… Honda Civic Type R GT …
From the downright ordinary to the magnificently outrageous. From a 105hp pink Fiat 500 Lounge to a stealth grey 310hp Honda Civic Type R GT. Driving doesn’t come much different than this, but that’s all part of the fun of being a motoring journalist. One week spent gently commuting, the next tearing up the tarmac.
The latest Civic Type R is not for the faint hearted either in terms of power or looks. With its wings, splitters, diffusers, vents and extended arches, not to mention quad exhaust pipes, it looks like something Batman would drive when he’s off duty, still fierce but not quite as menacing. Then when you fire the thing up and unleash it on to the road, maybe it’s not quite such a ‘day-off’ car after all. It’ll do more for your toilet habits than a Glasgow vindaloo and 4 pints of fizzy lager.
This thing is seriously quick, but Honda have tamed this latest Type R, although ‘tamed’ is a relative term. Whereas the previous model would try to rip your arms out with torque steer, this one merely tugs them gently to let you know what’s going on up the front end. Thinking back to the previous model, the main recollection is the way it would exit bends with the power on. Not only had the front wheel drive system to cope with putting all that power down on the road it also had to cope with steering the beast in the intended direction. That is, the driver’s intended direction, not the car’s. Those two views were not necessarily in agreement at times.
This late maturity only makes the car more drivable, controllable and predictable and the desire to exploit the power and handling all the more compulsive. And given the ferocious way it devours the miles, that’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s not just the fuzz who will be attracted, but the guys manning British radar stations on the look-out for Russian MIG-35s who might get distracted.
It’s a track car for the road. Uncompromising ride quality, but capable of coping with the mundane along with the ridiculous. If your bum can stand the ride on the slim seats and 19 inch rims then it could double up as a day car. Roomy, and lots of space in the boot for shopping.
Having said that, the deeply sculptured seats are quite comfortable and supportive despite the minimal padding, but that’s down to the contoured shape, although the lack of foam cushioning makes itself felt over pot holes and road ripples. On that basis it’s not the ideal mode of transport for a gentle cruise through the countryside.
Suspension travel is limited and it can skip at times over rougher surfaces so care has to be exercised. It doesn’t dampen all of the bumps, but the grip is fearsome and that’s as much down to the 235/35×19 Continental Sport Contact 6 rubber bands wrapped around the alloy rims. One observation though, the alloys are easily chipped. When the test car arrived I noted that all four rims were well marked before I signed the delivery chitty!
As if all that isn’t enough there is a ‘+R’ mode! This increases the damping force in the four-point Adaptive Damper System by 30%, makes the steering more responsive, and improves the engine response by altering the engine torque-mapping. That makes the whole package that much more aggressive and is primarily aimed at trackday use rather than normal road use. Naturally the Honda engineers have thought of that and a lap timer and recorder is built into the on-board computer.
Ride comfort apart, it’s an easy car to fall in love with. It has an eagerness that has to be tempered with common sense and the Honda engineers haven’t made the job any easier, tempting the driver with details that you want to exploit. Like the shift indicator!
In addition to the big circular rev counter dead ahead on the main dash panel there is a traffic light LED sequence hidden in the top of the binnacle to supplement the analogue display. As the revs rise, the extreme left and right LEDs light up in yellow then progressively illuminate inwards from both sides changing through darker yellow to orange and finally to red in the middle, right in the driver’s line of sight, before the limiter cuts in. What a neat idea.
It’s also quite necessary as a Type R newcomer might not appreciate just how rapidly the needle whips round the dial as the scenery blurs past the windows. That’s also why the rev limiter is there – to control any over-enthusiasm. At 7000 rpm, the engine is still pulling fiercely and without the limiter it would probably rip all the buttons out of its bodice. Thankfully, the gearshift is up the task with a short, precise throw engaging the next cog as fast as you want. Exhilarating.
Surprisingly, all this performance doesn’t impact on day to day fuel economy. The 2 litre i-VTEC engine can be as docile as you like up to 4000 rpm and that has a beneficial effect on the figures. Honda claim 38.7 mpg in the Euro tests while I managed 35.9 in everyday use. If however, you exploit the performance then you’ll pay the penalty at the pumps, but what the heck, it’s fun.
It’s not exactly a cheap car, but considering the performance you get a lot of bang for your buck, or maybe that’s the price of keeping Gordon Shedden in a job! Only kidding Gordon, but the base price of the Type R is £29,995, whereas the R GT starts at £32,995. The GT version doesn’t really add any more performance, just more ‘comfort’ options including a higher quality Honda CONNECT infotainment system with SatNav and CD, parking sensors front and rear, retracting doors mirrors, auto lights, wipers and dipping rear view mirror, dual zone climate control and interior red coloured ambient lighting.
Which all boils down to one final question. Would I have one? Not as an everyday car, but perhaps as a second car, although I would be wary of keeping my licence intact. It’s so quick and so ferocious it could be addictive. And with its somewhat ostentatious bodykit, it does tend to grab attention and not necessarily the most desirable kind. In fact, Mad Max would probably appreciate one – if he wanted to adopt a lower profile.