A front-drive beast for road and track
The dictionary defines audacity as boldness, courage and guts. All those attributes — and more — describe the new 2017 Honda Civic Type R.
When I first laid eyes on the actual car, I was skeptical. After all, this is a Honda Civic, a nononsense, reliable car that millions of Canadians use to get to work, transport their families and take to the grocery store.
Well, it did start off as a Civic. Along the way, it looks like the company gave a young designer the task of making a four-door hatchback look sporty — but under strict orders not to change the basic shape.
In that respect, he or she succeeded, with nips, tucks, creases, spoilers, scoops and a whale of a tail. Throw in a goodly number of brand-name aftermarket parts, and you get the Type R.
Other manufacturers have come down this road before — and the results have often been disappointing.
But somehow, Honda has managed to pull all theses disparate parts together, and make it work, much to my surprise.
I had an opportunity to drive a Type R on the road (and track) last month.
If you are a fan of the boyracer look, you probably don’t have to read any further — your car is ready. But as an older adult, I rarely judge a book by its cover. My first suspicion was that all these visual cues were just window dressing. I could not have been more wrong.
My first preconception was that a front-wheel-drive car could not be a sports car. Decades of engineering and the best race cars told me that a car driven by the rear wheels — or at the very least, all the wheels — was the preferred setup.
Other high-powered front-drive cars with sporting aspirations have exhibited powerful torque steer — we’re talking about you, Mazdaspeed 3 — enough that it erodes driver confidence.
Which that in mind, I took the Civic out on the track and put the hammer down. To my surprise, the five-door hatchback rocketed me to my first corner with nary a hint of the dreaded pull of the wheel.
I could devote all of my senses on the delightful rush of 306 horses delivered by the turbocharged 2.0-litre four.
This is one sweet engine, with 295 foot-pounds of torque, available from 2,500 to 4,500 r.p.m. It sings all the way to 7,000 r.p.m. with variable timing and lift on its 16 valves.
Acceleration and handling benefit from a low 1,415-kilogram curb weight (that’s more than 110 kilograms lighter than the Subaru WRX STI).
On the short track I was driving, there wasn’t much need to shift gears because the engine pulled strongly at lower rpms all the way up to its lofty limits.
The Type R features a rev-match control for the six-speed manual transmission, where the engine will automatically “blip” the throttle when the driver downshifts (Honda allows a driver to switch the system off if they feel they are proficient on their heeland-toe technique). I left it on, and by doing so, was able to concentrate on my driving more.
The manual transmission is like almost every other Honda manual transmission I have ever used — precise and a joy to operate.
I won’t delve into the engineering that now splits the steering and suspension functions of the front strut, except to say that along with eliminating torque steer, it also enhances steering and handling. The existing multi-link rear suspension is largely unchanged, albeit with stiffer springs and beefier anti-roll bars.
Although the suspension is stiffer, engineers ensured that it was still supple. After a few hot laps, I took the Type R on public roads, where surfaces are invariably less than perfect. I can honestly say that it felt comfortable, which is a surprise after its on-track prowess.
It helps that the dampers are electronically adjustable, with a choice of Comfort, Sport and +R driving modes.
Tires are ultra-low-profile Continental SportContact 245/30 ZR 20 summeronly performance tires wrapped around piano-black wheels. Peek through the slats of the wheel and you will see cherry-red Brembo calipers grabbing 13.8-inch cross-drilled discs looking back at you. The brakes are four-piston in the front and single in the rear.
The package is all wrapped up by triple exhaust pipes exiting the centre of the car. The outer two are the primary exhaust pipes. The smaller pipe is attached to a resonator, which only operates at lower engine speeds, producing a raspy sound.
The front occupants sit on thickly bolstered sport seats covered in redand-black material. The rest of the interior is similar to the rest of the Civic line: Expect to see all the creature comforts of a Touring-specced Civic, with an up-level audio system, navigation and dual-zone climate control.
Honda is no stranger to sporty vehicles — it has produced a number over the years. But despite pleas from its legions of fans, it had resisted to do so for several years. The 2017 Type R is a message that boldness, courage and guts are finally back.
THE SPEC SHEET
Type: High-performance compact five-door hatchback, front engine, front-wheel drive Engine: Turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder, 306 hp at 6,500 r.p.m., 295 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,500 to 4,500 r.p.m. Transmission: Six speed manual Dimensions (mm): Length, 4,557; width, 1,878; height, 1,434; wheelbase, 2,700 Curb weight (kg): 1,415 Price (base/as tested): $40,990/ $42,685 (includes $1,595 freight and PDI and $100 AC tax) Options: Nil Tires: 245/30 ZR 20 on alloy wheels Fuel type: Premium Fuel economy (L/100km): 10.6 city / 8.3 hwy Warranty: Three years/60,000 km new car, five years/100,000 km powertrain and roadside assistance