HONDA CIVIC TYPE R

‘IT’S THRILLINGLY FAST, RIDICULOUSLY GRIPPY AND UNSHAKEABLY COMPOSED’ – JOHN BARKER

BASED PURELY ON COST, HONDA’S CIVIC Type R is this year’s underdog, its sticker price of over `50 lakh (in the UK) making it both a bargain in terms of the driving experience it offers and absurd when you consider it’s based on a five-door hatchback that will be sold globally in its millions.

The latest Type R earns its place in 2023’s eCoty purely on merit. Without a doubt it’s not only the best new hot hatch you can buy, it’s also one of the very best of all time. Like the select few from its homeland, the Type R has benefited from continuous development rather than radical revolution in the recent past. Its drivetrain has been finessed, steering precision polished, damping and spring rates harmonised, the styling toned down. A bit.

In every test we have put the Type R into, the front-drive, six-speed-manual hatch has left its rivals wilting as it delivers another superlative performance, demonstrating that the highest level of driver engagement isn’t exclusive to the exotics and the specialists. It’s a hatchback that can carry a family every day for every scenario before instantly turning its hand to being a devastatingly rewarding car for trackdays or those drives where you simply want to get away from it all.

The Type R redefines the all-rounder, proves once again that a well-engineered front-wheel-drive car can be as exciting and engaging as the very best traditionally configured sports cars – some of which the humble(ish) Honda will be taking on at this year’s evo Car of the Year. Not that this troubled the Civic’s predecessors in past eCotys, and we can’t see that changing when today’s example squares up to this year’s other contenders.