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The moment you first discover the point of the Civic Type-R, it's not just an eye-opener, but an eye-widener. Select third gear. Find a clear bit of road. Nail it. The revs rise steadily through 3, 4, 5000rpm, but it's not yet pulling that hard. Then 6,000rpm approaches, and the engine note becomes a vibrant yowl, resonating through the cabin. Suddenly the front tyres scrabble and the steering wheel fidgets and you're pelted up towards the rev limiter with bewildering force. You've just been V-TECced.
This is the Type-R's party trick. Timing is everything - get it wrong and you'll be fighting to keep the thing on the road. But it's an immensely rewarding device to step smartly through a bend or leap out and overtake, venomous surge of race-tuned adrenaline at your beck and call. Acceleration has been enhanced by a lighter flywheel and clutch assembly on the facelifted 2004 Type-R, shaving the 0-62mph time from 6.8 to 6.6 seconds.
The better the roads, the better the Type-R feels. The body is impressively rigid, and the taut, firm ride chatters away - not as much as the steering though. This car needs to be taken firmly in hand, or it will wander off in curiosity. Where will this camber take me? What's the tarmac like on that side of the road? With 197bhp going through the front wheels, though, a bit of torque steer is hardly surprising.
That's fine when you're blatting merrily along a country road, scaring the wildlife with that manic exhaust howl: in those circumstances, two hands on the wheel and furrowed concentration are no more than you'd expect. On a motorway, though, the car doesn't feel settled at a cruising speed, making long motorway slogs a chore. When you're not thrashing the thing up to the red-line, that insistent mechanical engine buzz loses its charm, too.
In fact, motorway journeys had me praying for traffic jams just so I could change down through the razor-edged, short-shifting, flick-throwing gearbox. This six-speed unit is simply one of the finest on the market, and allows you to work as quickly as the mad-revving engine requires. The brakes, too, are impressive - they feel under-servoed and numb given a light toeing, but press firmly and they bite hard and progressively, giving a good sense of under-tyre conditions.
While we're on the positives, the Type-R is a damn good pose: it's amazing how Honda has managed to give such presence and drama to an under-designed wedge of a hatchback. The Civic hunkers low and moody over its alloys, hiding menacingly behind spoilers and side skirts. The model also gets the cosmetic shake-up applied to the rest of the Civic range: new headlamps and a new front spoiler keep it fresh. Inside, the black and red alcantara Recaros stare at the tiny alloy gearknob, perfectly placed halfway down the dashboard. It all feels a bit special.
Which is just as well, because you'd want to feel special after forking out for group 17 insurance. At £16,000, though, the Type-R is cracking value. For the money you're getting an engine and gearbox combination that would feel special at twice the price - the same could not be said of more expensive rivals such as the £16,675 Vauxhall Astra GSi Turbo. Whatever the conditions the Type-R asks a lot of its driver, but all its nagging is forgiven each time you soar over 6000rpm and discover the car's true point. If only all cars could define themselves so clearly.
Toby Richards-Carpenter
Date de création : 25/01/2004 @ 17:11
Dernière modification : 25/01/2004 @ 17:19
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