2023 Honda Civic Type R Review
2023 Honda Civic Type R
Price as tested: $45,345
Engine: 2.0 Liter Turbo 4 Cylinder w/VEETAK
Combined Power: 315 HP / 310 TQ
0-60: 5.3 Seconds
MPG as observed: who cares? IT’S A TYPE R.
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Guy who did stuff : Yousef Alvi
It’s no secret, the previous generation Type R was one of the finest driving machines ever created. It perfectly melded everyday practicality with track day heroics and it did so without any compromise in either opposing ideologies. It was the best Porsche 911 you could buy.
That previous generation had enough room for 4 full size people, cargo space to make your average crossover blush and a ride quality that would make most BMWs feel ancient. Then it took all of that practiculness and gave it’s driver one of the most precise, nuanced, accessible and FUN vehicles ever created!
If there was an achillies heal to that previous generation…it was it’s styling. With a starting price of $40,000, the market for the Type R moved ‘upmarket’, with that upward trajectory came with an allergic reaction to all the vents, gills, wings and etc of that previous generation. The most often quote, from people my age, was the following:
“If it didn’t look like that…I’d buy it in a heartbeat”
Welp, the fine folks at Honda heard you and for this new generation Civic, Honda went back to the drawing board (literally) and came out with a curvaceous, modern and refined design that looked more upscale than anything else previous bearing the Civic nameplate. Using those lovely bones of the base Civic, Honda’s designers graced us with this:
The 2023 Type R is not just a different design from the previous generation, it feels like a completely different species. Yes, all the refinement and driving dynamics of the old Type R are present but now everything is tweaked, tuned, prodded to almost perfection! Let’s go over the substantial differences between the two generations:
Looks (duh):
New: The new Type R is classy, modern, refined and elegant.
Old: Not so much
Cabin:
New: The New: crisp graphics with an ode to the S2000 cluster in R mode. Materials are several steps up as well and the entire vehicle feels like it should belong in a different class
Old: The old generation was awash with hollow plasticky bits and an illegible digital dashboard.
Ride;
New: This new generation nukes that old suspension setup. This new one has rewritten the fundamental laws of physics and delivers a true luxury car ride along with supercar defying handling…AT THE SAME TIME. oh the best part? All of the squishy ride quality is on Michelin Cup 2 tires!
Old: The previous generation had one of the best combinations of comfort and handling that I have ever experienced.
NVH:
New: This new generation’s highway noise is non-existent in comparison.
Old: The old generation was quiet around town but the second you reached highway speeds, the howl from the rear spoiler was borderline deafening.
So how does this new generation tackle the twisty stuff? Best way I can sum it up is the following:
“Whatever metric you use to gauge the performance of a vehicle is now obsolete. This new Type R is the yardstick to go by”
It tackles the corners in such a reassuring, confidence inspiring and thrilling way that there is no equal. There is no equal because even with all of the assurety the chassis provides, it would be quiet easy for the Type R to feel too easy to drive, the feeling it is driving YOU and instead of you driving IT. But, thankfully, this new Type R feels very much like you are in control of your destiny.
You feel the chassis move around you, you feel the suspension working and you feel that front diff claw around a corner. All of that feel leads to what makes the Type R….the Type R.
The 2023 Honda Civic Type R transcends the mere classification of ‘car’. The Type R is not just a combination of metal, rubber and plastic. It’s more than the sum of its parts…the Type R feels organic. It feels like it alive in your fingertips. It feels like it has a soul!
In a world with EV sterility permeating the roads…the 2023 Type R is there to remind us that you can still feel alive by driving car and in turn…your love for that car gives it life.
Yousef Alvi
