The new Honda Civic Type-R has grown up in all the right ways and it still drives great – but there’s a catch

AS humans, we are at the peak of our powers in our twenties.

The 21st birthday is the crucial birthday when we are considered real adults.

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At the same time, we’re also in the prime of our health, fitness, and staying power—our bellies don’t hide our parts, light doesn’t reflect off our scalps, our teeth are less yellow.

The British Honda Civic Type R turned 21 this year.

Not only has it matured, but it’s also fitter and faster than ever.

It’s finally grown up.

I’ve always loved a Type R, but the only thing that’s last is that you feel a bit of a dork in it.

It looks like it was designed by a 12 year old. This is the yellow car in the pictures.

This new one is much more my thing.

Not only does it look more refined, it’s been refined under the skin by engineers to be the absolute best front-wheel drive hot hatch it can be.

The power increases by 9 hp to 329 hp. The torque increases by 20 Nm to 420 Nm.

The turbo has been redesigned with input from Red Bull’s F1 team.

The exhaust has been straightened to reduce back pressure.

Aero optimizations improve downforce at speed.

Steering and suspension tweaks improve, er, steering feel and ride and handling.

A lighter flywheel means faster accelerator ‘zipping’ when downshifting – and now includes second through first gears.

The shift linkage is tighter.

The body is longer, wider and stiffer. It rolls on thicker tires. The brakes have more bite. You sit lower.

Put it all together and you have a chassis as sparkly as Strictly’s Glitterball – and a willing dance partner.

It’s very satisfying. And very fast. But more than that, you can sense exactly what’s going on beneath you.

Nothing surprises you. It doesn’t suddenly snap at you and tie up your arms like a pretzel.

The braking stability – even in the wet – is mighty impressive.

In a long, fast corner (Ayrton Senna’s Parabolica at Estoril), tucking in my nose with a little oversteer on takeoff made me grin like an idiot.

What I’m saying is that you have to feel comfortable and confident in a car to go fast – and the Type R gives you all of that to the max.

Now let’s look at the cabin.

It’s very red. But also significantly improved compared to the old car in terms of comfort, design and technology.

The on-board computer has performance data and ranking results should you decide to go on a track day. And you should.

It’s the only way to truly appreciate the talents of this agile and responsive car.

But I have a grumble.

Just like the rest, the price has also matured. It costs FORTY-SIX THOUSAND pounds.

Which means you have to be a real adult to afford it.

For that much money you can have a Mercedes A35. And AWD has that. And the badge.

On the other hand, the Type R will be rarer than rocking horse poop.

The offer is limited to around 250 cars per year.

And we all know that this is the last pure petrol Type R.

Brilliant car. Expensive. But a nailed future classic.

I would choose Championship White with the carbon pack because I’m a male kid.

ASBO Hot Hatch is finally growing up

HONDA promised that the “Driving Pleasure” will continue in the future and teased two new electric sports cars – a specialist and a flagship model.

They will be using solid state batteries and should be with us in 2026.

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Solid state batteries are twice as dense as lithium-ion, are cheaper, charge faster, and use far fewer of your most valuable resources.

I can imagine that one day the Civic Type R will follow suit.

Before that, Honda will release an HR-V-sized electric crossover called the e:NY1 next year, as well as a ZR-V hybrid and an all-new larger CR-V, which is a plug-in hybrid.

Honda will also build cars with Sony from 2026.

PlayStation on wheels?

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