Mileage: 4,439
MPG: 33.2mpg
Race on Sunday, sell on Monday. That’s the mantra car manufacturers recite to justify the billions they invest in motorsport each year. However, the link between race cars and what normal motorists use every day of the week is normally tenuous.
Step forward the Honda Civic Type R, which definitely feels like it wouldn’t shy away from circuit duties. Of all the modern hot hatches, the Type R also looks the most like a race track refugee. It seems like you could throw a few stickers on to it and it would be quite at home chasing British Touring Car Champion Gordon Shedden around the tracks of the UK.
Of course, this means it’s not to everyone’s taste. When I rolled up in it to my mother’s recently, she said I looked ‘ridiculous’. This came from a woman who bought me Rudolf slippers for Christmas...
Certainly, the massive wing, widened vented wheelarches and snowplough-like chin spoiler are all largely pointless at road-legal speeds. At the same time there’s no doubt they let onlookers know this practical hatchback has more than 300bhp and can top 160mph.
There is a price to pay for some of the sporty trinkets, though. That wing impedes the view out of the rear window and means a rear wiper can’t be fitted, which is a real pain in winter because you can’t clean off the road grime while driving. Traverse a speed hump at more than walking pace, meanwhile, and that low nose will not only plough snow, but tarmac, too.
Then there’s the distinctive black alloys. They look ace, but I’m convinced that they actually leap out at kerbs. I’ve already lathed the red highlights off one while negotiating an underground car park. Badly. My fault, I know, but the rubber band-thick tyres provide little room for error while manoeuvring in tight spaces.
• Civic Type R vs BMW M3 vs Audi RS3 track battle
Finally, there’s the bucket seats. They’re a joy when you’re strapped in, but you have to lift yourself over their huge bolsters just to get in or out. Still, if you want a car that looks like a racer, I guess you have to accept some compromises in practicality.
You’d think the same would be true of the driving experience. A machine capable of lapping Germany’s Nürburgring race track in record-breaking time must surely ride with the delicacy of a shopping trolley?
Yes – and no. In R mode, the Civic is so firm that it fidgets like it’s just downed three cans of Red Bull. However, leave it in normal mode and the adjustable suspension is just compliant enough that you needn’t worry about returning from the supermarket with your eggs already scrambled.
• Honda Civic Type R vs CBR1000RR Fireblate motorbike
That’s why I’ve only once driven the car in R mode (which also changes the throttle map and makes the dials glow red), and that was around Rockingham’s National Circuit. Here the Type R’s split personality really shone through. It may be based on a very sensible hatch, but it has one of the best manual gearboxes ever, a thumping turbocharged engine, superb brakes and a limited slip diff-enhanced front end that grips hard. And as you hurl it round a track, you feel like Gordon Shedden on one of his charges through the back markers.
For me, no other hot hatch so successfully mixes raw race car appeal with everyday usability.
*Insurance quote (below) provided by AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old living in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.
- Model: Honda Civic Type R GT
- On fleet since: December 2015
- Price new: £32,295
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl tyrbo
- Power: 306bhp
- CO2/tax: 170g/km/£205
- Options: None
- Insurance*: Group: 33, Quote £558
- Mileage: 4,439
- Economy: 33.2mpg
- Any problems?: None so far