2021 Honda Civic Type R review

There’s now an Alcantara-trimmed steering wheel as standard and, in the finest Type R tradition, a teardrop-shaped gearknob made of cool aluminium. Honda’s chassis engineers have been busy, too. New bushes and lower-friction ball joints in the front end apparently sharpen up the car’s handling, while revisions to the rear suspension bring about ‘an eight per cent improvement in lateral loads’ – although I’m afraid on my short test drive I could only identify five or six of those.

A couple of new variants find their way into the line-up. The Sport Line model does without the standard car’s huge rear wing and sits on smaller 19-inch wheels. It’s supposed to be subtler than the very shouty standard car and it is, although lopping off the wing to make the Civic Type R look more mature is a bit like sawing off the devil’s horns to make him less frightening. It isn’t really enough. There’s also the Limited Edition with yellow paint, trackday tyres and a 47kg weight saving.

It costs £39,995. Only 20 will come to the UK and they’re all spoken for. The basic car is as good as ever. Only a direct comparison with a 2018 model will reveal those suspension mods, but the chassis is still spellbinding along a demanding B-road. It’s at its best in Comfort mode, where the suspension is wonderfully compliant but not so forgiving it loses all control of the masses. It’s still annoying there’s no customisable driving mode but the way this thing steers, goes, stops and grips is unparalleled in the class.

Honda Civic Type R
Engine: 1996cc, 4-cyls, turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, FWD
Power: 316bhp @ 6500rpm
Torque: 295lb ft @ 2500-4500rpm
Weight: 1405kg
Power-to-weight: 225bhp/tonne
0-62mph: 5.8 seconds
Top speed: 169mph
Price: £32,820
Ti rating 9/10