OMG it's the new Civic Type R!!
Hell yeah. 280hp, turbocharged and set to take the Nürburgring front-wheel drive lap record.
What's not to love?
Perhaps the fact that Honda is describing the new Civic Type R - to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show -as the most extreme Type R yet. More extreme than any previous Civic, Integra, Accord or NSX to wear the badge.
STFU! How can a hot hatch be more extreme than the NSX?
Well to begin with the Civic will have the same power output as the NSX thanks to a turbocharged 2.0-litre VTEC petrol engine producing 280hp. That is, officially, the same as the NSX-R's 3.2-litre V6 engine produced. Of course there is the whole question of the Japanese 'gentleman's agreement' in place at the time when cars like the NSX, Supra and Skyline all produced in excess of 300hp in reality, but let's not go there.
Yeah but power is only one thing. The NSX was the car Ayrton built.
True but I doubt even Ayrton's F1 car had a four-point Adaptive Damper System that could automatically adjust the front and rear suspension damping force stiffness in a split second, depending on how the car was driven. And it didn't have an 'axis steer' set up to minimise torque steer (ok, it was rear-wheel drive, so didn't need it, but still...).
Then there is the whole fact that the new Civic is the first turbocharged Type R so it has the kind of low down torque that previous hot Hondas could only dream of yet (we're told) retains the high-revving VTEC nature we have come to know and love.
Finally there is the +R button, which is kind of like Honda's answer to the programmable M buttons on the fastest BMWs. Press that and the torque map is changed, throttle response increased, the steering becomes more responsive and the adaptive damper system essentially goes into race mode.
That all sounds good but I'm still not convinced.
Guess we will just have to wait until next year when the car hits the streets to find out for sure. Honda if you can send an invitation the usual address and have a NSX-R handy to back up your claims that would be great.
Paul Healy - 30 Sep 2014