The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
And the car of the year is...
We hand out the awards in our supplement inside and on pages 5 to 8.
The Honda Civic Type R is our Hot Hatch of the Year.
The headline figures are undeniably impressive. Power comes courtesy of a direct-injected, turbocharged 2.0-litre VTEC petrol engine, which really delivers a solid punch of both power and torque. Peak power output is slightly up on the previous-generation model, up by 10hp to 320hp at 6,500rpm.
The body itself has a longer wheelbase than the previous-generation version.
The relocation of the fuel tank from beneath the front seats to beneath the rears means that the driver sits 50mm lower than before.
The centre of gravity is lower, too. The body is 16kg lighter and 38% stiffer than the previous model’s, but the most crucial mechanical change is that there’s no longer a torsion beam rear axle. Instead, the latest Type R gets a fully independent, multi-link rear set-up.
As before, there’s a ‘+R’ button that, when activated, heightens engine responsiveness and alters the torque-mapping to a more aggressive and performance-focused setting. That will have been activated when setting the Nurburgring Nordscliefe lap record this car now holds – set at 7min 43.8s, seven seconds quicker than the previousgeneration car managed.
An almost completely flat underside sucks the car on to the road and the rear wing, front splitter and deep side skirts are also demonstrably functional. Big grilles in the bumpers direct cooling air to the engine and brakes. The lightweight 20-inch alloy wheels look pretty mean, too.
The combined cycle fuel figure is 36.7mpg and the CO2 reading is 176g/km. Residual values shouldn’t put too much of a bash in the budget, as there’s always been a strong used trade in Type Rs.
The latest Civic Type R makes a whole lot of impressive numbers. This Britishbuilt Honda will manage to inveigle itself into its own niche. Type Rs have always been something out of the ordinary, something very special and this one promises to be no different.