All-out, Pedal-to-the-metal in The Sepang Circuit !

What is the Honda DNA ? Honda Malaysia own explanation is that it is a mixture of Engineering precision, Defined driveability and ingenious versatility. A key component of the DNA is the driving dynamics, a unique character that makes Honda owners drivers who love to drive. Driving is an indulgement for us and not a chore. Our car becomes part of our life, even our soul. This DNA has always been an integral component of Honda's greatest cars.

Recently I was invited to an exclusive Honda Malaysia 'Experiential Test-Drive' event for the motoring media at the Sepang circuit. The event was organized specially to demonstrate that their driving dynamics DNA is fully present in all the models they market in the local market. Ran like a advance driving course, with separate sessions on skid-control, slalom, etc, it also included a 1 hour track session on the Sepang track itself. Needless to say, for me personally this track-session was the highlight of that event and is the topic of this article.

For the track session Honda prepared several of their cars, which they deem suitable to demonstrate the Honda 'driving DNA'. Due to limited time and a relatively large variety of choices, each stint was limited to only 3-laps, comprising the out-lap, a proper fast-lap, and then the in-lap. Obviously a 3-laps stint around the Sepang circuit is not going to be terribly comprehensive as far as showing off the capabilities of the car is concerned. But it sure doesn't make the session as less fun !

Accord 3.5 V6 VTEC

The first car I took was the Accord 3.5l V6. As far as the 'Asian Accord' goes, the current generation Accord is easily the best Accord Asia ever had. Sadly in the very long time it took for the Asian Accord to get to this desirable state, at the same time it has also gotten to be a bit bloated and over-sized. Consequently, one common comment amongst Honda enthusiasts is that the current generation Accord have grown a bit too large and with that, perhaps a little bit unweildly as well.

As might be expected, one word more or less describes the pushing the Accord 3.5 V6 hard over the Sepang circuit north-track - understeer. Even with VSA interfering significantly (I didn't have the chance to try it with VSA off due to so short a stint) the Accord still understeered when pushed hard in all the corners. Out of 2nd corner, give it full throttle and the car lazily moves off. But even when VSA squashed power output, what power the engine is allowed to produce still causes the nose to plough outwards, front wheels labouring in understeer.

Surprisingly the Accord 3.5 V6 took turns 5 & 6 at above 120kph, eventhough the car was again understeering all the while. But due to the 'S' layout of the two corners, understeering out of turn 5 lands me into a good entry line into turn 6. As the stint was over the 'north' (half) track, I had to brake hard once out of turn 6 before executing a tight right angle right hander into the connecting bit of track back to the main straight. The Accord 3.5 V6 was very stable even here.

On my fast lap, I was lucky not to encounter any traffic and was thus able to push the 3.5 V6 right to its limit. On the front main straight, I was pleasantly surprised to see the speedo exceeding 190kph, almost into 200kph before I had to brake hard for turn 1, in between the 150 and 100m marker. There were plenty of braking power for this and I had in fact braked a little bit too early both times (in the out lap and the fast-lap) as I needed to feather the throttle into turn 1. My entry speed into turn 1 was almost 80kph but as I would be understeering quite hard once into turn 1, I had to gently ease off the throttle and speed drops quickly to around the 60kph area.

Throughout the 3 laps, the Accord always felt bulky. Nevertheless, it was a very surprisingly good drive around Sepang. It was especially impressive given its outright luxury bias in terms of packaging and marketing. I.e. the car is never really meant to be for the enthusiast, that role being taken by the 2.4l variant, and this 3.5 V6 variant is supposed to targetted at business-men who will be driven by chauffuers. The fact that even in this form it is so much fun to drive and relatively so fast around Sepang attests to the excellent design this generation of Accord is. If only it is not so bulky !

Civc 2.0S

The next car I took out was the Civic 2.0S. I had prior experience with this car in Sepang during the FD2R media drive event so I knew beforehand it would be an interesting drive. Like the Accord (and all FF Hondas), it understeers when pushed beyond its limit. Terminal speed on main straight was just over 180kph. However this round I was pushing it beyond 110kph, almost 120kph into turns 5 & 6 though surprisingly it was understeering more than the 3.5 V6 at this speed. Overall, despite its lighter bodyweight, I was surprised that the Civic 2.0S actually had slightly lower cornering limits than the Accord 3.5 V6.

The Asian Civic 2.0S was supposedly designed for the enthusiasts (or so its LPL Takahashi-san told me during its launch here in Malaysia). The Accord 3.5 V6 on the other hand is the flagship for Asia and is supposed to be more luxury biased than the Civic 2.0S. Nevertheless, cornering speed at the limit (when the car starts to understeer seriously) was always a bit lower in the Civic than the Accord in all corners. Terminal speeds at both the end of main straight and into turn 4 was also slower. The Accord's 3.5 V6 of course has a massive power advantage over the Civic's K20Z which might explain the higher top speed in the main straight. But for the lower cornering limit, I wonder if it has anything to do with the strut front suspension on the Civic, versus the double-wishbones on the Accord.

City Grade-V

The next car I drove was the City Grade-V. This car was quite an enigma on the track. It was actually a lot of fun to drive, and had good handling around the Sepang track, especially over the corners. This generation retains the tight steering ratio of the previous generation which makes the car very lively to steering input. It was a lot of fun 'throwing' the car into corners on the roads and on the track, obviously the fun factor at least doubles. Unfortunately it had two really serious shortcomings.

Firstly the unit I had, a black coloured Grade-V, was very unstable during hard braking. Braking into the 1st turn, the tail was wagging seriously and even threatened to swing around. The car felt like it was ready to spin ! And that was only during straight-line hard braking. It was the same when braking into turn 4 as well. Out of turn 6 when I had to execute the right hander through the pit entry and back into the main straight it was very hairy indeed when I did the hard braking. It was OK at the other turns when speeds were slower however. Its composure over the corners at the limit was quite OK actually. Speed into turns 5 & 6 was between 100 and 110kph which is quite respectable for this kind of car. Actually I would expect nothing less given my high regards for its handling.

But the other problem it had and which was quite annoying on the race track was that at around 140kph in 3rd gear which is around 6300 to 6400rpm, the engine seems to hit a wierd power dip. The car almost won't accelerate at that point. On the fast lap as I got into the main straight and start acceleration up to max speed towards turn 1, I watched the tacho closely and the revs actually drops when it reaches that rpm point eventhough the actual speed was still slowly creeping up.

Strangely this happens in 3rd gear but not in 2nd. The engine rpm drops for almost half a second before it suddenly jumps back up again. Everything then continues as normal. The City engine does not have enough power to get to 6,300rpm in 4th gear (it be exceeding 200kph for that to happen) so I don't know if this is isolated to 3rd gear only or 3rd gear and above.

This wierd behaviour of the engine/gearbox combo really hurt the City's straight line acceleration at high speeds. And in the Sepang circuit's North track, this means the main straight. Consequently the City just could not make up good speed, as it was struggling through a large part of the main straight. This and its bad braking stability which forced me to brake very early into turn-1 (way before the 200m marker) meant that I could barely exceed 150kph on the main straight. The previous generation City VTEC could hit almost 160kph here so in this aspect, the new City is a dissapointment.

FD2 Civic Type-R

Finally it was my turn to take the keys to the FD2 Civic Type R ! This time, unlike during its media drive event which was also held here at SIC, I decided to let go and pushed the FD2R way to its limit.

The Civic Type R is the only outright performance model in Honda Malaysia's line-up of models for the local market. Despite the Civic 2.0, Accord 2.4 and Jazz i-VTEC 'pretensions' to be geared towards the enthusiasts, they were still compromised significantly for fuel economy and road comfort. But the FD2R, being a true-blue JDM Type-R is completely and shamelessly hardcore to the bone ! But sadly, the FD2R and its two 'brothers' (the Euro FN2 Civic Type R and the USDM Civic Si) also probably represents the only outright performance models left in Honda's entire line-up all over the world. Everything else has simply been discontinued or cancelled. The fact that Honda Malaysia was willing to put in so much work to justify its inclusion in the local lineup speaks volume for their dedication. At the moment, these 3 models are the only Hondas equipped with a proper high revving high rev cut high specific power output engine. The FD2R comes with a helical LSD and huge brakes with 4pot Brembo calipers and proper performance brake pads that I am confident will NOT fade on me.

Everyone and anyone I have talked to who have driven the FD2 Civic Type-R on a race track have been totally bowed over by its performance. Needless to say, I am in the same company.

With the FD2R, I felt confident going into turn 1 at almost 90kph, subsequently having to slow down when the car started understeering. When I put on WOT after the apex of turn 1, the FD2R did a nice 4 wheel drift sideways out towards the edge of the turn. Ease off the throttle a bit and it then settles back into simple front wheel understeer. The experience was absolutely fantastic. The FD2R really makes it an absolute delight to attack the turns ! It was also the only car (other than the City) without VSA to interfere with my corner exits. Consequently it was wheels wildly screeching and 4 wheels drift out of turn 2 as well.

Into turn 4, I was almost hitting 180 kph before I needed to brake, just a bit before the 50m market. Turns 5 & 6 was very suprising and in a way dissapointing. I could barely hit 130kph and the FD2R was already understeering badly out of the turns. As the Accord 3.5 V6 exceeded 120kph earlier, I was expecting to at least exceed 130kph and maybe even touch 140kph in these two turns. I suspect the fact that my turn at the wheels was after a few other journalists already had a go could be a factor, i.e. the tyres might already be worn. Into turn 6, hard braking was actually a bit hairy and very surprisingly, doesn't feel as stable as in the Accord 3.5 V6.

The main straight was a very frustrating affair as I ran smack into the 185kph speed cut just after the pit exit point and way before the 200m braking marker. It was a long time since I encountered the notorious Honda speed cut and actually I was quite unprepared when I took the first 'bang' against the speed cut. I hit it several times again before I decided to give up and start braking (this one was a leisurely affair as it was so early) before the 150m marker. Without the speed cut, I am very confident I could easily have exceeded 200kph terminal speed into turn 1.

I did have some minor problems with the centering of the steering, in that the steering feedback does not give me any intuitive feeling for when the steering is straight ahead, unlike older Hondas like my DA6, or the DC2R or even the DC5R or AP1. I am not sure if this has anything to do with the EPS versus the standard hydraulic asist power steering in those older models. Or perhaps strut versus double wishbone front suspension. On one of the laps, as I started on my corner exit in turn 1, the lack of feedback had me thinking the steering wheels were straight ahead and it was only when I put on the power that I realized the steering was not. This prompted the need for a quite but jerky correction on the steering wheel.

Accord 2.4 i-VTEC

The Accord 2.4 was a bonus in the sense that it wasn't originally in my allocation of cars to drive on the track. Each journalist were allocated 3 to 4 cars but as I finished very early, the coordinator told me I can take any car I want for 1 extra stint. Of course my first instinct was the FD2R but all of them were already taken up. So I chose the Accord 2.4.

I was especially curious and not a bit apprehensive with the Accord 2.4 on the Sepang track. While it is indeed a very well packaged car, I really feel it had very under-spec brakes. The front brake discs are downright tiny in comparison to the size (bulk) of the car. When I had the Accord 2.4 press loaner car, I took it up and down the Genting Highlands hill resort. During this 'Genting test', this car shocked me by giving me brake fade after only less than 10 corners of spirited driving on the downhill journey. Consequently, I was eager to see how it would hold out on the track but also a bit apprehensive about the possibility of facing brake fade again.

To its credit, the Accord 2.4 did pretty well on the Sepang North track. Terminal speed in the front main straight was almost 180kph which was really quite good. Speed over turns 5 & 6 was around Civic 2.0S speed, i.e. 110+kph. Unlike that trip down from Genting Highlands, the Accord 2.4 did NOT give me brake fade over the entire 4 laps (I 'missed' the pit entry on the 3rd lap and so had the excuse to do an extra lap with the car). Sadly while the K24Z is a very nice engine, even it's relatively large-ish 2.4 litres displacement is not enough for a very fast lap around the Sepang circuit, no thanks to the size and bulk of the Accord. Having said that, it was powerful enough to let me overtake an FD2R, which was probably driven by someone unfamiliar with the Sepang track, on the main straight. Hahahah !

Conclusion

As a Honda fanatic and a track driving enthusiast, this event by Honda Malaysia was easily the most enjoyable event I have ever attended. Of course I for one do not need any introduction, or even reminder of what the Honda DNA means.

Of the cars I got to drive, there's no need to say that the FD2 Civic Type R was the absolute best and absolute most fun to drive. But the biggest and nicest surprise was actually the Accord 3.5 V6. This 'luxury sedan' was actually really fast on the Sepang track, with surprisingly high cornering limits and very stable braking even at high speeds or in the midst of corners !

'Without fear or favour', the biggest dissapointment was the City Grade-V. But it is not bad in the absolute sense, just the others are much better. It was all due to the unstable braking and power dip in 3rd gear however, and without these two issues, the City Grade-V might even give the Accord 2.4 or Civic 2.0 some nice competition.