It may not be pretty, but it is pretty fun

New Honda Civic Type R is brilliant

THE bloke in the white Golf R was all over the road while giving the Honda Civic Type R an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

This is a car created for the young, or in other words someone about 40 years younger than the average Honda customer.

A fellow journalist who had the car for a week hated the look of it and only drove it at night in case he was seen by anyone.

The new Civic Type R is pretty extreme, with a big rear wing and gaping air intakes at the front. It is not a pretty car and verges on ugly.

But when you’re driving it none of this matters because this is one exciting motor.

You might remember that the previous generation Civic Type R had a life barely longer than that of a butterfly as it arrived only a year or so before the car on which it was based was replaced by a totally new Civic.

It’s on the latter that this new Type R is based. It’s longer than the old Type R, and because the fuel tank is now under the rear seats instead of the front, that has allowed for a 50mm reduction in seat height.

That’s good for centre of gravity and for a more “planted on the road” feeling. The engine is still a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder but now produces 320bhp thanks to a variety of modifications.

The pistons now have oil channels in them, the oil cooler is water cooled instead of air cooled, and the exhaust manifold is wrapped in a water jacket to help keep the top of the engine cooler.

It’s this last modification more