“The new Civic Type R is a wild racecar – tamed for the road.”
That’s a bold statement to make of your new hot hatch but when you’ve lapped the Nürburgring in 7:50:63 then you can afford to talk big.
What we needed to find out was whether it was any good as a road car for having fun at the weekends and for living with during the week.
To test its credentials as a fun car for the weekends I met up with some friends of TT and took it a run to Glencoe, via the Dukes Pass, for a spot of lunch. Accompanying me on this trip was a Porsche (996) Carrera 4, an E92 M3, Porsche 968 and a tricked out Audi TT RS.
First impressions when getting the Type R onto the open road are that it really is a racecar. Press the Type R button and the suspension is rock hard and the throttle response is very impressive, especially for such a turbocharged engine. Combine this with the already ultra-responsive steering and you’ve got something very special indeed.
After dialling myself into the car it becomes obvious that you’ve got the ability to go VERY fast. The brakes (350mm Brembos) are very confidence inspiring and allow you to brake very late for corners. The suspension keeps the car flat at all times. I was worried that the ride might be too harsh for some of our rough country roads as this had been reported by other testers, but I spent the whole day in the car and didn’t have any aches or pains afterwards.
There will be plenty of people that miss the noise and feel of the old VTEC engine but personally I found that the sheer pace of this new Type R more than made up for it. Does nothing really happen before 3,000 rpm; yes, but it’s not like the old engine did much when you were lower down the rev range.
With all this extra power from the new engine (306 bhp at 6500rpm and 295lb ft at 2500rpm) the next worry was torque steer. Having driven a few of recent turbo hot hatches this seemed likely but Honda have done an amazing job with their Dual Axis Strut Front Suspension meaning you can actually use full throttle without ending up in a ditch.
On that particular days driving the Type R was probably all the car you need for making progress and having fun. On a damp winter day I was definitely able to drive it quicker than I would have done in my M3 and of the cars that were with us only the TT RS would have been able to make more progress. On a warm summers day the Type R might even be too quick for this kind of driving – if you need to do illegal speeds for a car to be challenging/fun then it’s time to get your kicks out of track driving instead.
This leads on to what the car is like as an everyday hatchback and whether it’s too hardcore to live with for normal commuting. To give it the ultimate test we fitted it with the child car seat, filled the boot with a buggy and other baby paraphernalia and used it as a family car for going to the shops.
The firm suspension does get a bit tiresome, with increasing effort put in to missing even the smallest bump in the road, and the ultra-low profile tyres are always a worry, but it’s not a difficult car to live with. Yes a Golf GTI is probably more comfortable and will attract less attention (the Type R really does attract traffic light GP competitors) but the Civic has a big boot, plenty of room in the back and a good infotainment system.
If you can only have one car that needs to get you to work, the shops, the school run and be fun at the weekends then the Type R can handle it all. If you value comfort and subtlety then you’re probably better shopping for something from the VAG group, but you’re unlikely to get as much grin factor for your money.
CAR: Honda Civic Type R GT
PRICE: £32,295 (£32,820 as tested)
ENGINE: 2.0l Turbocharged VTEC, 6 speed manual
POWER: 310PS
TORQUE: 400Nm
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 167mph 0-62 mph 5.7 secs
CONSUMPTION: 38 mpg (combined)
CO2: 170 g/km
TT Rating:
