Honda Civic Type R review

Is the Honda Civic Type R a good car?

The Honda Civic Type R is a superb performance car, more than justifying its high price. You’ll struggle to find a hot hatchback that’s more involving or rewarding, thanks to a superb 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, a slick six-speed manual gearbox, and a wonderful chassis. Even the styling is more tasteful than before, while the interior has a surprisingly premium feel. If pure-petrol performance cars are a dying breed, the Civic Type R is a brilliant swansong.

How much does the Honda Civic Type R cost?

As there’s only one model, pricing for the Honda Civic Type R is very easy to understand. Indeed, there’s only one figure you need to remember: £50,000. That said, you’ll need to add £650 to the price if you choose a premium paint option. That might seem like a lot for a Civic Type R – especially if you’re old enough to remember the days when you could buy a new one for around £16,000! – but the current car gets more kit than the base-spec version of its predecessor.

As for accessories, the most expensive upgrade is the Carbon Pack (£3,765), which includes a carbon wing spoiler, carbon door sill trim and carbon centre console panel. The Illumination Pack (£1,200) includes red lighting for the footwells, cupholders and door linings, plus a Type R logo pavement projector.

While the price tag puts the Civic Type R at the premium end of the hot hatchback market, rivalling four-wheel drive, 400bhp monsters like the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S and the Audi RS 3, the Type R could still be worth every last penny of that significant price tag.

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Under the bonnet, the Civic Type R gets an evolution of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo used in its predecessor. There’s a revised turbocharger for improved response – so it spins faster and gets to its maximum rpm sooner. There’s also a less restrictive exhaust system (retaining the trademark triple-exit arrangement), a more sophisticated engine control module and tweaks to the cooling. As a result, the Type R now produces 324bhp and 420Nm of torque, enough for a 0-62mph time of 5.4 seconds.

It isn’t as fast as some performance cars at this price point, because the Honda’s six-speed manual transmission means shifts aren’t as quick as its dual-clutch automatic-equipped rivals – but then the Type R is focused resolutely on driver involvement, just as it always has been. To that end, Honda has turned its attention to the shift quality of the six-speed manual unit, reducing free play and making the switch between gates even slicker.

Tweaks to the steering set-up are aimed at boosting precision and responsiveness, while the Type R’s structure is more rigid than ever. Its body is also lighter thanks to an aluminium bonnet that saves even more weight, and a tailgate made from plastic resin.

The engine is still as explosive as its predecessor, but the latest model’s motor is just a hint more responsive, and it feels more eager to deliver its slightly massaged output. It still does show a little lag, and the engine doesn’t have the ultimate firepower of one of the all-wheel drive German mega hatches, but then this is missing the point of the Type R somewhat.

It’s about balance and proportionate ability in every area. The steering tweaks are immediately apparent the first time you negotiate a corner, with more precision and adjustability on offer from the chassis thanks to the extra rigidity in the car’s structure. In fact, in the wet on track, the latest car feels alive and alert, whereas its older sibling has a more docile personality. It’s still a relative term, but not something we thought was possible until we drove this new-generation machine.

The latest car also feels better controlled and more tautly tied down in its +R mode, yet in Comfort, the Type R rides with even more fluidity than its predecessor, absorbing bumps that might’ve caused you to wince if you’d caught a glimpse before getting in of the large alloy wheels that don’t leave much in the way of daylight in the wheel arches. The quality of the damping means the Civic steps easily over the kind of patchy, potholed roads you find in the UK.

It’s not a Rolls-Royce, but it’s far from a bone shaker in its most relaxed setting either – and thankfully, with an Individual mode, you can keep this suspension set-up while opting for the most responsive engine map.

The quality of the manual gearbox's shift hasn’t changed – which is just plain brilliant. The old car wasn’t exactly lacking in this department, but amazingly, Honda’s engineers have managed to remove what tiny bit of slack was there, making movements between ratios feel more positive and engaging. The limited-slip diff working away on the front axle reinforces these qualities, too.

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Fuel economy might be low on the list of priorities if you’re buying a Honda Civic Type R, but it might become more important if you find yourself using it for the daily commute. Fortunately, the turbocharged engine can deliver respectable fuel economy, if you can resist the urge to drive the Type R as the engineers intended.

With a light right foot, you could see 34.4mpg, making it more economical than the previous Civic Type R, while CO2 emissions of 189g/km means that it’s not a great choice if you’re considering your next company car. A standard Honda Civic with a hybrid engine would be more appropriate.

Unfortunately, the high purchase price places the Civic Type R in the higher rate of VED (road tax) for cars with a list price of more than £40,000. This means you’ll pay an extra £410 a year for five years from the second time the car is taxed, taking the total up to £600 a year.

The cost of insurance is another consideration, with the Civic Type R sitting in group 43 (out of 50). Younger drivers might need to look elsewhere for their hot hatchback thrills. 

One area where the Civic Type R shouldn’t hurt your bank balance as much as other hot hatch rivals is resale value. According to our experts, this Honda should still be worth 57 per cent of its original value after three years or 36,000 miles, compared with the Mercedes-AMG A 35, which will maintain just 47 per cent of its original purchase price over the same period.

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Looks are subjective, but there was plenty laid at the previous Type R’s door when it came to its cartoonish, overblown styling; the latest Civic’s smoother, less aggressive shape just looks, well, more premium. The deep front spoiler, swollen wheel arches and slightly more subtle boot lid wing add just the right level of visual aggression, rather than its predecessor’s Hot Wheels styling – or overtly in-your-face approach to design, to put it more politely.

The premium push continues inside, with a slicker cabin design. It still boasts the same lovely Type R cues – think cool metal gear knob, red Alcantara bucket seats that offer a perfect driving position, and a lovely steering wheel – but, as with the regular 11th-generation Civic, the interior is more upmarket and manages to outclass the Volkswagen Golf.

Horizontal air vents, a smart infotainment screen, solid materials (although they still leave a little to be desired given the price) and a more sophisticated digital dash help towards the overall impression that the Type R is no longer a car you have to make excuses for when it comes to design, inside or out. Side by side with the last Type R, this much is obvious.

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

The infotainment system might lack the ‘wow factor’ of some of its rivals, but it’s smart enough and comes with most of the essentials you’d associate with a family car – plus some features that wouldn’t look out of place in a racing car.

The nine-inch screen sits atop the dashboard above the climate control switches and dials, and features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity as standard. The Civic Type R also has wireless phone charging, sat-nav and a pair of USB charging ports. One feature you won’t find in the regular Honda Civic is a performance dataloggger, which monitors and records your on-track performance.

In front of the driver is a 10.2-inch digital instrument panel, which can be customised to suit road or track driving.

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Practicality has always been a good reason to choose a hot hatchback over a sports car. Why squeeze you, your passengers, and their luggage into something cramped when a hot hatchback will swallow a weekly shop or everything you need for a family holiday?

The 11th-generation Civic is one of the most practical cars in its class, feeling more like a Honda Accord than a Civic. There’s a 410-litre boot, which beats the luggage capacity of a Volkswagen Golf GTI by 30 litres, and if you fold down the 60/40-split rear seats, the boot capacity increases to 1,212 litres – which should be enough for a set of track day tyres. While some hot hatchbacks have five seats, the Civic Type R makes do with four, but the length of the car means there should be no complaints over the amount of legroom.

One neat touch is the fabric parcel shelf, which can be rolled away into an umbrella-sized box when it’s not needed.

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The standard version of the 11th-generation Honda Civic was awarded the maximum five-star safety rating when Euro NCAP tested it in 2022. It performed particularly well in the adult and child occupant categories, although the scores were solid across the board. Standard features include forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist and traffic sign recognition.

Over the years, the Honda Civic has developed a strong reputation for reliability, so the Type R is a hot hatchback you can buy with your head and your heart. Honda as a brand finished 11th out of 32 manufacturers in our 2024 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, above the likes of Lexus, BMW, Volvo, Skoda and Audi.

Honda Civic Type R alternatives

There are some great cars in the hot hatchback class, including the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the four-wheel drive Golf R. In a twin test against the Golf R, we said you’d be hard pressed to find anything that can match the Civic Type R’s level of excitement at twice the price, but we did point out that the Golf is devastatingly fast, especially in tricky conditions.

Other alternatives include Mercedes-AMG A 45 S and Audi RS 3, both of which feature four-wheel drive, around 400bhp and a more premium interior. That said, the Civic Type R still gets the nod if you’re after classic hot hatchback thrills.