Cross-Shopping FL5?

[MooMoo]

The type R transmission is amazing when you come from a BMW, but if you come from a car with a good manual transmission then its just another manual transmission.

I love my FL5 but rwd is better than fwd, it is what it is, its just more fun and more engaging period. The FL5 is great for what it is, its expensive and some may say over priced and I might agree but for the price its a great package, its not the best at anything it does but its very good at a lot of the things it does and it has honda reliability. Its a good car.

As far as cady Id love one but would skip the 4 and go 5 all day

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[MooMoo]

I have to disagree drove an m3 g80 and pushed it hard and the shifter was just fine and the clutch compliant. The only issue with bmw’s is the price lol but certified used really helps in the affordability aspect.

I have only drive a g80 with the auto, track time for a few laps, it was crazy fast and the transmission was great. I know bmw ppl love to talk about the DCT but the zf 8 speed is crazy good and works great on that car. I don't think the manual feel changed much from F to G but my f87 the manual was the biggest change going to the Type R, I never understood why people said bmw transmissions were bad, it felt fine, then I got the type R and its night and day, the bmw to me is vague and rubery. I don't think the type R transmission is perfect but for stock is damn good.

What people usually foget to mention is that there is an after market fix for bmw transmissions, Auto solutions makes a great kit for 500 bucks and you now have a nice feeling transmission

 

[Bigfx]

The type R transmission is amazing when you come from a BMW, but if you come from a car with a good manual transmission then its just another manual transmission.

I love my FL5 but rwd is better than fwd, it is what it is, its just more fun and more engaging period. The FL5 is great for what it is, its expensive and some may say over priced and I might agree but for the price its a great package, its not the best at anything it does but its very good at a lot of the things it does and it has honda reliability. Its a good car.

As far as cady Id love one but would skip the 4 and go 5 all day

the 5 is amazing but not the best “track” car but tbh who cares it’s a supercharged v8 that doesn’t give af about mpg or speed limits, it’s truly glorious.

 

[MooMoo]

the 5 is amazing but not the best “track” car but tbh who cares it’s a supercharged v8 that doesn’t give af about mpg or speed limits, it’s truly glorious.

the 5 will be a future classic for sure. What a cool car. Its the one to get vs an m3

 

[Bigfx]

the 5 will be a future classic for sure. What a cool car. Its the one to get vs an m3

For sure man but 100k+ plus is a tough one.

 

[MooMoo]

For sure man but 100k+ plus is a tough one.

100% and fro, what I hear not easy to find + stupid markups.

 

[jtlctr]

The shifter feel is definitely subjective. The M2 comp I drove had a great feeling shifter, but the clutch take up was terrible imo. The regular M2 I drove felt like there was an earthworm between the shift knob and linkage. The other Honda manuals I’ve owned just felt normal to me. The CTR is the best feeling by far for my taste, but lots of people feel it’s too smooth.

 

[optronix]

I have only drive a g80 with the auto, track time for a few laps, it was crazy fast and the transmission was great. I know bmw ppl love to talk about the DCT but the zf 8 speed is crazy good and works great on that car. I don't think the manual feel changed much from F to G but my f87 the manual was the biggest change going to the Type R, I never understood why people said bmw transmissions were bad, it felt fine, then I got the type R and its night and day, the bmw to me is vague and rubery. I don't think the type R transmission is perfect but for stock is damn good.

What people usually foget to mention is that there is an after market fix for bmw transmissions, Auto solutions makes a great kit for 500 bucks and you now have a nice feeling transmission

I think that's the biggest thing- the Honda shifters have always felt great to me, but it's not really something I thought too deeply about until the media clamored on about it for the FL5 in particular. Honestly, the manual in my son's 9th gen Si is just as good! And both of them are roughly on par with the 981 Boxster GTS I wish I never got rid of...

But I've also owned several other manual cars, including several BMWs both M and non-M, and really only the shifter in my 1988 Bronco II did I ever notice was actively "bad" and that was mostly because the god damn knob kept falling off.

But where I'll slightly disagree is with the clutch. I actually absolutely love the clutch in my DE5. It's very easy to drive, even in heavy traffic. I don't notice any downsides from a performance perspective at all either, and I've had my car on a race track and I think easily over 50 autocross runs. I have zero complaints and I don't think I've thought that about literally any other car I've owned- including my most recent manual, a 991.2 Carrera S. I hated driving that car in traffic, to the point it's the primary reason I moved on from it... I don't share that sentiment with this car FWIW. I think for me though it might have just as much to do with the position/material of the seat and the range of motion- I think in the 911 I sat too low and the leather might have even been too slippery to ever feel truly comfortable for longer periods or frequent clutch use. I don't remember the 981 being as bad but that had alcantara seats as well... both were the adaptive sports seats if that makes sense. The 981 clutch was great too but heavier than the Acura.

Maybe I just don't like leather seats for manual cars.

 

[us17094]

100% and fro, what I hear not easy to find + stupid markups.

These thoughts exactly. While the CT4 V Blackwing has an MRSP of $62,195, the only 2025 I see for sale in my area is listed at $79,670.The lowest priced 2024 is listed at $81,265. And as Bigfx stated, CT5 V Blackwings are comfortably above $100k. So even with the CT4 V (which has a tiny backseat) it is almost twice the price of the Civic. Realistically, the two cars should not compete at that price differential and the CT4 V is probably better than the Type R on several dimensions - if it were not, shame on GM.

 

[blinkme323]

As others have said, if you need 4 doors and a 6MT, then really the only viable options (other than the FL are the CT4V BW and the M3 Base. For context, I considered the CT4V BW prior to getting my FL5 and liked it quite a bit. Not to mention you can absolutely find them for well under MSRP.

My problems were 1) the car is MASSIVE but somehow small on the inside. I was more cramped in that than either the FL5 or even my MK8 before it. 2) the exterior styling is fairly non-descript, which is fine for a sleeper but with that price tag, I at least want something discerning it from the base CT4. 3) You'd think the car would have a wild exhaust note, but it isn't much better than the FL5. I almost think they quieted it on purpose as not to encroach on the CT5V BW.

Again still a fantastic ride, but not for me. The one car I nearly chose and still might move to in the future was the new M2 BUT that of course is 2 door. I already have a Model 3 Performance as my daily so 4 doors wasn't a requirement.

 

[Tougefl5]

6 pages of debating on a 60yo who has only owned like 4 cars lmfao ?

 

[zumbooruk]

6 pages of debating on a 60yo who has only owned like 4 cars lmfao ?

minor correction: I owned only two cars...

and worse, the decision was made by my garage

but I do enjoy this forum very much and appreciate all the replies.

 

[MooMoo]

When you have owner very few cars and you are 60 the decision is even more important so more pages might be necessary

 

[zumbooruk]

When you have owner very few cars and you are 60 the decision is even more important so more pages might be necessary

especially considering that I am a recovering perfectionist (though I keep falling off the wagon)

anyway, unless I can somehow figure out how to configure my garage, the decision has been made, and the shorter car won.

 

[zumbooruk]

It fits!

just purchased a SGP FL5 and it fits in my garage just fine (after cleaning up some crap I had in front of the workbench)

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