Wait … wait … bang! There it is. Type R, Honda’s lunatic, red-badged fringe, has always done things a bit differently. Its VTEC system, with its high-lift camshaft profile, turned otherwise humdrum Hondas into maniacal screamers. The last few revs before the rev-counter’s needle reached red paint was a hedonistic pleasure, the change in character marked and the tone spine-tingling in intensity.
That’s something that has been denied to most of us in the UAE, though the Type R brand still has resonance, even if it’s notably absent. It’s been the same everywhere else of late, as Honda’s engineers concentrated on other things, denying the world a Type R to get excited about. This car is important then. Teased for years, it’s now finally here. Or at least everywhere else, as Honda’s position on selling the red-badged Civic in the UAE is still very much in the undecided camp – erring on the no side. If you want one, ask, repeatedly, and wave big wads of dirhams about.
Why wouldn’t you want the fastest, most powerful Type R yet? Well, it’s a different Type R; ever increasing environmental regulations and hot hatch fight club requiring a minimum of 300hp for entry sees the Type R’s 2.0-litre VTEC engine feature a turbocharger for the first time. That’s completely changed the character of the engine’s performance. There’s none of that waiting, so now the VTEC system works all over the rev range in conjunction with the turbo to allow greater pressure at low revs, to the benefit of performance. The result couldn’t be more different to the demanding nature of the old Type R experience, as this new Civic Type R is fast everywhere.
By everywhere, read the Nürburgring. Honda’s development goal was simple: to be the fastest front-drive hatchback around that infernal strip of tarmac in Germany. Honda’s engineers threw everything at it to do so, and now there’s a bit of the aftermarket about the looks. Honda says every element of its somewhat extrovert stance is functional, allowing it to run around the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 50 seconds. It’s fast then; little wonder with that turbocharged 2.0-litre unit pushing out 310hp, though a few seconds on that lap time for a more cohesive, less busy look perhaps wouldn’t go amiss.
Ignore the wings, vents, diffusers and blistered wheelarches for a moment, if you can, and the rest of the specification is pure Type R. The Type R’s body is 18 per cent stiffer thanks to the use of adhesives, Honda discovering that the use of glues is both beneficial for strength and weight over the more traditional spot welding. Allowing the Civic Type R to exploit all its power is a dual-axis strut front suspension set-up that’s said to reduce torque steer by 55 per cent over a conventional strut set-up.
That’s useful, given all 310hp – and more importantly 400Nm of torque – is directed to the front wheels only. Add in a limited slip differential and the result is genuinely impressive; the Type R is remarkably composed given the sizeable numbers those front tyres are dealing with. The suspension not only helps manage all that power decisively, but also provides a ride that, while firm, isn’t so taut as to be problematic. For that you press the +R button, which stiffens up the oil-filled dampers, adds some weight (but no additional feel) to the steering and changes the engine map to a more aggressive one. Best advice on the road is not to use this mode, as it messes up the Type R’s flow, even if that engine map is a little bit more immediate – the trade-offs elsewhere aren’t worth it.
That’s arguably true of the new engine. Sure, it’s way faster than any Type R before it, with any rev flexibility that’s in a different league to its non-turbocharged predecessors. It’s economical, too, as if that really matters. It has lost its character, though, and, in particular, its voice. Type Rs were once an aural joy: wrung out to their maximum, they created a mechanical howl that was pure racer. With the new Type R there’s lots of noise, but it’s all about resonance and boom and not about mechanical melody. Which is disappointing, as it offers the best conductor’s baton going – in the form of a six-speed manual sat proudly in the Type R’s rather fussily finished interior.
Something of a Type R signature, the gearshift action is superb, Honda honing it to the point where there’s just 40mm of movement across the gate. It is a real joy to slot into gear. Add perfectly placed pedals for rolling off the brake and onto the throttle for blipped downshifts and the Type R engages like few others, which in a world of rev-matched downshifts and automatics is a reminder of how wonderful driving can really be. We’d buy it for that alone. In its predecessors we’d have added the charismatic engine to that and restrained looks, though with this Type R that’s changed, and not, at least to these eyes, for the better. It’s time to stop chasing lap times, however good the outcome might be, as this Type R has lost something in the process, even if ultimately it’s been worth the wait.
motoring@thenational.ae
