Honda Civic’s new Type R passes devilish road test
The 2020 Honda Civic Type R has 306 horsepower, four doors, a hatchback, red seats, insane handling, the latest electronics and a rear wing the size of the Sopwith Camel. Sounds like heaven to me.
So I took it to Hell. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling back and forth to Michigan’s devilish burg during the coronavirus clampdown. With the state’s best roads and unlikely name, Hell has always been a fun diversion. The North American Car of the Year jury used to hold our annual test there before we outgrew local facilities. Lunch meeting in Ann Arbor? I’ll detour on the way back to test a car’s limits.
But with national vehicle test programs grounded by COVID-19, Hell has become my test loop to push a performance vehicle’s envelope. Is it comfortable on the two-hour round trip? Does it get good gas mileage? Have modern safety features like adaptive cruise-control? Does it inspire confidence on roller-coaster roads?
Hell’s a fabulous allaround test. And a showcase for the $37,950 Civic Type R’s impressive allaround game of affordable speed, comfort and utility.
At the end of a good workout this spring, I found but one weakness: With a healthy $3,175 price jump since it was introduced as a 2018 model, Type R has ceded ground to the $37,884 Subaru WRX STI and $30,675 Hyundai
Veloster N for pocketrocket affordability.
Nail the imperturbable R over Hankerd Road’s heaving high-speed blind turns and you’ll swear it’s Velcroed to the pavement, so flat is its chassis. The only limit to the sports car’s speed was my fear of cresting a brow to find one of Michigan’s finest in a squad car (their presence ubiquitous in these COVID times).
But before I get too deep into Hell’s twisties, a quick primer on the Type R.
When Honda took the 10th-generation $20,806 2015 Civic to Germany’s Nurburgring racetrack to bench mark against the Audi A3, the Type R was the ultimate goal. King Civic offers top-of-class room, features and handling across a vast lineup that includes sedan, Sport hatchback, Si performance coupe — and then peaks at the Type R. It’s like watching the evolution of Michael Jordan from high school star to six-time NBA champion.
New for 2020, the Type R brings significant upgrades like standard Honda Sensing (adaptive cruisecontrol, lane-keep assist, emergency braking), which helps explain the price hike. And it adds minor tweaks such as a new front spoiler, suede steering wheel and body-colored fascia gills.