Ah, the speedo boy's best friend on the road. The Civic Type R. The FK2 Civic Type R is the first ever Honda sportscar to use a turbocharged VTEC engine, which brings "VTEC just kicked in, yo!" to a whole new meaning. The first-ever K20C 2.0L VTEC Turbo engine produces a massive 310PS of power output and 400Nm of torque, while mated exclusively with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Performance aside, Honda draws inspiration from its touring car championship success to create the Civic Type R and by utilizing all of its track-honed characteristics, it's no wonder that its lapped the Nurburgring in 07:51.42, the fastest lap time for front-wheel drive cars until it was smashed by a hotter VW GTi.
You don't need to ask but the FK2 Civic Type R is the only ninth-generation Civic sold in the Japanese market when it was launched in late 2015 and limited to 750 units, each costing 4,280,000 Japanese Yen, which isn't too pricey for a hot hatch imported from Great Britain.
Although its too little, too late to show up on the after hours, I am very pleased to try out the FK2 Civic Type R as long as I like before the arrival of the next model based on the tenth-generation Civic Hatchback. In fact, the next model will have so much to learn from the previous FK2 that I'm driving right now in the Land Down Under. Sampling the FK2 Type R's VTEC Turbo sounds more like it came from the current WRX STi and you can really feel just how potent this turbocharged engine is at any speed at any place.
While the FK2 Civic Type R is proven to be a potent track weapon, I find that its handling is very much mild and menacing. Go too fast and you're in for some catastrophic understeer as this car is too grippy on the corners. No matter how hard you turn the steering wheel on, it just grips and grips and grips and while this is very easy to drive for beginners, it doesn't feel as enjoyable as its chief rival, the Ford Focus RS.
I've tried different kinds of hot hatchbacks in this game for a long time and let me tell you, I've never been in a hot hatch which is very unique and very challenging in every plausible way and looks like the next Type R will be a struggle to shook off the problems the previous FK2 Civic Type R had. Perhaps they should rework on the handling to make it more enjoyable for a front-wheel drive hot hatchback but I think that's enough for that chit chat because now that I've seen everything about the FK2 Civic Type R, time to call in the makeup department to do something special for the outgoing model.
I've been planning to do this up to the moment this Type R arrived and here it is, all dressed in its Ruby Kurosawa-inspired look. Looks like I'm going to give the FK2 Civic Type R a proper sendoff by calling the best of Honda Type R models ever assembled and looks like this is the part where I'll get my trusty filming equipment ready to roll.
And now, the party is on!
This has got to be the best sendoff party ever done for the FK2 Civic Type R and while it got confused upon getting to know its opponents even when they don the red H badge on their faces, the FK2 Civic Type R showed its confidence to kick its VTEC Turbo engine to the top of the pops and shines its way towards victory!
The Civic Type R has been a speedo boys' favorite since the EK9 but for the FK2 model, it doesn't get the same aesthetics as the original. In fact, it slowly loses it charm now that it's becoming more European rather than being a Japanese sportscar that has won the hearts of many speedo boys from around the globe but all hope is not lost as Honda is back at the drawing board to perfect the next Type R the world awaits and when it does, it's going to be worth the one we promised.
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