The test drive in the Civic was a revelation, the feeling being straight away that it really was a "proper tool" and yet it could be bumbled around as regular daily driver with plenty of space in it for when you just wanted to be."normal".a real eat build quality.It passed the much spoken of 50 metre driving test with flying colours. I've always admired the Type R and knew there was a good very well engineered car underneath all the razzle dazzle.so when the Sportline came on the scene with it's "toned down" looks I thought."Thats the fella".time to say good bye to the VW.colour choice was limited.but Red seemed a good choice with the Black highlights.Īs well as the Civic I test drove the Focus ST and Yaris GR.both were good cars.the Focus didn't quite feel as special as the Civic and looked to my eyes a bit bland.and the Yaris whilst being a hoot to drive was hopelessly impractical and I got the feeling that 5 months down the line, maybe you'd get tired of it's "cartoonish" cent car but personally just not for me.The long delivery time from December would also have meant that I would still be waiting now for it to arrive. Throw in the rev-matching function for the short-throw gearshift and you have something genuinely easy to bumble around in but that still, when you want it, exhibits the same seat-of-your-pants sense of occasion and integrity in the driving controls as the proper Type R.įor my sins I actually went and bought a Sportline Type R after my previous VW group retirement product proved a bit of a let down.(not a Skoda which have always been excellent).Īt the age of 60years I've always thought the Civic Type R with the big wing and wheels and Red seats has probably looked 30 years too young for me. However, what really makes the Sport Line worth considering is the combination of 19in wheels and the NVH improvements, because having spent plenty of time in the regular Civic Type R in the past few years, I can’t remember one ever being this pliant or quiet or generally well mannered in day-to-day use. You still have the triple-tipped exhaust, bulging wheel arches, unmissable bonnet scoop and chicken-wire galore across the front of the car. Even the regular Honda Civic is quite a punchy, aggressive-looking thing, and the Type R raises the temperature considerably, so even with its docked tail, the bulldog-ish Sport Line was never going to blend in like the Volkswagen Golf GTI does. That said, the Sport Line’s kerb weight is the same as before, at 1380kg – a class-leading figure.Īnd the results? Well, visually, you can judge for yourself. It’s Michelin’s Pilot Sport 4 S rubber that has been called up for duty this time – in our experience, just about the best road-focused tyre around, with soft sidewalls yet also plenty of precision and support.įinally, the red exterior pinstriping of the regular Type R has disappeared, as has the red cloth of the otherwise unchanged bucket seats, and some of the ordinary Civic’s soundproofing, removed from the regular Type R to save weight, has been put back in. Those wheels wear what’s now the third different tyre Honda has fitted to its Ford Focus ST rival, after using Continental Sport Contact 6 rubber on the original and semi-slick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s for the hardcore Limited Edition launched last year. The wheels are downsized, too, from 20in on the Type R GT to 19in, although space remains for the full-fat car’s 350mm MMC brake discs. Honda Civic Type R GT UK 2017 first drive.Honda Civic Type R 2017-2021 road test review.
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