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| No. 4 - Our Honda Civic for the morning in Slovakia |
First Impressions - a track car for the road
There’s been some big changes to the new Civic. It’s clear that Honda aren’t really holding back on the Type R this time around, and they’re certainly not holding back on making sure the world knows about the car’s true track potential. It’s a serious car, and a serious piece of kit that adapts to both road and race with surprising ease. Amongst the presentations before being able to drive the car, there were some substantial claims made about its performance potential - primary among which was the claim that it’s pretty much the most capable front wheel drive car in the world.
The car is Honda’s most extreme and highest performing Type R they’ve made. It’s the fastest 0-62mph in the sector - at 5.7 seconds, with 400 Nm at 2,500rpm making it not only the highest performing Type R but ensuring the all new engine stacks up against direct competitors such as the Volkswagen Golf R and the Renaultsport Megane Trophy.
The styling is what you’d expect from a Type R, and may be a bit much for some to live with, but I think the car looks great. There’s a pretty outrageous bodykit, with a devil horn rear spoiler that leaves you under no illusion that this car is built to look at home on the track.
Driving - Road
Being in the first group, that meant I took the car out on the road before the track, which gave me an opportunity to get to know the Type R a little bit in ostensibly ‘normal’ conditions. Naturally, the road route was programmed so we got to learn about the car in a variety of conditions, but it was the twisty mountain stuff that really opened the car up to what we could expect later in the day on the track.
The first thing that struck me was how much mid-range punch the car has. The all new 2.0 VTEC engine has, for the first time, been twinned with a turbocharger to give it a huge amount more torque than the previous Type R incarnations, and it’s noticeable when squirting the car between mountain hairpins, seemingly giving the car more of a ‘grown-up’ attitude. The infamous torque steer that front wheel drive cars such as this suffer from has also been counteracted by an innovative axle system, and it helps to make the driving experience smooth, relatively sophisticated and frankly, easy and stress free even at speed.
The power delivery of the new VTEC engine is impressive. You’ll never forget there’s a turbo attached, but it does its job without really making too much of a fuss. There’s little in the way of spooling or noticeable lag, and it’s nice to see a turbo car that provides the ability to rev up to 7,500rpm without any kind of fuss. You simply don’t have to push the car too much to make the most of it, and this was nice to see from the new engine. Having said that, many would argue that it does away with Civic Type R and VTEC conventions - but that’s no bad thing in a car as forward thinking as this.
The ride is as firm as I was expecting, which didn’t really bother me on the smooth mountain roads we came across. Nor would it, obviously, bother me on the track. Longer term, I feel it could get a little rough, but the practicality of the car, the space in the back and the amount of flexibility with Honda’s magic seats pretty much makes up for it. It’s an easy to use car, and would be an easy car to live with if you were so inclined.
One thing the road driving did enable us to do was to have a glimpse at the R button - which reduces PAS and increases the basic damping force by 30%. The engine is also remapped, but the most noticeable thing was the throttle responsiveness. It increases the throttle response time and the amount of effort you need to put into the right foot, and makes a difference even on the small bits of road we were able to stretch the car.
On the track
The next portion of the day we spent with the Civic Type R was on the track - Honda giving us the opportunity to look at the true ‘race car for the road’ potential of the machine. A good chance to test the both claims of the car and what Honda have put into the new design and engine to make it as good as we were all expecting it to be.
Taking the car out for 5 laps of the WTCC Slovakia Ring accompanied by a racing professional, there was no real sense of drama during the time I spent with the car. The most impressive things to be noticed were the smoothness of the power delivery and the efficiency of the brakes - it was joyfully easy to drive fast and the confidence it invoked was a breath of fresh air for a front wheel drive car of this nature. Sustained acceleration, unlike previous Type R’s, and the smooth low end torque curve meant that the power could be laid on in spades as early as you like - the adaptive damper system (ADS) enabling continuous independent control of each wheel. It didn’t get in the way though - these systems in the new Type R are designed to kick in surprisingly late and aren’t intrusive at all. Very rarely will regular road users, or even track day aficionados, discover the true potential of this technology - the system will ensure that road or track holding is second to none for a car in this category and that a stable flat ride is delivered throughout. On the track the car will leave you to your own devices and will apply braking to independent wheels only when it really, really thinks you need it. The sticky low profile tyres, low stance and the copious amount of pieces of bolt on downforce also helps.
The noise of the car and the exhaust note seemed much more at home on a track than it did on the road - it felt, sounded and looked the part
After the opportunity to drive the car, demo laps were provided by Matt Neal and Gordon Sheddon of British Touring Car Fame. To see what true racing drivers can do with these cars, and how far they can actually push them, was a true delight.
Summary
The Honda Civic Type R is the car Honda were looking for. It’s been a long five years since any sign of a R-badged Civic, and this one most certainly announces itself with confidence and assurance. To drive it’s engaging and versatile - the low down power and increased torque in the new engine meaning you can either leave it in gear and smoothly progress on, or take it up to 7,000rpm and make use of surprisingly revvy turbo performance. Combined with an excellent short throw gearbox, the car’s a joy to throw around small roads and is equally happy here as it is on the track.
There’s an argument here to suggest that the Civic Type R is just a little too refined. It perhaps doesn’t scare you or shock you as much as you’d hope a super hot hatch would, but in this era of accessible speed and refined, smooth turbo engines there’s no doubt that this incarnation of the Civic Type R is one of the best, most highly engineered cars Honda have ever made. The speed and ‘race car for the road’ attitude, twinned with the ability for it to comply with Euro6B emissions and reach 38 mpg on a combined cycle, means the car is likely to go down well with a slightly newer generation of Honda Civic Type R owners. It feels grown up, measured, confident and engineered to high heaven. And that is no bad thing, at all.