The performance hatch segment is a hotly contested area of the industry at present with such powerhouses as the Opel Astra OPC and Ford Focus ST vying for the attentions of potential buyers. The Honda Civic Type-R is bucks the turbocharged trend of these aforementioned competitors and steps into the fray with a rev-happy, normally aspirated engine – is it wading into a gunfight armed with a butter knife?
From a styling perspective, the Type-R looks like a seriously sinister and purposeful performance hatch, albeit similar to its workaday sibling. That’s not to say that it’s a bad-looking car, far from it, but the differentiating touches are very subtle – the ride height has dropped by 15 mm, a neat set of seven-spoke alloys crowd the wheel arches, an enlarged bumper mounted intake flanked by triangular fog lamps gasps for air up front and a suitable amount of “Type-R” decals and red Honda badging distinguishes this car from standard models.
A normally aspirated 2,0-litre I-VTEC engine delivers 147 kW at 7 400 r/min and a reasonable 196 N.m of torque at a heady 5 900 r/min. It is possible (and a great deal of fun!) to wind the engine up to 8 000 r/min before it bounces off the limiter. In typical VTEC tradition, this engine has little in the way of power and torque at the lower end – drive it like a normal Civic and that’s exactly the way it will behave.
VTEC-engined cars, such as this, are totally different creatures to their counterparts. Forget everything about you’ve had engrained into your psyche about going easy on the revs –a heavy foot rewards you with a glorious wail that ushers you into feeling as though this car is much faster than it really is. This “on the edge” driving experience is what the Type-R is all about, but will the rev-happy Honda be able to keep the pace around Killarney?
You can read South African circuit racing stars Hennie Groenewald and Philip Kekana’s track appraisals of the Type R in the January 2009 issue of CAR magazine, in which we put 18 of South Africa’s hottest hatches to the test at Killarney.
Listen to hot hatch exhaust notes.
Download wallpapers from the Track Shootout here: Batch 1, Batch 2 and Batch 3, or Batch 4.
Watch two Ultimate Hot Hatch Shootout videos
You can also view the behind-the-scenes or the Franschhoek Pass Shootout galleries.
