2008 Honda Civic Type R review
31 Jul, 2008
49 Comments 
The throttle is a little touchy, so you need to have excellent control. Smooth shifts are possible, but don’t just bang away because the car will lurch around. Helping this though is the pedal positioning. It is just suberb, with heel and toe downshifts becoming second nature.
So what’s the issue here? Well, the Type R philosophy is one of no added extras. A pure drive experience. But how do you define pure? Usually it’s the most direct, connected feeling you can have with a car. You have to question, then, why drive-by-wire throttle, and electric steering was employed.
Why weigh it down with all the extras? All those little luxuries add weight but I’m not sure that is the Type R mindset. It doesn’t have to be the quickest, or most powerful car ever made - but just a little bit less weight might have helped.
Don’t get me wrong, I like luxuries. Supportive seats, tyre-roar which is supressed, and other niceties. When you combine luxury and quick, then I’m a happy man - just read through our BMW 135i review.
But it’s just missing that little bit of torque that would stop you having to absolutely blast through the gears, and being able to relax a little. As a whole and as an engaging drive, this is a great car. It’s fun, and practical to boot.
The real problem is it’s basically got two modes - completely on, or completely off. And it’s that in-between stage that most drivers are after, myself included. Not everyone wants to step out of the car with their ears ringing, and heart racing. Highly strung comes to mind.
It looks like a space-ship, handles like a dream, and sounds ballistic. A Type R car that is worthy of its badge? You decide.
2008 Honda Civic Type R
CarAdvice Overall Rating: 
How does it Drive:
How does it Look:
How does it Go:
Specifications:
- Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder, with i-VTEC
- Power: 148kW @ 7800rpm
- Torque: 193Nm @ 5600rpm
- Transmission: Six-Speed Manual
- Top Speed: 235km/h
- 0-100km/h: 6.6 seconds
- Fuel Consumption: 9.3 litres / 100km (Combined)
- Fuel Tank Capacity: 50 litres
- Fuel Type: 95RON Unleaded Petrol
- Airbags: Front, Side & Curtain
- Safety: ABS, VSA, EBA, EBD
- Tyres: 225/40/18
- Weight: 1345kg
- Wheels: 18-inch
Location: Home / Honda, Behind the Wheel / ...
Rate Post: 
(8 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Its strange in design both inside & out and its in dangerous territory when it comes to its RRP, its in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Lancer price range where you get a turbo and AWD system not to forget the Subaru bubble car WRX too.
These are seriously capable vehicles that are arguably the best of their kind in the world, the Honda is as usual over priced and over ambitious.
Drive it in isolation and away from shop windows and you’ll probably enjoy it more.
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Great story! Love your work… Although, page 2, 2nd paragraph, the Civic Type R magically became turbocharged???
“So don’t be disappointed when we tell you that this two-litre turbocharged engine “only” puts out 148kW.”
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Haha! Thanks Gavin. Not sure why that crept in there. Well spotted.
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Honda is trying to appease the old Prelude drivers (the previous to last 4WS model was brilliant) and the old Civic Type R buyers. Probably fails at both. Being a Honda it is no doubt excellent to drive although havuing to twiddle your thumbs whilst the engine revs up will get very old very quickly.
I feel Honda have generally lost their way ever since they came up with the design of the last Prelude in the late 90’s. And no amount of F1 cars on their advertisements will save them from this fact.
I hope that Honda get with the program soon and make something worth purchasing.
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
btw the Type R looks like a hair-dressers car. There. Said it. The shell design is def. unworthy of a Type R badge.
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July 31st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Like we discussed Karl, the problem with the car is its only ever inspiring when being belted hard.
Its embarrassing to be cruising around town at 60kmh to have the Camry next to you pull away without needing to go down 3 gears to find the Vtec kick it has.
And then of course, the car is stuck in a conundrum - is it susposed to be a pocket rocket, or a luxo cruiser, and you have outlined all the reasons why.
Honda need to go back and look at the original type r integra to remind themselves of what pure means. While it may be louder and harsher to ride in, it was a pure car, and an excpetional drive. The problem is all these years later, this car has forgotten those ideals and fails to meet the mark.
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
This vehicle is nowhere?
TopGear summed it up nice, JUNK! :-)
Worse than the earlier model and WAY to expensive and slow.
Sure it will be better next edition!
Cheers
F-0
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July 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
My Golf GTI makes the published 147KW at 5,100rpm, and this thing doesn’t come “on the cam” until well past this figure.
And I have 280nm of torque coming on strong from 1750rpm. Puttering around town the DSG will change into 6th gear at 60ks, and the cruise control will keep it there - I bet the Honda couldn’t do that ! (that’s pretty handy, too - the damn thing creeps up in speed alarmingly if you don’t watch it)
So, to drive the Honda around town would be an absolute PITA. Actually, with the possible exception of cornering, the Honda would be a PITA everywhere.
Takes a bit more than this to knock off the original and the best hot hatch :)
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July 31st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
problem with the golf is, everyone has one.
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July 31st, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Bring on the Ford Focus RS, not only will it eat this underpowerd little Honda for breakfast, it will also claim exclusive ( I have a better car ) ownership status, I can only see Type R Grandpa’s buying such mediocre performance transport..
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Yeah as much as the GTi is “everywhere” it’s for good reason - and I’d take one over this any day.
So easy to live with day-to-day, fun at all points of the tacho and just seems to do it so easy.
Type R on the other hand might be fun at or above 9/10ths but really, how often can you drive like that without Ploddy knocking on your window?
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July 31st, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Richard,
Your comment has been deleted due to racist and defamatory remarks.
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July 31st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Didn`t Wheels give this thing an award not to long ago? I justcan`t remember what it was for, but coming from them thats not saying much.
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July 31st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I drove the Golf GTi= very impressed. Looks a lot better too with a more usable drivetrain. I cant understand the logic behind this cars design. The front of the regular Civic is much more attractive.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Karl, why would you drive this car, in one gear higher than you would others. A lack of torque will require you to do the opposite.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Mitch,
everyone DOESN’T have a golf, much less a GTI which Reckless1 refers to.
The Civic type R would be most at home at a 2L naturally aspirated track day. Provided that the “extras” were stripped out this would be a truck load of fun. Beyond that I’m not sure why anyone would buy one. No bang until the engine is going ballistic seems impractical for anything but a track.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:33 pm
apparently not as good as the previous effort. But stunning to look at and typically modern Japanese style. Not for me though like many driving on torque is far more relaxing to drive than screaming revs.
How longs the engine goiong to last constantly being thrashed to an inch of its life. Nah give it a miss.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
this car was designed in UK. the looks, the suspension, the torison beam, everything. i don’t think the Jap has much input in it. They were busily involved in their own 4-door Type R civic - the one you see on the roads currently. That one has a rear wish bone suspension and a more powerful engine. Pity that it wasn’t bought to Australia.
I somehow prefer it to be a little bigger and with a more powerful engine, say a 2.5litre. afterall WRX is a 2.5 litre isn’t it? this is more of a fashion statement I suspect, no for the pure motorist.
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July 31st, 2008 at 8:52 pm
oh yeah, the torison beam works great on smaller cars. and honda uk claims that it save them space so that the boot is massive, it think it was 465litres, unbeatable in it’s class and even some other bigger cars.
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
i remember when this car first came out my dad and i were driving past a honda dealership and saw the type r sitting there so we went in for a squizz. i was checking out the features and liked alot of them.
but the dealership guy said it (the car we were actually looking at) was just a car that they sent over for the ADRs etc so some things wouldn’t make it onto the actual version sold in aus.
so my question is does it have the fold-in mirrors and rear foglights? also does the rear seat base fold up just like the civic 5-door hatch and jazz???
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:03 pm
jon, wheels gave it a best design award, both interior and exterior, which didn’t make too much sense, as top gear highlighted in their review of the new civic type R, with the old school ratchet type front seat adjusters that result in the front seats resetting to their default position every time you fold them forward to let someone in the back. It didn’t sound exactly like the ‘best design’ to me at least.
As for the car, like has been mentioned its in a dangerous price range, but at least its a fairly unique offering. I’d probably prefer a xr5 or a golf gti, but only because I have a motorbike to cover my high rev, screaming engine needs. I can see why some people would appreciate a car that gives that feeling.
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I, personally had driven my friend’s Type R. I reckon it’s just an amazing handling car. It is one of those car that you can just sit and drive, with plenty of fun. The lack of torque wouldn’t be a big problem when you rev the engine all the time anyway.
Btw, that photo on the last page is just amazing.
It makes the Type R more attractive than ever.
Keep the good work up.
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Personally the styling isnt my cup of tea. It is overpriced. And although its engine is awesome day to day driving you aint going to be hitting the high revs and experiencing its true potential. A testament to this, I once witnessed a driver of one of these stall at a stop sign 3 times. Apparently the clutch isnt very user friendly so to speak.
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Not your Cuppa T TP. Wearing the Cardy and slipper as well. Only kidding Dude ;)
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July 31st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
TP, I thought you liked peaky engines. Just maybe not as peaky as this, hey? I agree it could be trying.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:14 pm
This car is amazing, build quality is tops, spacious, very fun, grabs peoples attention and best of all it handles so well around corners, better than the Golf GTI. The GTI has the torque, but just looks like any other Golf which is quite boring. I would choose the Type R over it. Drive it to believe it.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Its certainly got the looks! Shame about the rest of the package…I tend to agree with the Top Gear review…sorry.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I have a Gold GTI now, and used to driving Hondas.
Although the GTI is great car which I am more than happy with, one thing I miss is the smooth delivery of power over the rev range, cf power onslaught from turbo. Maybe I spent too much time with Honda engines and gearing.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:40 pm
given the earlier model of this outperforms it according to TopGear, I could give this one a thumbs down, For those who generally dont take the car to the limits I think this is sufficient in performance terms, although youd need to hit vtec at the hi rpms for this car to start screaming.
Personally I would prefer if we had the Coupe SI model the yanks get, looks much better.
Btw has anyone been to the honda website and checked out the Sub STI vs Civic Type R? Looks like UK Car mag praised the Civic like anything and hammered the new STI saying its not what it once was.
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July 31st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Golf GTI, not Gold GTI
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July 31st, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Ben, it’s because of how short the final drive ratio is.
To compensate for the lack of torque, the engine revs to 8500rpm. And at those revs, you are in the same gear as any other car.
In day to day driving though, you’ll be driving a gear higher.
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July 31st, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Good article. This car is a lot of fun to drive. Due to our draconian points system you have to be careful but with its high revving engine you can still have short bursts of fun with the first 3 gears before settling down at the 80km/h mark limits around town. Love everything about it bar the digital speedo (too much lag when braking). Friends have WRX & Golf GTI. I wouldn’t swap the Type R for either.
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July 31st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I bet my 206 gti would be heaps more fun around corners given it uses independant rears rather than a torsion bar.. just give it a little bit extra throttle comming into a corner, then once you feel it understeer take your foot off the pedal and let the rear slide! bet you couldnt do that in a civic type R !!
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August 5th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
A lot of negative Type R comments here from Internet drivers it seems… Drive the Civic Type R hard and you’ll feel like a race car driver. When you’re not up for that (or license protection mode kicks in) you still get to enjoy rolling in traffic with beautiful seats, great interior design & onlookers checking the interesting design. PS - A torsion bar rear suspension is only inferior over bumps. Otherwise, the rear tyre stays perpendicular to the ground around corners.
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August 6th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
“I feel Honda have generally lost their way ever since they came up with the design of the last Prelude in the late 90’s. And no amount of F1 cars on their advertisements will save them from this fact.”
I don’t agree flying high.
The Honda Integra DC2R 1996-2001 model was voted by EVO as the best FWD car of all time. It is held in high esteem by many journalist as one of the best.
Have you seen what the FD2R Honda Civic Type R (the real Civic Type R IMO) can do?
What about the EK9?
What about the EP3?
They all punch above their weight. Granted only one I’ve mentioned is current (what a car it is too). All have come after your beloved prelude, which is soft in comparison to these cars.
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August 6th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
“I bet my 206 gti would be heaps more fun around corners given it uses independant rears rather than a torsion bar.. just give it a little bit extra throttle comming into a corner, then once you feel it understeer take your foot off the pedal and let the rear slide! bet you couldnt do that in a civic type R !!”
Myae you shoudl drive a Honda and actually how much pleasure a decent gearshift brings….
I hated my 206 GTi, the gearbox was horrible rubbery, notchy and ambiguos..
PS. You do know the 206 GTi also has a rear torsion bar setup………………………………………………………………………………….
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August 7th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
…and don’t forget about the third gear issue that has plagued these Honda 6-speed gearboxes.
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August 8th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
You think a Golf GTI is a better car ??? , or quicker???
Think again!!!The Type-R without turbo will give you GTI a run for its money and is by far a more quality car than a GOLF????..You can not compare a HONDA to a “golf” there are to many good qualities about a HONDA than almost any other car on the market.
By the way it looks much nicer than the old boring GOLF shape.
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August 8th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I’ll admit the Civic has the wow factor in spades. People who buy the Golf aren’t silly, though. They’re probably a bit older and a bit quieter and they won’t have to tell anyone they have a car whose shape stands the test of time.
They also won’t want to drive something that makes more people than necessary spot a receding hair line.
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August 8th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
By the way, I love the Civic for what it is and I’ll never diss it, but I’m a Golf Guy.
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August 9th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Honda’s like most cars is about a certain experience. I think that is the case for the civic too. The civic is about the experience of the driver and the driver’s perception of those who are looking at him/her. i like the new civics. It’s not about how fast you go but what people think about me when I drive by or when they drive past me.
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August 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I don’t understand why Honda persists with a small N/A engine in the hot hatch segment where almost everyone else has a forced induction unit. Yes the latest Honda engine is a screamer, but why should someone rev the guts out of the car too get any action? I may be wrong but the best forced induction engine of all time may be the RA167E from the 1987 mclaren Formula 1 winning team. Able too produce 997hp at 12000 revs from its 1.5L capacity. This shows honda knows a thing or two about forced induction but for some reason they are reluctant too do it. Why?
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August 18th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
hmmmm, not a lot of negative reviews on civic here, not a lot, but way too many lol, however this is just an opinion of those who never drove one , yes golf GTI has the torque but 0-100 times still remains half a second slower? is it cos honda has 1 kw more 148 vs 147. no its because when most cars lose their power at about 5500to 6000 revs honda gains its power then, why is it more fun to drive ? cos u feel like a f1 driver. forced induction drivers always have in their mind a feelin, aww there we go turbo just kicked in, so they relyin on forced induction where as honda bein naturally aspirated will please those who love the fun factor while driving, just imagine the feelin u get once u hit the v tech zone, if u ever been in an M3 BMW which revs to 8 300 then u ll know this feeling, the difference is honda goes to 8 500 revs, and new WRX gets beaten by mazda 3 MPS in cone slalom test and 0-100 , and quartemile, so forced induction cars are just gettin borin nowww
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August 19th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
i think the only way for people to realise why it is NA as opposed to forced induction is to race it around corners of all sorts. i have felt the power delivery of many types of forced fed vehicles whether aftermarket or not, and personally that kind of power delivery is not what i want when my car is hanging on for dear life in a high speed corner
when you tread that fine line between traction and loss of traction for over a second in a high speed corner, that is when you really appreciate NA
if racing is all about straight lines then by all means, forget NA. but its not
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August 19th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
but hey, thats just what floats my boat ;)
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August 21st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I absolutely love the looks - it is completly separated from the run of mill which is nice these days - the drive is very very important - something I am arranging - I hope I like it because if the experience doesn’t work i’ll be back in the ruck (present car is an MX5 - super fun but not a great deal of performance so maybe…..
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August 24th, 2008 at 4:43 am
It looks like car from future. It’s amazing. Amazing look and power - that everything what need feel fun with car.
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August 24th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Topgear this, topgear that… Topgear is an entertaining car show. Fifth Gear is a better show to watch when it comes to finding out things about a car, especialy when it comes to everyday driving. And i think it is best everyone takes it for a drive first before judging it. And if speed is what you want its pretty good, considering WRX, Focus, Falcon XR6, Holden SV6 and so on in that price bracket all do 0 - 100km in around the 6second mark.
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October 28th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Another issue here which hasn’t been mentioned is increasing performance. I’m not sure there is much you can do with these puppies where its dead easy to get massive gains from a turbo unit.
When you get sick of being beated by lots of fast tubo 4s, what then? Drop a chip in? Wind up the boost? There just aren’t many options and many type R drivers will get frustrated before too long as their hot hatch gets smashed.
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