Tuesday 16th January 2007

Honda Civic Type R goes on sale

New hot Honda to hit the streets in a few weeks time

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The hotly anticipated Honda Civic Type R goes on sale on 1 March 2007.

The latest high performance version of Honda's superhatch has a brand new body shape, improved comfort levels and a completely reworked 2.0-litre DOHC i-VTEC engine with improved responsiveness.

You can find out all about the new Type R at www.redh.co.uk. Along with info on the new car, you can learn all about the evolution of Honda's Red H badge over such legendary motors as the Integra Type R and NSX Type R. There's even a special performance driving section that shows how to get the most out of driving a Type R.

While you're there why not also enter Honda's competition to win a luxury weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix? The prize - for two people - includes flights, accommodation, hospitality aboard a luxury yacht and tickets to the F1 race itself.

To enter the competition and stay up to date on everything Type R, visit www.redh.co.uk.

[kaiser77]

Still prefer the shape of the old one....

[TOENHEEL]

lets see if its any better in the wet or even slightly damp???

[bob1179]

Was it me or was that less news, more advert for redh?



I'm not being cynical or anything.

Honest.

[havoc]

"PistonHaymarket...sponsored by whoever gives us most money!"

[moose1978]

Agree on the sponsor thing......just in case you missed it the website is www.redh.co.uk

Bet it will be a hoot to drive though!!!!

[Stubmeister]

They got the look of it so right with the last one that it was always gonna be difficult to beat. So they haven't.

[s33gav]

Seen a couple of these around Swindon, they look nice but I'm a little dissapointed - I think it's the wheels. plus it looked so much meaner in the concept pics.

Reckon it'll be a hoot to drive though.

[VladD]

Stubmeister said:

They got the look of it so right with the last one that it was always gonna be difficult to beat. So they haven't.

What!?! The last one looked like a cross between Postman Pat's van and a garden shed, it was horrible. This one looks like a Pug 207, and is horrible.

[PetrolTed]

bob1179 said:

Was it me or was that less news, more advert for redh?



I'm not being cynical or anything.

Honest.

You're sharp. A deal I agreed pre-Haymarket though to be fair

[Mr Whippy]

moose1978 said:

just in case you missed it the website is www.redh.co.uk

Good job you posted that, I missed it the first time round

Really, does anyone click on links in the middle of text?

Best to put it at the end in my view.

Dave

[Neil_H]

The new Civic has grown on me, I like it. The new CTR looks ok but it's a shame they didn't upgrade the engine to lug the extra weight around. Reminds me of what VW did to the Golf GTI a couple of generations ago - make it progressively lardier without increasing the power to compensate.

[richiefly]

Got to agree with VladD here - last one was very unremarkable wasn't it? Similar fuss when they first arrived on the scene but seemed to fade away as people got wind of their average performance. Not particularly pretty. Liked the gearstick/driving position though.

Not particularly 'hot' at 197HP and a bit FWD scrabbly, especially in anything other than bone dry conditions and with an uninspiring chasis, so a mate who owned one let on, anyway. Needed to be a bit more grippy.

Bit like the Accord R's really, not class leading by any stretch. I would like to think of a car with 'Type R' in it's name as being a little bit more special myself. Especially as it's Honda's performance badge.

[Davislove]

lets hope they've got the chassis right this time

[Bill Carr]

I like it. I think the more mundane Civic's are just that - mundane (despite the styling) but this does appeal to me. However, I think it's a bit off that boggo air-con isn't standard fit.

What word on pricing? £16-18k ish?

[Al 450]

Stubmeister said:

They got the look of it so right with the last one that it was always gonna be difficult to beat. So they haven't.

Eh? It looked like an MPV! Maybe that is your idea of right? This one looks, er like a 206...

[Beefmeister]

s33gav said:

Seen a couple of these around Swindon, they look nice but I'm a little dissapointed - I think it's the wheels. plus it looked so much meaner in the concept pics.

Reckon it'll be a hoot to drive though.

I wouldn't worry about the wheels - 90% of them will soon be 'rolling' on 19" OZ Ultraleggera's anyway, much like the current car.....

[PhillT]

A colleague of mine drove it earlier this week and really liked it. Said he drove it and the old one back to back and the old one felt quite soggy in comparison. Bodes well!

[eddandsam1]

[quote=richiefly]
Bit like the Accord R's really, not class leading by any stretch.quote]

I have to disagree on this one mate - It depends on how you define class leading! Name a four seater saloon that:
can return 25-30mpg
costs the same to service as a Honda Civic
Has decent running costs
despite being FWD has such additions as a LSD enabling it to put the power through the front wheels (unlike the Civic!)- Show me a production car with an LSD below 30k not including the S2000!
Bullet proof engine and reliability
Has the balance steering a poise of the ATR whilst Inducing a massive grin when you use the loud pedal all the way into VTEC.

Just my owner experiences....


As for the new CTR I have never been that much of a fan of the bread van as I needed a second car with 4 decent seats. It does look far too much like the 207 and is a bit of a disappointment after the concept.

What I REALLY want is a new Accord Type R released over here!! Are you listening Honda!!??

[agoogy]

So Honda do a concept(ish) car and bring it to reality and thats no good, they produce a hot hatch which demonstrably knocked the comeptition for six and for less cash at the time (despite questionable looks) and thats no good, the new one despite being heavier is just as quick, but thats no good, and then the Accord Type R is critisced for not being special enough and not being the 'best in class' but WAS widely regarded as one of the very best FWD regardless of class... go figure.

[supercharged]

No doubt this is just the watered down version for the European and American market. The Japanese will get the real 'Type-R' with more grunt, lower gear ratios and LSD.

Talk about devaluing a brand! Honda's marketing people really have something to answer for in my opinion.