The latest ‘muscle car’ to come from Honda the totally re – engineered Civic Type R GT four door – by the way don’t presume because it’s a Civic and it’s a four door that this car is a family saloon, you would be so wrong.
Honda Civic Type R GT VTEC Turbo MT
The Civic Type R comes from Honda’s passion to create the perfect sports machine for both the road and the track, this car delivers on that score.
A couple of facts that demonstrate this, the Civic Type R lapped the circuit at the Nuburgring Nordschiefe in a mere seven minutes and forty-three seconds. This was not only the fastest this car had been timed at but the fastest front wheel drive car ever.
Well we at Femalefirst had the privilege to put this car through its paces and not on the track but in day to day real life family situations because after all who buys a car just to race round a track, very few of us.
So the guys from Honda dropped off the car, oh and added the cautionary comment stay away from the kerb and a quick look revealed why - the ultra low profile tyres and wide alloy wheels would not take kindly to getting too close to a kerb – duly noted.
On practicality, however the Civic R is hard to fault, being really picky head room is a touch limited in the rear, but extra leg room compensates and very good boot which is both generous and accessible through the car’s electric ‘liftgate’ hatchback.
First job run the Civic past the kids for the school run, needless to say they loved it they had all prewarned their friends that they were to arrive at school in the fastest front wheel car on the road and they all turned out to see the car. Add to this some of the boring facts, leg room and rear seat space was great with all commenting how roomy the interior was.
The easy handling at low speeds meant we could put the ‘R’ in the tightest of spots with ease and dispatch our kids safely at the school gates without mishap then negotiate the harassed Mums and Dads to get off.
Kids safely despatched in school and it was time to hit the motorway and head off over the M62 to Yorkshire, this would be an interesting journey due to the extensive restricted speed section around Manchester. I did find the Civic R GT surprisingly co-operative able to set the speed limiter and the fact that without this function being on the car was steadfast at reading the road signs and warning the driver when you were in danger of breaking the law all down to the clever Honda techies, must say it was the best car I have ridden in.
The other interesting part of the journey involved driving in strong cross winds, again I can honestly say the Civic R stuck to the road as if screwed down, while all traffic around us was being buffeted by the weather moving may around the lanes we just carried on with no such trouble, another plus for Honda’s design team.
Once past this distraction we were able to open the car up and enjoy the pleasure of driving a well-mannered and true sports car and with the comfort mode option in play when we dropped into Hull a couple of hours later I was feeling fresh and not at all tired from the journey. My only regret being that it would have been nice to have tried the car on a race track.
After lunch it was time to head back towards Manchester though this time it would be via the country lanes and ‘A’ roads over Saddleworth Moor to test the handling in different conditions.
Darting along the country lanes again this motor behaved impeccable sticking to the road through the sharp twists and turns even though the roads were wet handling was perfection and the Civic R sat happily behind slow moving agricultural machinery until the opportunity to overtake came, and add to that we could stop on a sixpence as they used to say back in the day, again on arriving back home I was still feeling fresh even though most of the journey was in the ‘stiffer’ suspension of Sport Mode.
Honda pride themselves as building for the individual - Above all, the Civic is a car built around one vital component – you. The result is a vehicle created with a unique personality and sporty soul, a car that is exciting to drive, refined, comfortable and sophisticated.
Honda certainly have a true competition beater with the Civic Type R GT 2.0 VTEC Turbo MT – this has been re-engineered from the wheels up producing what is as near to the perfect sports car as one can get but that is just as happy on the road as the race track.
We think that this motor ticks so many boxes for the driver that desires a true sports car but one that also fits into family lifestyle – what more could you want.
All this comes with an OTR of £33,525 check out the full spec at http://hondanews.eu/gb
Female First were invited to watch the Honda BTCC team of Matt Neal and Dan Cammish compete at the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Donnington Park in their race track ready Honda Type R GT 2.0 VTEC Turbo, as they battled to wrest control of the early-season formbook will continue at Donnington Park in the second of ten races.
The main thing we noticed was that the drivers welcomed the opportunity to meet and greet the sports fans as we were allowed on the starting grid prior to the start, unlike their more famous cousins in Formula 1 who need to get themselves in ‘the zone’, before race time.
We can only say what a absolutely great day it proved to be what with the excitement of the start which made your whole body vibrate as they revved up before screaming off into the first bend , how anyone managed to appear out of the other side unscathed I’ll never know.
The excitement was added to with the frequent as they say coming together of the cars but it was amazing what the pit crews were able to do with duck-tape and a spanner and hammer to get the cars back on the track.Honda driver Matt Neal finished in fourth after being unable to get past Ashley Sutton who went on to claim second place, while Dan Cammish put in a stand out performance before being forced out.
It is now on to the next BTCC race at Thruxton in Cheshire taking place 18/19 May, good luck guys
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