for sparepart ~ like
this one found in the zerotohundred.com market place, all for RM43K. Yes, for less than RM50K it comes complete with everything, even the CD/MP3 player & push start button~!, although a similar conditioned unit will still fetch a price tag of above RM150K. The only catch is that it's not road legal; title declared as spare-part/track car in the custom form.
Swap the engine, the dash board, the aerokit, brake & suspension kit, and everything swappable into the Civic 1.8, then register it with JPJ you may ~ voilla, you have a converted FD2R, ready to race & fully road legal!
Used FD Civic 1.8 (RM90K) + FD2R Civic Type R complete parts (RM43K) + conversion cost - sales of swapped out Civic 1.8 parts = RM133K *assuming the sales of the swapped out used original parts can offset the conversion cost.
On papers, this looks quite like a bargain compared to purchasing a new FD2R Civic Type R (RM200K) or a used unit (RM180K ~ RM190K).
But then again, there lies the question of how to raise RM43K in cash *I do not have* & whether there is fundamental difference in chassis strength between a conversion from a 1.8 baseline model chassis & the genuine FD2R chassis…
As I'm typing out this, the FD2R complete car has just been sold. So there goes my dream of owning a ~R~ … =p
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