After taking some time off to focus on its volume sellers, Honda its own unique flavor of high performance back into the mainstream. More notably for U . -established fans, this marks the first time a Type R-badged Honda has been sold in North America, and this track-tuned iteration of the Civic functions as the strongest performance machine in Honda's current lineup.
The tenth creation of the automaker's affordable runabout had already shown some promise in the Sport and Si trims, but the Type R appears to ratchet things up significantly, both with respect to the visual drama and the capacity on tap.
But there has been a concern recently that Honda had lost interest in developing a worthy competition in the hot hatch section, a space that's already inhabited by worthy entries like the Ford Focus RS and Volkswagen Golf R. Can Honda's latest red-badged Civic hold its own against those established commodities? We spent a week with all the Civic Type R on the roads and back streets of Los Angeles to find out.
Since America's first-ever Civic Type R, this version of Honda's five-door hatchback sits in the very of the business's performance totem pole and is inspired by a warmed-over version of the automaker's turbocharged 2.0-liter four cylinder engine that has been tuned to provide 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, the latter of which comes in at 2,500 rpm and remains flat until roughly 4,500 revs.That grunt is hauled to the front wheels through a helical limited-slip differential, while altering duties are discharged completely through a six-speed manual gearbox with automatic rev-matching capability.
Together with a healthy dose of go-fast hardware, the Form R receives a thorough visual reworking with an emphasis on competitive visual presentation, practical aerodynamics and improved cooling.
One important element that differentiates the Civic Type R from the rest of its competitive set is the fact that the car comes standard with literally every feature available on the version. That means that equipment you'd normally find as optional updates -- the significant Brembo brakes up front, the elastic suspension, the more Recaro-style front seats, and the specially-developed Continental Sport summer tires which are wrapped around unique 20-inch alloys -- all come as part of the base price of the car.
Also on hand at the Civic Type R is a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation, Apple CarPlay , and Android automobile functionality, which belts out the tunes through a 12-speaker, 540-watt sound system.
Along with the eye sport chairs, the interior has some additional performance creditably by way of an aluminum shift knob, a flat-bottomed steering wheel, and red accents throughout.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
While the infotainment program does sport some vital features like the above mobile interfaces along with Sirius XM, Pandora, along with several dozen speakers to work with, there's still some room for improvement here. The lack of a volume knob is an annoyance that Honda seems to be addressing ad-hoc amongst the various versions in its lineup, and Civic's infotainment system stays free of physical knobs and switches on the unit itself. It is simple enough for the driver to deal with this through the steering wheel controllers, but the passenger is still left to manage this Cadillac CUE-like port burden, while the sonic output in the superior sound system is also a bit underwhelming. The hardware powering the infotainment system seems up to the work though, and it moves through its different menu works without much fuss.
With the bright red trimming and aggressively fortified seats greeting first time occupants, one may anticipate the Civic Type R to be a top performance crucible, but what's surprising is how hospitable the cottage is once you have settled in. While the seats are officially performance-focused -- replete with rushing harness cut-outs -- and also do a great job of carrying you in place during spirited driving, and they are also rather comfortable for lengthy stints behind the wheel, and look good wrapped in the large-quality cowhide which Honda used.
Though the majority of the inside is typical tenth-generation Civic fare, there are a couple of elements that make this car feel unique, such as the serialized placard on the centre console and the driveway mode toggle switch near it that's adorned with a bright red +R logo. Overall, the cottage's functional simplicity works quite well with the performance assignment of this Type R, and not one of the practicality offered in the typical five-door Civic is lost in the procedure.
There were countless ways that Honda could have gotten the Civic Type R incorrect, but it seems to have prevented just about all of these. 300+ horsepower delivered through the front wheels should not work but it does, and there is virtually no torque steer to be discovered anywhere.
With the Civic Type R track-focused tuning we would likely have forgiven Honda for a punishing ride, but the three-mode adaptive damping system was masterfully executed here, with Comfort mode supplying smooth travel through commutes over less-than-perfect pavement and Sport mode provides a happy medium between compliance and responsiveness. +R style (better known as Track mode in ordinary parlance) provides the type of flat cornering and dive-less braking you would expect from a car tuned for track duty. Every one of these modes also adapt the throttle sensitively and steering weight along with the suspension, therefore each feels different , both by the feel of driver inputs and the car's behaviour to them.
The performance can be readily obtained and gratifying when put into use, with a well-weighted clutch along with exact shifter making a row through the gears a joy instead of a job, irrespective of whether you opt to utilize the auto rev-matching feature or not.
While the Civic Si's optional Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tires still left us yearning for more traction when cornering and scrubbing off rate, you'll find no gripes out of us concerning the 245mm Continentals equipped here on the Type R, and stomping about the reassuringly firm brake pedal summons those Brembo stoppers to slow down things with serious haste.
At approximately 3,100 lbs, the Type R feels tossable , excited to respond to driver inputs, and also do what it was created to do. However, despite Honda's assertion that the engine's peak torque comes in at only 2,500 rpm , there were times when overtaking slower traffic that it required a breath or two for increase to enter and push the vehicle along with the expected urgency.
2017 HONDA CIVIC TYPE R when compared with
With that said, at complete wick the turbocharged 2.0-liter four cylinder pulls with more than enough gusto to make this car very entertaining to drive, and it is worth remembering that this motor powered the Form R to develop into the front-wheel-drive production car lap record holder at the Nürburgring before this year.
SAFETY The 2017 Civic is a IIHS Top Safety Pick and has received a five-star overall security rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
OUR TAKE
Simply put, this vehicle is dialed in -- it is really is a blast to drive spiritedly and simple to pilot casually. At $34,775 including destination and handling, it undercuts cars like the Ford Focus RS, Subaru WRX STI and Volkswagen Golf R by approximately 20 percent when providing very little compromise in terms of performance, functionality, and build quality. The Focus might be quicker and the Golf R more elegant, but neither can touch the value proposition offered by the Civic Type R.
The styling may not be for everyone, but it's also not by injury. Honda is back in the company of making fun, fast, and cheap cars, and it is clear they are going to perform it in their own distinctive way. If this satisfies you, you are in for a great time using all the 2017 Civic Type R.
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December 07, 2017
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Cars
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