Thank you Honda

[Captain VXR]

Finally the Civic Type R gets the specification it should always had:
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2009/06/european-mugen-honda-civic-type-r.html

[Jag_Warrior]

It's certainly a very sharp little car.
http://i41.tinypic.com/zvdbfn.jpg

And 200hp from a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder is very impressive. It's just too bad it's all being fed to the front wheels. One has to wonder what sort of torque steer this thing has. I drove a 180hp Celica GTS several years ago. The torque steer was less than ideal. But I know Mugen has a devout cult following among the tuner car crowd, so I suspect this edition will be snapped up where ever they sell it. They could offer 5,000 of them in California alone and probably be sold out the first day.

But still, I really like the styling! Damn, that's nice! :s mokin:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SjvZe71hNHI/AAAAAAAB1mw/GxMJ4JClY7A/s1600/Mugen-Honda-Civic-Type-R-1.jpg

[Captain VXR]

It's certainly a very sharp little car.
http://i41.tinypic.com/zvdbfn.jpg

And 200hp from a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder is very impressive. It's just too bad it's all being fed to the front wheels. One has to wonder what sort of torque steer this thing has. I drove a 180hp Celica GTS several years ago. The torque steer was less than ideal. But I know Mugen has a devout cult following among the tuner car crowd, so I suspect this edition will be snapped up where ever they sell it. They could offer 5,000 of them in California alone and probably be sold out the first day.

But still, I really like the styling! Damn, that's nice! :s mokin:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SjvZe71hNHI/AAAAAAAB1mw/GxMJ4JClY7A/s1600/Mugen-Honda-Civic-Type-R-1.jpg
its probably going to be 240bhp as the jap mugen civics make that and a standard uk type r does 198bhp :)

[Jag_Warrior]

That's a lot of horsies in a front wheel drive car. I dunno...

[Rollo]

But I know Mugen has a devout cult following among the tuner car crowd, so I suspect this edition will be snapped up where ever they sell it. They could offer 5,000 of them in California alone and probably be sold out the first day.

But still, I really like the styling! Damn, that's nice! :s mokin:

And yet again. the hatchback isn't even sold in North America. There's this sort of odd looking offering:
http://www.accessories-honda.com/store/images/2009_Civic_Si_2dr.jpg
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-coupe/

No Civic Type R, no Ford Focus ST, no Peugeot, Renault, Citroen.., anything. The whole idea of a hot hatch just bypasses North America entirely.

[MrJan]

That's a lot of horsies in a front wheel drive car. I dunno...

They have a fairly good base in terms of handling though, it'll hopefully not end up like the Astra VXR smokefest.

[AndyRAC]

Is there something wrong with 4WD/RWD??

Steer with the front, power to the rear..........

[leopard]

Honda is an auto maker who tends to produce car or bike type which they are prominence on the technology. They consistently produce four stroke in environment two stroke engine was acceptable while their competitors were massively producing two stroke bike. They may fill out interspace for two stroke but it never got big hit.

The same applies to the car, front wheel drive is their character. We may find the bigger type of car Honda will implement front wheel drive, which they believe it offer a sedan-like comfort. Hence you have to convert it to RWD if you want drifting on a Honda.

[Daniel]

240bhp in a 2l N/A car. Hmmmmm can someone say PEAKY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[wedge]

Finally the Civic Type R gets the specification it should always had:
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2009/06/european-mugen-honda-civic-type-r.html


Still doesn't do the CTR justice.

Worse than EP3, JDM looks and handles better.


JDM CTR
http://www.rsportscars.com/foto/11/typerjdm07.jpg


JDM Mugen CTR
http://www.carblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/honda-civic-mugen-rr-jdm-1.jpg

[GridGirl]

You would hope the Mugen version would have more than 200bph. My brothers old style Type R can wipe the floor (so I'm told) with a new Type R because the new one is so much heavier.

[Jag_Warrior]

And yet again. the hatchback isn't even sold in North America. There's this sort of odd looking offering:
http://www.accessories-honda.com/store/images/2009_Civic_Si_2dr.jpg
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-coupe/

No Civic Type R, no Ford Focus ST, no Peugeot, Renault, Citroen.., anything. The whole idea of a hot hatch just bypasses North America entirely.

Very true. For whatever reason, hatchbacks tend not to sell very well here. Every few years, a manufacturer will offer one, and then it's crushed by sedans and wagons. The new STI is a hatch. But it's so ugly (IMO), and it sells to such a niche market, I don't know that you could use it as a market gage. I don't keep up with it, so I'm not sure what the Lancer Evo is now. But Toyota tried for years to push the Celica in N.A. I had a GTS many years ago (in hatch), and I liked the car and its styling. Toyota included some design cues from the mid 90's CART Champ Car and relaunched the car mid decade. Initially it wasn't a complete sales dud. And it did produce about 180hp from a 1.8 liter N.A. engine. But again, the sales fell off and Toyota finally killed it.

Every few years, Road & Track, Car & Driver and/or Motor Trend will run a piece on what the next "hot hatch" will be which tries to make it in North America. It's sort of a running joke here. I guess one of the reasons that I like them is because they're not so popular here. I like cars which are unique.

[Jag_Warrior]

You would hope the Mugen version would have more than 200bph. My brothers old style Type R can wipe the floor (so I'm told) with a new Type R because the new one is so much heavier.

I think Top Gear gave much better marks, handling wise, to the older car vs the newer one too.

[harvick#1]

JDM Mugen CTR
http://www.carblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/honda-civic-mugen-rr-jdm-1.jpg

looks more like a 07 Impreza


but the Lancers are still the best looking car for 20K :s mokin:

[Robinho]

the special mugen CTR coming to the UK is something like £36k, ridiculous money when you can have a JDM 220BHP CTRfor about £22k

[Jag_Warrior]

Doing a rough currency conversion in my head, £36k sounds incredibly expensive for that type of car. How much would a new STI or Evo cost over there?

[Jag_Warrior]

looks more like a 07 Impreza


but the Lancers are still the best looking car for 20K :s mokin:

I think Subaru needs to start doing drug testing on its designers. I liked the WRX/STI 02/03-04/05. But each one after has seemed to turn me off more than the one before. The latest WRX and STI have very good performance, but the face of Joan (or Melissa) Rivers. But I also like the styling of the Lancer/Evo series. I thought I heard a hatch was being developed there, but I might be wrong.

[Daniel]

Doing a rough currency conversion in my head, £36k sounds incredibly expensive for that type of car. How much would a new STI or Evo cost over there?
A WRX STI 330s is 30k

Standard STI is 26k

[wedge]

I think Top Gear gave much better marks, handling wise, to the older car vs the newer one too.

CFDA9so_IeI



looks more like a 07 Impreza


but the Lancers are still the best looking car for 20K :s mokin:

More like a 4-door Integra!


the special mugen CTR coming to the UK is something like £36k, ridiculous money when you can have a JDM 220BHP CTRfor about £22k

Not to mention the Megane R26R!

[Rollo]

The best thing I found with the Honda Civic Type R apart from that whole video game dashboard and console setup (which I quite like) is the feel of those bucket seats.

They unique to the Type-R or so Ive been told, and they're ever so nice to sit in.

[Daniel]

The best thing I found with the Honda Civic Type R apart from that whole video game dashboard and console setup (which I quite like) is the feel of those bucket seats.

They unique to the Type-R or so Ive been told, and they're ever so nice to sit in.
Seats are such an important thing on a car. After driving around in Carolines Subaru with nice seats, I made a point of getting decent seats in the 500 although I then went and specced leather seats which probably won't be quite as grippy :mark:

[Mark in Oshawa]

Nice Car....I would own one, but like Jag, I am perplexed why hatches don't sell better in North America. Canadians buy them more than Americans, but there isn't enough of us to turn the tide I guess.

All I know is the best stuff in small cars never makes it to North America. It is part of the reason people here don't like small cars as much for performance. The kids buy them, but they cant always afford the bigger iron, but the mentality over here is more power, more luxury.

Might have to do with the price of gas being half what it is in Europe too...

[Daz]

The performance Civics have always been great fun cars to drive. I used to have the 1.8VTi-S 5 door hatch which had the suspension and engine from the Integra tye-R in it just detuned slightly and that was an awesome car to drive. Only problem was in the wet whent he front tyres were towards the end of their life you would get a lot of front wheelspin when accelerating hard from a standing start. That was with only 170bhp so dread to think what 200bhp would be like. Now got a car with 225bhp and 4wd which is much better at putting down the power.

[steve_spackman]

Every few years, Road & Track, Car & Driver and/or Motor Trend will run a piece on what the next "hot hatch" will be which tries to make it in North America. It's sort of a running joke here. I guess one of the reasons that I like them is because they're not so popular here.

Just like what they (Road & Track, Car & Driver and/or Motor Trend) and Ford NA are saying with regards to the Ford Fiesta?

[Rollo]

The hatchback won't be offered in NA with the Fiesta. They get the sedan like the Chinese.

[wedge]

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!

MY EYES! MY EYES!


http://photos.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_632/car_photo_316231_7.jpg

[Daniel]

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!

MY EYES! MY EYES!


http://photos.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_632/car_photo_316231_7.jpg
Kind of looks like an Impreza crashed into the back of a Civic :p

[Jag_Warrior]

Just like what they (Road & Track, Car & Driver and/or Motor Trend) and Ford NA are saying with regards to the Ford Fiesta?

What are they saying?

[Rollo]

Seats are such an important thing on a car.

http://nuvolo.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/civic-r-seat.png

These are delightfully... phwoah to sit in. Apart from the fact that I can't afford a new car right now, the seats in this car are enough to sell the whole car to me.

[leopard]

It looks to me it still has manual seat adjuster...

[rah]

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!

MY EYES! MY EYES!


http://photos.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_632/car_photo_316231_7.jpg

I agree, it looks like the bloke designing it had an epileptic fit with a protractor in his hands. So many lines, so busy.

[ShiftingGears]

I find any sort of current model Civic sedan rather hideous to look at.

[leopard]

I find any sort of current model Civic sedan rather hideous to look at.
Because any type of Civic are made with coquettish manner as point of interest that makes them looked different. Accord are the everlasting model.