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Honda Civic review by Raymond Webster10-6-2004
Overall rating: 10/10 Good points: Bad points: Main review: I haven’t stopped grinning since I bought mine 4 months ago. I’ve owned probably all of the best hot hatches (even the original Golf GTi – showing my age) but none of my previous cars has ever surpassed my expectations to the extent that the Civic Type-R has. Starting at first impressions, I absolutely love the squat image of the Type-R – which is exactly what I think is required from a hot-hatch. The ultra-low profile tyres, twin exhausts are the practical manifestations of its sporty intentions. From the front the car looks fantastic, the steeply raked bonnet and mesh radiator create a menacing effect that seems to have the desired effect on Sunday drivers. It is also clear that Honda have paid lots of attention to detail, all of the external ‘fittings’ are colour coded – that includes the bumpers, door handles and wing mirrors and finishing touches include the absence of a key-hole in the passenger door and a stubby aerial. From a build point of view I think the Type-R is at least as good as the VW Golf – which is praise indeed as the Golf sets the benchmark in build quality. Inside the story is the same, really high-quality materials have been combined with meticulous attention to detail and the interior feels rock solid, although I haven’t owned my car for long I get the feeling that the car will remain permanently squeak and rattle free. In terms of the interior design, the most striking feature is the silver titanium central console that houses all of the controls, including the gear stick. The gear stick is finished with an aluminium knob. In principle I have always had an issue with gear sticks mounted on dashboards – mainly because they remind me of my first car, a Citroen 2CV which was abysmal. However, practically the location of the gear stick so close to the steering wheel, combined with very short throws between gears and the positive ‘click’ of the gears makes shifting between gears a very quick and slick affair. The other practical effect of the dash mounted gear stick is that there is no transmission tunnel running down the centre of the car which makes the car feel much more spacious – but more of that later. The steering wheel is a small three spoke affair but surprisingly it is only rake adjustable and the seats are not height adjustable – this is quite disappointing - however the steering wheel is well placed and both myself (5ft 10”) and my son (6ft 3”) seem to be able to find comfortable driving positons. The instruments are presented in a neat ivory coloured cluster formation as analogue displays – rev counter (red lining at 8000 rpm), speedometer (top speed 160 mph). My only problem with the instrumentation is that it looks like the instrumentation of a Rover 75 a colleague of mine owns – it could do with being a little more dynamic looking. The seats are firm and provide good support when the Type-R is pushed around twisting country roads although the head rests could do with being height adjustable. The upholstery, as with the rest of the car, feels like it should stand the test of time and my kids and also feels high quality. Moving on, what I love most about this car is the unbelievable handling and road holding. The steering is really precise and provides loads of feedback - you can almost feel the pebbles on the road. I’ve pushed my car as hard as I dare on quite a few country roads over the past few months and don’t feel like I have come close to reaching the limits of what the Civic Type-R can do – and I have pushed quite a few of my previous cars past their (or my) limits. Even mis-behaving badly by lifting of the throttle in corners doesn’t seem to unsettle the car – amazing really that it manages to achieve this without any of the technical wizardry that seems to be employed on other cars of this ilk. The car also seems to have unending grip – at least a lot more than I have got the bottle to test and the expression ‘it corners like its on rails’ is certainly not misplaced. It is just unfortunate that I live in central London where the opportunity to push Type-R doesn’t present itself that often. On a practical note, the Civic Type-R is a three door car and although space is excellent for four adults access to the rear seats could be better – only the passenger side seat slides and tilts. The rear seat is a split/folding affair which makes the storage space quite useful; however, the seat base is fixed, surprisingly. Also surprisingly, the rear seats do not have head rests and there is no lap belt for a third passenger in the rear. Boot space is also very generous, even without the rear seats folded down and I have no problems with getting all of my family’s luggage stowed away for a fortnights holiday (I have never really understood why the nuclear family of two parents and 2.2 kids needs a people carrier for the school run – I wont start on what I think of 4x4’s round the centre of London). The space saver wheel is stored in the boot and although this is a main contributor to the size of the boot, there is one major draw back – the space saver wheel can’t be used to replace a front wheel as it doesn’t fit. So, if you have a puncture in a front tyre you will have to swap a rear tyre to the front before replacing the rear tyre with the space saver wheel –you can be sure I’ll be keeping a regular eye on the state of my front wheels. Back to the business end of the car, under the bonnet, the Civic Type-R is powered by a 2.0-litre engine with VTEC variable valve-timing system. The engine develops 197bhp at 7400rpm and is coupled to the dash mounted six-speed gearbox. As with its Italian counterparts the engine needs to be pushed hard to get real sporting performance, the advantage of this set-up is that it is also very refined and docile when we are pottering around central London. Out of town and on the country roads the Type-R seems to tempt you to push it just a little bit harder than you originally intended, gear changes are slick, the engine begins to howl, the car heads where you point it and it never seems to be about to lose its sure footed grip on the tarmac. When you need to stop the brakes are very effective and have Electronic brake distribution to spread braking load across the four wheels (they are the reason that the space saver doesn’t fit the front wheel hubs), ABS is fitted as standard and kicks in only under extreme braking conditions – I have always found that ABS is overly sensitive on most cars. On longer motorway journeys with the family, when I’m not allowed to entertain myself by the screaming engine, the Type-R Civic could probably do with being a little more refined. Most obvious is the road noise due to the wide low-profile tyres and the firm ride which can become tiresome if you are not putting it to the use for which it was designed. Around town it is well behaved with good visibility all round, the only issue I had initially was trying to judge where the front of the car ends – due to the steeply raked bonnet – the rear is more easily judged because is fairly blunt. Whilst I’m being boring my pre-purchase analysis also indicated that the Civic Type-R also holds its value better, is more economic to drive and has lower CO2 emissions than most of its rivals.
Reliability: 10/10 Practicality: 9/10 Performance: 10/10 Value for money: 10/10
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