Honda Civic Type R - Know it, before you buy it

The Honda Civic Type R, the sportier version of the Civic sedan, has been one of the best-selling sports cars in the Philippines. However, it has always been a limited edition model despite the high demands. Such was the insane craze for the car that it was reserved within 48 hours of the booking announcement.

And since then, we always knew that a mere 100 units would be grabbed in a matter of minutes. In May 2018, the company announced that another set of 100 units of the Type R will be up for the bookings.

But, even though the Honda Civic Type R is so much sought-after, it is important for us to take a look at everything the car offers, before making the plunge. So, here is everything that we need to know about the car before buying it.

Exterior appearance

The Honda Civic Type R is nothing short of a perfect sports car in every aspect. The sleek appearance and the huge tail spoiler take the aerodynamics higher up. The headlamps are full LED units and have the auto-levelling feature. Even the fog lamps and tail lights have the LED units on them.

It rides on 20-inch aluminium wheels with 245-section wheels. It is suspended over finely tuned MacPherson with dual-axis Strut up front and multi-link at the rear. And as for the braking, there is a Brembo-sourced 350 mm ventilated disc for the front wheels with four-piston callipers and 305 mm solid disc for the rear.

Interior features

The Honda Civic Type-R has all of the features that the buyer would expect for upon buying a car at that price. The cabin is quite spacious and has typical sporty seats that are low. Up at the dashboard, there is a 7-inch advanced touchscreen display which has navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, USB ports, and iPod and iPhone connectivity.

The audio system has eight speakers and four tweeters. The rear view mirrors have the auto dimming feature. Ambient and boot lights are given as standard where the former is red in colour.

Speaking about the boot space, the Type-R, despite being a sports car, has 414-litre of boot space. The cabin is cooled by a dual-zone automatic climate control.

Engine & transmission

The Honda Civic Type-R has a turbocharged engine under the hood. The 2.0-litre VTEC four-cylinder engine makes a good power of 310 PS at 6,500 rpm along with a peak torque 400 Nm which comes between 2,500-4,500 rpm. The power is sent down to the wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission gearbox that has the rev matching function.

The power production of the Type-R is very linear despite having the sporty punch. The torque is distributed equally among the rev range and hence, the peak torque kicks in at as low as 2,500 rpm and can extend up to 4,500 rpm.

The engine has three different drive modes and each of them has a distinctive feel. The Sports mode is the default option but you can tune to the +R  for better performance and feel. However, for city driving, there is a Comfort mode which tweaks the engine power and throttle response to make the drive more economical.

Safety

The Honda Civic Type-R, being a road-biased sports car, has quite a lot of safety feature in order to meet the standards. There are six airbags offered as standard which includes the dual front, curtains and side units.

Other features inside the cabin include the speed sensing door lock, security alarm, vehicle immobiliser, seat belt reminder, etc. Some other features include the walk-away auto lock, multi-view reverse parking camera, etc.

As for the driver’s assistance, there are ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution, Vehicle Stability Assist, and Hill Start Assist.

Summary

The Honda Civic Type-R has a high craze for many reasons. The car has been an all-rounder in every field, be it the power, comfort or just the features. And though the company hasn’t announced the price yet, it is expected to be very competitive, just like it was in the previous instance.

The initial deliveries of the car are expected to commence in October this year (2018).