2015 HONDA CIVIC

The Honda Civic Type R is the highly-regarded and well-established performance model based on the Civic hatchback, developed and produced by Honda since September 1997 and the front-engined, front-wheel drive Type R typically features a lightened and stiffened body, a specially tuned engine, and upgraded brakes and chassis. Like other Type R models, red is used in the background of the Honda badge to distinguish it from other lesser models. The Civic Type R model iterations are EK9 (1997–2000), EP3 (2001–2005), FN2/FD2 (2007–2011), FK2 (2015–2017), FK8 (2017–2021) and FL5 (2022–2026) – a lineage of 29 years that, in the UK, is to cease as of 2026, with no plans for another model evolution. Ever-tightening emissions regulations now make it harder to produce performance cars like the Type R and Honda is having to discontinue it to comply with EU rules which might be significant for buyers of extra special Type R examples in the future.

Back in 2015, Honda needed its latest hot hatch to be good, not only to rejuvenate its image in Europe but also to satisfy the feverish sense of anticipation that accompanied almost every stage of this car's development. For fully three years before this new Civic Type R's eventual launch in the early summer of 2015, pictures of prototypes littered the motoring press, the Japanese brand hoping to get ardent fans of this model line used to the fundamental engineering change made for this fourth-generation design - the adoption of turbo power. The switch away from a normally aspirated engine in the Type R was a huge step for Honda to take.

In more recent times, buyers of sporting cars, and particularly hot hatches, expect more power than a compact normally aspirated unit can offer. To compete towards the top end market, you need over 300PS these days, nearly 50% more grunt than this model's third generation predecessor could manage: so, a turbo was needed for this FK2 generation Type R. The K20C powerplant is a 1996cc DOHC inline four-cylinder with a single, mono-scroll turbocharger and variable valve timing and lift, featuring direct fuel injection, cast alloy pistons, forged conrods and, what Honda refers to, as a lightweight crankshaft. Incoming air is routed through an air-air intercooler and the compression ratio is a relatively high 9.8:1. The Type R will sprint from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and hit 167mph flat-out – impressive stuff. Front dual-axis (MacPherson-style) strut suspension with a mechanical limited-slip differential to eliminate torque steer, paired with a rear torsion beam and adaptive dampers with selectable modes enabled the FK2 to set a Nürburgring Nordschleife (then) lap record for front-wheel-drive production cars, with a time of 7 minutes 50.63 seconds in May 2014. The FK2 had a comparatively short production life, just 18 months, until it was replaced by the FK8 design in the Summer of 2017. Produced in relatively low numbers, reported as only 2,500 examples allocated to the UK market, and only a touch over 8,000 in total, worldwide. Again, having a potential bearing on future desirability.

The car presented here is a 2015 Honda Civic 2.0 i-VTEC Turbo Type R GT (FK2) that has covered just 47 miles, however, even more significantly, it wears plaque-number ‘R-00001’ with only the not-released-for-sale prototype cars being lower, wearing R-00000. This particular car is quite revered in Honda ‘folklore’, known to be previously residing in a Scottish dealership, and was supposedly coveted by Honda Motor Company Ltd. for inclusion in their own museum. Striking in Milano Red paintwork, this being a GT specification model, you get integrated Garmin Sat-Nav, auto headlights, auto wipers, parking sensors, a better stereo, dual-zone climate control, lane departure warning, collision warning, blind spot warning, traffic sign recognition, and much more.

This unrepeatable car – 47 miles and R-00001 – is extremely special, and for collectors of Japanese performance cars should be firmly ‘in their sights’.