Ray Ho – 07/21/2018

There are two types of drivers.  Ones that sing in the car and the others that admit they do so.  I belong to the latter.  Heck, you no longer have to pretend to chew gum when someone spots you singing.  Now-a-days they just assume you are an animated talker on your hands-free phone.

After patiently waited for my turn to test drive the 2018 Honda Civic Type R, I was singing “Patience” by Guns and Roses as soon as I slipped into the sports seat. However, I was anything but patient. I immediately working both feet on the brake and clutch pedals, pressed the Start button, grabbed the tiny ball on the short throw shifter and slammed it into 1st gear. Working both feet again and my right foot suddenly became extremely heavy.  Wow! This thing is fast!

I couldn’t wait to work through all those smooth gears and push every button.  The Comfort mode is a joke.  Must be those rubber bands posed as tires on the massive 20″ rims.  Handling is decent until I stumbled upon the Sports and the +R modes. The +R mode really tighten things up.  The steering feel is noticeably better though not quite as direct as the FR-S.  But the power is really impressive and the auto rev matching also work flawlessly.  The front Brembos are great.  However, the brake calipers on the back looks like they were painted red using a spray can by a fifth grader with shaky hands.

The turbo booster gauge is cool, but the interior finish is somewhat of a disappointment.  It is obviously not where Honda spend the money.  Luckily its driving dynamic more than make up for it, especially when you consider it is still just a 4 door Civic.

If you can get over the boy racer look, the Honda Civic Type R is a fast, furious, fun, fenomenal (er phenomenal) “sports” car with a rich tradition. The dealer markup proves that the Civic Type R is one of the hottest cars in recent years.  The good news is that the factory rep told me that you can get one now for close to the $35,595 MSRP….. as long as it is not white.

I  have always been a fan of German sports cars. By the end of the test drive, I found myself singing “Turning Japanese, I think I am turning Japanese, I really think so”.