Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: No data available
Fast, good steering feel, great fun to drive, relatively subtle styling.
Not a lot, just the irritating split rear tailgate glass and poor rearward visibility.
Hot hatch masochists and keen track dayers might be disappointed with Honda's decision to make this Type-R a little easier to live with. For the rest of us, however, it's a very welcome development.
The Civic has achieved a meritable, though not outstanding, four stars for overall occupant safety in the Euro NCAP crash tests, with four for child protection and three (out of four) for pedestrian protection. Front and side airbags are standard-fit, but we'd really recommend paying the extra £1,000 for the GT specification, which includes head-protecting full-length 'curtain' airbags. There are front seatbelt pre-tensioners and Isofix child seat mounting points, but only four three-point seatbelts, two up front and two on each side in the back. Then again, you'd be hard-pressed to fit a third person in the back, anyway.
There's also the usual ABS, brakeforce distribution and VSA stability control, the latter specifically tuned for the Type-R to allow drivers to play a bit more before the electronics intervene. The VSA can be switched off via a dashboard button.
Security-wise, there's remote central locking with deadlocks, the usual immobiliser and a Thatcham Category 1 alarm, though only GT models have a lockable glovebox.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Honda Civic Type-R
wrote on 04 06 2008
wrote on 28 02 2008
wrote on 06 01 2008