2007 Honda Civic Type-R Overview

By Alborz Fallah | June 18th, 2007

Honda have today officially launched the all new Civic Type-R. We noted the arrival of the first Type-R shipment last week. This morning, details of the British made Honda landed in the mail. The Type-R badge which went missing when Honda Australia went for the Type-S Integra has returned with the Civic Type R three-door hatchback.

Firstly, the price? $39,990 – It will go head to head with the Volkswagen Golf GTi, Ford Focus XR5, Astra SRi Turbo, Mazda3 MPS, Mini Cooper S, Renault Megane Sport and to a lesser extent, the Impreza WRX.

Honda expects to sell roughly 100 of the hot hatches a month.

The Civic will be in Honda dealerships from next month. The Civic Type R is available in three colours – Milano Red, Alabaster Silver and Nighthawk Black, each sharing the same black and red interior.

The Type-R will be powered by Honda’s high-revving, naturally aspirated, 2.0-litre i-VTEC engine (148kW and 193Nm). 0-100km/hr times are 6.6 seconds – some of our readers thought this was a typo when we mentioned it in the past, rest assured, it is not, the Type-R is a fast car!

The Type-R will only be offered in a six-speed manual gearbox, Honda says the Type-R is a true drivers car, hence an Auto gearbox was out of the question. Front suspension setup uses MacPherson-strut with torsion beams for the rear.

The Civic Type-R comes standard with body-hugging Alcantara racing-style bucket seats and rides on 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped in 225 / 40 R18 tyres. The package is completed with 300mm front and 260mm rear brake discs.

Honda claims fuel economy figures of 9.3L/100 km using 95 RON fuel (91 is a no no).

Honda are keen to maintain the safe image with the Civic Type R equipped with

front, side and curtain airbags,
Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA, ESP),
ABS brakes with Electronic Brake force Distribution
an Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure.

Honda have also fitted a rolling code anti-theft immobiliser.Other standard features include

automatic rain-sensing windscreen wipers,
auto on/off headlights,
an MP3 and WMA-compatible CD player,
multi-function trip computer,
cruise control,
front fog lights,
dual-zone climate control,
a leather-bound tilt and telescopic adjustable steering wheel.

The car also features Honda’s “magic seat” system. This is a neat system that Honda has developed for its hatch range. The system works by allowing the rear seats to fold to create a fully flat rear cargo floor. Owners will benefit from an increased boot space (from 485 litres to 1352 litres). The Type-R has service intervals of 10,000kms.

We keep asking Honda why the premium Honda cars are never turbo-charged, and we finally have the answer,

No bolting on of a turbocharger to give silly power figures. All Type R engines are normally-aspirated, which deliver smoother power delivery throughout the rev range, allowing power to be transferred through the chassis more easily, improving traction and acceleration. Honda Australia says

Silly power figures? We highly doubt its competitors, all turbo/super charged, would agree!

The only way you will get this Honda to give you its power is by trashing it all the way to redline, maximum revs is at an
astonishing 8,000rpm. The engine screams to its peak power of 148kW at 7,800rpm.

You can see a dyno chart for the Type-R below:

Honda are quick to point out the brake system in the Type-R is ahead of the competition (at least some of the competition).

2007 Honda Civic Type-R Stopping Distance

The Type-R also comes with a Start Button, this seems to be a growing trend on performance cars, one which gets old after the first week.

However Honda have managed to implement the start button pretty easily.

“This is now on every new Civic hatch, but the idea came from a modification that we do to tuned Civics. The cigarette lighter hole is the exact same size as the starter for an S2000. So we take the lighter out, poke a start button in and wire it up. Job done.” Toshiya Sakai, Type-R project leaders said.

It seems our invitation to the Civic Type-R launch was lost in the mail, however we will get our hands on the new hatch soon.

Full specification list: 2007 Honda Civic Type-R Specifications.

Jason

Should be a nice car, but I think Honda are trying just a little too hard to point out the cars brakes The graph is very deceptive (a result of cropping) with a closer inspection of the numbers showing the differnce between the combined braking figures for the Honda and BMW less 1m
http://www.alborzfallah.com alborz

I wish it was priced at 35, having to compete with the Golf GTi, XR5 and the like will be hard.

this is a great car though, excellent package if you ask me!
Paul

They have priced it around the competition it would seem… the XR5T for example is $35k on paper but once you get it on the road with decent features its $40k+.

There are alot of things I like about this car, but for me the rear and general shape of it isnt appealing… just looks strange.
Myke

I think it’s a good car. It differs from its rivals as it has a NA engine and its looks are standout. IMO the back of the car looks fine, as it matches with the general curves and shape of the rest of the car.

Whether you like it or not you have to congratulate Honda for trying something different compared to other small-med hatches.
troy

oh god

I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!1

very very cool car!
Lexus GT500

This Type R is unique down under as there are no regular civic hatch sold. As opposed to GTi, XR5, you will just be seen as driving a tarted up Focus, Golf, Mazda3 with Turbo pufff puffff. This Civic is in a class of its own!
Myke

… That is true for now. Honda Oz could bring the regular hatch in the future if they start to produce it in Thailand. But ATM I guess you could see it as the replacement for the Integra.
Paul

Yeah its like a whole new model really… its not a Civic as we know it. One major negative about this car, I cringe when thinking about 10 years into the future seeing all the tools in their civic hatches again with massive cannon exhausts!!! Worse yet they will actually have a good car around this time!
George

I think mechanically its a real standout. However I think the looks are a bit over the top. I also can’t understand why the hatch differs in looks so significantly from the sedan, which in my opinion is far better looking.
Old_Shagger

Whats with the dashboard and steering wheel ?

They’re just plain awful.

Other then that I love it !
http://www.alborzfallah.com alborz

i cant get over how big the foot rest is
its enormous!
ed

i think Lexus GT500 pointed out a really good point. Honda Australia does want to bring in the euro civic hatch, but its unlikely they could do it without it being overpriced. especially when civics are meant to be well-priced. i think the main reason why theyve kept the CTR competitive in australia is by all the standard kit. in UK, if you buy a standard CTR (civic type r) with no optional extras you dont get:

cruise control
curtain airbags
automatic rain-sensing windscreen wipers
auto on/off headlights
front fog lights
dual-zone climate control
power folding door mirrors

all of the above is standard in the australian CTR. this looks great until you realise that carpets in the CTR are optional >=|

anyway, to anyone who is confused with the styling, just remember that this car was designed in the UK. and over there the average honda owner is quite… old. so when honda UK designed the new civic, they did it with the intention to scare away old people and to transform their boring pensioner image to something more lively. so far its been working. average age of honda owners in the UK has dropped by 5 years or something

australia honda feared that they were going down that path as well. after losing the Integra Type R, NSX and then the entire Integra range, they were only left with 1 sports car in their range in 2007: the S2000. now they can make that 2 sports cars with the Civic Type R.

mine should be arriving next week if all goes to plan. im getting one in milano red
Lazybones

“Honda claims fuel economy figures of 9.3L/100 km using 95 RON fuel (92 is a no no).”

92 RON Alborz? As I keep telling my work collegues. Coffee is your friend

91 RON is a no, no for any car in my opinion. Spend all that money on a nice car and feed it crap fuel.
Plutonus

I’m accepting all donations =P
http://goodcarbadcar.blogspot.com Tim

Civic Type-r is hot stuff. They say the steering sucks, and the last hot Civic hatch that came to my great country of Canada did indeed have awful steering. That car was badges as an SiR here, and had 40 less horsepower than the Type-R did in Europe. Now we get similar horsepower in a coupe package. Hot stuff, hot seller. I’d take the feel-less steering if I could have a hot hatch that looked as good as the pics on your site of the CTR. North American decision makers withhold stuff like this car from us all the time. Check out goodcarbadcar.blogspot.com
breech

I saw one of these cruising Sydney today. IRL this thing looks fantastic. the back end is well suited, photos don’t show its correct shape.

Still, I cant get over the Xr5.
John

Driving the CTR type R what a car .. the Engine AMAZING.

it WANTS to be revved.

What a Car ……………………….

NEVER harsh just sweet .. what an Engine.

Honda rules
double J

trust me, this car loooks great on road!!
Pat

I’m can’t decide between Accord Euro and Civic Type R. The dealer offer me drive away price of $38K for Accord Euro and $39 for Type R. Does anyone have any comment about this?