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22/10/2007
By EWAN KENNEDY
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The Civic Type-R is the latest entrant in Honda's long-running and highly-acclaimed range of specialised hot cars. To those who know about sporting automotive items, the very name of Type-R cries out about performance, styling and driving pleasure.
 Honda Civic Type-R comes to Australia from the UK – that’s right, the UK, nothing seems to be built where you expect it these days – with a recommended retail price of $39,990. This puts it up against the Subaru WRX, Mazda3 MPS, Ford Focus XR5 and others in a market segment that’s rapidly becoming one of the most intense in Australia.
It comes as no surprise that power for this hot Honda comes from a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that’s aimed very much at the high-performance driver. Honda has being building this sort of powerplant for decades.
Maximum power is 148 kW – or 200 horsepower in countries other than Australia. In that very Type-R way that has delighted us over the years, this latest engine kicks into full-on-power mode at 5600 revs and gives a huge push in the back all the way to the big 8000 rpm redline. Those who like a thoroughbred performance engine will just love this Honda.
Also typically Honda is that fact that top torque comes in a long way up the rev band, also at 5600 rpm. Peak torque is an impressive 193 Nm, thus almost reaching the magic 100 Nm per litre mark. This new Type-R Honda isn’t as peaky or out of place around town as many of its predecessors. The engine produces 90 per cent of its torque from 2500 revs, though our initial road testing showed that you really need 3000 rpm for the engine to come on song, and 4000 is much nicer.
 A word of warning: if you don’t like to work at getting the best from this Honda's engine don’t even think of buying a Type-R. It’s one for the serious bruisers, not the casual cruisers – and we don’t have a problem with that. The world needs more ‘real’ coupes and fewer pretenders.
Pushed hard the fuel consumption will be high, but the really impressive thing about this engine is that it can be economical in daily driving. We found figures of under seven litres per hundred kilometres could be obtained without any particularly economy-driving techniques. That’s on easy paced trips, but even around town you’re not likely to see fuel consumption much over 10 litres per hundred kilometres unless you really hustle the car along. Petrol should be of 95 grade or higher in this specialised engine.
Handling is as exciting and dynamic as you would expect from any Honda Type-R. There's plenty of road grip, excellent feedback through the steering wheel and this Honda has the ability to bring a smile to the face on your favourite road. We haven’t yet track tested a Type-R, but certainly don’t expect it to exhibit any vices in extreme circumstances.
The suspension provides a reasonably firm ride in a typically sporting manner, but only those who value their comfort above all else will find it unacceptable.
Road noise is intrusive at times, especially on coarse-chip roads, not unexpected in a car of this nature with sports suspension and performance tyres. But if you do a lot of country driving it may be wise to include some coarse-chip surfaces in your own road test.
The use of a six-speed gearbox and big wheels has pushed the turning circle out to 12.2 metres. It’s not common to strike this sort of problem these days, so it comes as a surprise that Honda has compromised the Civic in this way.
There's some confusion to the eyes when parking and driving due to the way the rear wing intrudes on the back window, but with some familiarity this problem will be minimised.
 Styling of the latest Honda Type-R is simply stunning. From the severely sloping, stubby bonnet, with striking headlight design, to the F1 type front spoiler treatment, big 18-inch alloy wheels and all the way back to the chopped-off tail with its inbuilt triangular exhaust outlets, this really is something special.
Unless you are of a shy and retiring nature, that is, because this hot Honda just screams out to be noticed and you wouldn’t like the attention. Then again, the extroverts…
Likewise, the futuristic interior with its two-tier instrument layout in a dash panel with boldly sculpted lines, big sports seats and special-build badge.
Interior space is aimed more at the two front occupants than at the family man. Having said that, access to the back seats through the front doors is reasonably good and there's sufficient space in the rear for kids below their teenage years. Boot space is reasonable and access through the rear hatch is impressive.
Those who know and understand hot cars will appreciate the purity of design in this new little Honda Civic Type-R with all its quirky features and over-the-top shape.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Civic Type-R 2.0-litre three-door hatch - $39,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard
Air Conditioning: Standard
Automatic Transmission: Not offered
CD Player: Standard
Central Locking: Standard
Cruise Control: Standard
Dual Front Airbags: Standard
Front Side Airbags: Standard
Stability Control: Standard
Traction Control: Standard
SPECIFICATIONS (Honda Civic Type-R 2.0-litre five-door hatch)
ENGINE
Capacity: 1.998 litres
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 86.0 x 86.0 mm
Maximum Power: 148 kW @ 7800 rpm
Maximum Torque: 193 Nm @ 5600 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Six-speed
Automatic Transmission: Not offered
Final Drive Ratio: 5.062:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4285 mm
Wheelbase: 2635 mm
Width: 1785 mm
Height: 1445 mm
Turning Circle: 12.3 metres
Kerb Mass: 1345 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 50 litres
Towing Ability: NA
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Torsion bar, anti-roll bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilated disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 6.6 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 14.8 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Type: Petrol 95RON
Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 9.3 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/100,000km
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