Honda Civic Type R

Another month, and another evo long-termer suffers as a result of its super-low-profile rubber

‘IS IT AN OPTICAL ILLUSION OR is the front-right wheel on the Civic slightly buckled?’ asked staff writer Will Beaumont as he entered the evo office. Uh-oh. We went outside to take a closer look. Sure enough, if you crouched down and followed the red pinstripe around the wheel’s edge, there was a subtle flat spot on the rim.

I know exactly when it happened. Around four weeks earlier, at night on an unlit road, the Type R had clobbered a nasty pothole at about 30mph. It was one of those thumps that makes you wince, curse and check the instrument display for a puncture warning. But nothing appeared, the car felt fine, and I simply forgot about it.

After Will’s eagle-eyed observation, however, I have tuned into the merest of shudders through the steering when the front-right wheel is loaded up in a corner, but it’s a message that’s easily lost amongst general road-surface chatter. I’ll be happier with it sorted, though, so as the car will need some new tyres shortly I’ll try to get the wheel straightened out at the same time.

But the risk of further pothole damage is now a constant worry. And it would seem not an unjustified one, as Type R long-termers on two other mags have also suffered pothole-related injuries recently. Why so? Well, it could be a coincidence. Or it could be because the current Type R’s alloys are 20-inch items that wear 255/30 tyres. This equates to a sidewall height of just 73.5mm, which if you think about it is a laughably small amount of protection.

Our Audi RS3 Saloon long-termer also sports the same width and profile tyres (optionally) on its front axle, and you may recall that it too recently become a pothole victim – twice – acquiring damage to both of its front tyres. (No bent wheels, though.) After my experience this month, I now concur with m’colleague James Disdale that such rubber-band profiles really aren’t suited to having the weight of an engine – even a four-cylinder one – pushing down on them. Not on UK roads, anyway.

So here’s a thought: I wonder if the previous Type R’s 19-inch wheels, with their relatively squidgy 35-profile rubber, would fit the current model?

Date acquired January 2018 Total mileage 5818 Mileage this month 965 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 29.5