evo's Type-R arrived having travelled its maiden miles as one of Honda's UK launch cars on the Isle of Man. That fiery baptism at least spared us the frustration of running-in. There was never any doubting the hot Honda's pace - we saw a 6.8sec 0 to 60mph time out of it, but as the market's most powerful hatch it was kinda what we expected - yet there were several on the evo team who doubted its all-round ability and desirability. Although the Civic always emerged well from group tests and features, praise was given grudgingly; the Honda could deliver the figures and storm around at sensational speed, but on a snapshot acquaintance it seldom struck up a bond with those behind its fat little steering wheel.

Miles were what was needed to form an affectionate relationship with the CTR (as it's known on internet forums), and I travelled further in it than anyone else. I could see what the others meant about the steering feel being inconsistent in extremis, but it was just one of those things that's easy to adapt to, and on most roads isn't something that becomes an issue anyway. There were complaints from some about the volume of road and engine noise, but compared with the Integra Type-R that I ran for 16,000 miles, the Civic is positively civil. Stiff ride? It's not so bad, and I would willingly trade a bit of suppleness for the lack of body roll through corners. And besides, it's meant to be a hot hatch, for crissake, not a Jag. Same goes for those who whinged about having to rev the engine hard - it's all part of the character of a hot hatch, so belt up and just stick your foot down.

Maybe we shouldn't talk about practicality in a mag like evo, but I'm gonna. For a 146mph missile, the CTR sure has a lot of space inside it, for heads, knees, shoulders and luggage. Fold the rear seats and you've got yourself a mini-estate, but even with them up you can cram in a lot of gear. It's not hard to justify the Honda as family transport, even if those who have to sit on the shapeless rear seat get a bum deal. And although the front seats aren't as embracing as the Recaros of the Integra Type-R (ITR), they do the job when you're tramping on.

Any CTR owner will tell you that the most oft asked question is how they get on with the gearlever sprouting from the facia. The answer will always be 'brilliantly', because you never have to drop your hand far from the steering wheel to select the next cog, just like in a rally or touring car.

Our Type-R did so many group tests, track sessions and other artificially gruelling events that we found it hard to judge what it might be like to run one in normal driving. By the time Honda reclaimed the car, we'd replaced three sets of front tyres and a pair of rears, and at 16,344 miles had to cough up for front brake pads to replace those finished off at evo Trackday Car of the Year.

To get a handle on what running costs might be like in a more genteel environment, and to find out what you guys out there in evoland thought of the Civic, we asked for some feedback. And boy-oh-boy did we get feedback - stacks of it and not quite the stuff that we were expecting.

What did we learn? Firstly, that the CTR had quickly become a cult car, praised primarily for its performance-to-price ratio. Mark Harber, who previously ran round in a Boxster and a Scooby, reckoned that the Honda was 'the most fun and just staggering value for money', and he wasn't alone in that opinion. Secondly, despite Honda's reputation for build quality, the Swindon-made Type-R was riddled with problems. Before going into details, I need to point out that our car gave us little cause for complaint. It drank a lot of oil to begin with, but then settled down to a far steadier rate. And although a section of the headlining around the rear hatch had come adrift, RE51 MXC was generally rattle-free, remaining impressively solid in the face of the sort of long-term and persistent thrashing that no right-minded owner would subject their car to.

We attributed the badly chipped paintwork of our CTR to the amount of time it spent close behind other cars, in range of flicked-up gravel, during the course of photography. But no. Just about every piece of CTR correspondence we received mentioned bad stone chipping, even on the roof-mounted rear spoiler. Some owners had bits resprayed, and several mentioned that their cars had poorly made and ill-fitting bodykit parts replaced under warranty.

Many of you reported creaky interior trim and mysterious rattles that dealers were unable or unwilling to track down and fix. Another common criticism of the cabin was how easily the plastics scratched, something we noticed with our car but simply put down to its especially hard life. A couple of you noted electric window failures, and a couple more had alarm/ immobiliser difficulties. Also subject to critical comment was the Alcantara covering on the side bolsters of the front seats. which was easy to stain and mark, and in a few instances starting to ruffle up.

The oil consumption of RE51 MXC might have eased off after the engine had a few miles under its cambelts, but a handful of owners were so concerned about their cars' thirst they took them back to their dealers. Not that it did them much good. The official response was that while oil consumption was on the high-ish side, it was still within the upper limit of Honda's acceptable level; that meant 4.5 litres in 7000 miles for one reader.

We asked Honda to comment on all these complaints, but the general tone of the reply was that there isn't a problem with the way CTRs are built, and that what we have here are isolated incidents. On the issue of the chipping paint, for instance, the technical department said of one particular car that had problems from the outset, 'the marks on the car are commensurate with normal usage and mileage'. As to any squeaks or rattles: 'Our recommendation to any other customers that may feel their car is in the same condition (irritatingly baggy) is that they refer to their local dealer.' In fact, just about any problem you have is something to take up with your dealer, according to Honda.

Obviously all new cars have their faults, the teething problems of early production, but we do wonder if Honda is being a tad dismissive here, blinkered in its view of Swindon quality. Owner Alistair Taylor, for example, reckoned his CTR rattled more than 'a 1990 Metro and a 1992 Alfa 33'. Phil Benyon was so cross he wanted to give his CTR back - 'I regret the day I bought such a vehicle,' he stormed. And Matthew Taylor told us, 'I love the car to bits, but these small irritations are not what I expected from my first Honda.'

Despite all the grumbling, plenty of evo readers reckoned that their Type-Rs were great. I'd go along with them, though if I'd realised that the paint chips weren't unique to our car, I might have made more fuss. Now it's gone I miss its speed and frantic nature, and its ability to swallow kids and pushchairs on the days that fun was off the menu. I get little pangs of jealousy seeing other people driving CTRs, particularly now that winter's here and I've learned how much old Elise roofs leak. And despite the unhappy experiences of some of you, I'd still recommend the Type-R to anyone with a 16-grand budget and a fetish for speed.