The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
New Honda Civic Type R looks to undercut hot hatch rivals
Honda has revealed details of the new Civic Type R, which goes on sale in July.
With prices starting at £30,995 the company’s flagship hot hatch will undercut its great rival the Ford Focus – although that car comes with fourwheel drive.
That’s just £795 more than the outgoing Type R. PCP it and Honda says you’re looking at around £299/month on a three-year deal.
The Type R GT will start at £32,995 (£495 more than the old Civic GT) and gets navigation, an upgraded stereo, dual-zone climate control and blind-spot monitoring, among others.
It’s powered by a two-litre turbocharged engine with 316bhp and, although it’s based on the latest Civic, the Type R has revised suspension to give sharper handling. There’s also a selection of driving modes which tailor the adaptive dampers, steering, gear shift and throttle response depending on the driver’s preference.
Power is sent to the front wheels and through a six-speed manual transmission.
The Type R has recently intensified the hype surrounding it by setting the new fastest lap for a front-wheel drive production car around Germany’s famed Nürburgring. As for the competition, the Ford Focus RS starts at £32,265 and a five-door VW Golf R is £32,695 – more than the Civic but both come with all-wheel drive.
A front-wheel drive, five-door Seat Leon Cupra (a previous front wheel drive Nürburgring record holder) is £30,455 and the rear-drive BMW M140i is £33,180.
Buyers have arguably never had such a wealth of hot hatch talent to choose from.
Head of cars at Honda UK, Phil Webb, said: “The order bank is already open and we are experiencing strong interest off the back of the launch at the Geneva Motor Show in March – before our customers have even taken a test drive.”