Top Gear UK Tests 2015 Honda Civic Type R
By Paulo Acoba
Top Gear’s Ollie Marriage recently took the 2015 Honda Civic Type R for its first ever test drive and published his findings earlier today (June 1, 2015.) As far as I know, this if the first official review of the car since it was unveiled in Geneva in March. And if you were wondering,this is the same car that caused quite a stir (at least across the pond) for unofficially breaking the FWD Nurburgring Ring Record. The unofficial verdict from Top Gear, “…the Civic is massively fast. Massively.”
First there’s the suspension. When you’re stuffing more than 300 HP all through the front tires, you tend to have a bit of over-steer (to say the least) Honda has mitigated that unavoidable tendency by not only offering a Limited-Slip differential but by unveiling its Dual Axis Strut Front Suspension that supposedly will reduce torque steer by a whopping 50 percent. Also adding to its handling prowess according to TG are its Magnetorheological dampers. To put simply, it has some of the best fluid filled dampers in the world. Even the C7 Corvette has them so you know they have to be good. All that stiffness and racecar-like handling make for a very fun drive.
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Then there’s the engine. In the Type R, the turbocharged inline four-cylinder utilizes a mono scroll unit compared to other hot hatches who use a multivariable vane turbo. All these hot air is controlled electronically by Honda’s VTEC unit. Peak 300 HP is achieved at 6,500 RPM and peak torque 295 lbs-ft can be had at 2,500 rpm.) There’s a bit of noticeable turbo lag and the engine lives in the upper rev range, but that’s any Honda VTEC engine in a nutshell.
Finally, there’s the looks. It’s boy racer and very polarizing. Some people love it and some people hate it. It looks like Top Gear UK took a shining to the whole package and rather like it.
"I have reservations over the Civic Type R’s image and appearance, and Honda’s taken an unashamedly hardcore tack with it. But it’s genuinely exciting to drive, massively fast and relaxes far better than the bodywork suggests."