2007 Honda Civic Type R Road Test
August 10, 2007 by Paul Maric
2007 Honda Civic Type R Road Test
CarAdvice rating: 
Recommended Retail Price: $39,990 (manual only, metallic paint extra)
Options Fitted: Metallic paint ($300)
- by Paul Maric
The hot hatch segment has been a buzz of activity of late and about the only manufacturer without their hand in the cookie jar was Honda. With names like Golf GTi, XR5 Turbo, SRi Turbo and Mazda3 MPS, the Honda Civic Type R had a fight on its hands before it even made it to showroom floors.
Although it’s been a while since I drove my first VW Golf GTi, I can still recall that feeling of practicality and road-tearing performance – which is why I classed it as my favourite hot hatch. With that in mind, I knew that the Type R was already down on the game. Unlike the rest of its hot hatch competitors, the Type R is naturally aspirated and doesn’t rely on forced induction to produce its power and torque.
One of the first things you notice with the Type R is the race-prepped interior. Wrap-around race style seats, along with a neat little steering wheel headline the Type R’s onslaught. Outside the vehicle, twin triangular exhaust pipes and a bevy of never before seen styling attributes make the Type R a unique sight on the road.
The suspension is firm – very firm. For everyday use, I found it almost irritating bouncing around the cabin over the slightest pot holes. When it came to cornering though, the suspension – and car in general, was flawless.
Throw the car into a bend and the body remains compliant and flat throughout the entire bend. The car feels so planted that it could be easily mistaken for an all-wheel-drive, let alone a front steerer. As it’s naturally aspirated, Honda’s VTEC alters valve timing in the latter part of the rev range to bring turbo-like performance without the compromise of fuel economy.
The Type R comes with a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder engine which produces 148kW and 193Nm of torque. Power is sent through a man-handled 6-speed manual gearbox with floor mounted accelerator pedal for easy heel-toe access.
Priced at $39,990, the Honda Civic Type R sips through just 9.3-litres/100km and dashes from 0-100km/h in just 6.6-seconds.
Standard features include: Adjustable headlight height; 18” alloy wheels; trip computer; cruise control; drive by wire electronic throttle; engine immobiliser; keyless entry; electric mirrors; heated mirrors; folding door mirrors; fog lights; dual zone climate control; power steering; leather wrapped steering wheel; rain sensing windscreen wipers; power windows; Type R Alcantara sports seats and single disc CD player with MP3 compatibility.
Safety features include: Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA); ABS brakes; dual front airbags; dual side airbags; dual curtain airbags (front and rear); Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD); Emergency Brake Assist (BA) and side impact protection beams.
With enough room to comfortably seat four passengers, and handling that would put many beefed up muscle cars to shame, the Civic Type R is now – in my opinion – at the number one spot on the hot hatch ladder. I don’t think you could live with the Type R as a daily driver, but when it comes to outright performance and handling, there is simply no better way to get around. The Type R needs to be test driven to be believed – this new Honda is a serious weapon.
Print it: 
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“The car feels so planted that it could be easily mistaken for an all-wheel-drive, let alone a front steerer.”
AWD does not mean more cornering grip. Chassis sophistication equals more grip. Plenty of cars that are not AWD can “out corner” AWDs. E.g. Porsche, BMW M3, Lotus Elise more affordable cars such as Clio Sport, Fiesta XR4, MX-5, RX-8, Civic Type-R, also have plenty of grip due to having a properly engineered chassis. I find you guys make that “incorrect” statement in a few of your reviews. AWDs (that are based on FWD) are naturally quiet understeery, e.g. WRX, EVO, AWD Magna etc.
Every so often your car reviews always seem to have a controversial statement. I understand it is your opinion but I would appreciate a slightly better expressed opinion in your articles/reviews. It seems that the articles seem to be copying the style of major magazines in their wording. (Thanks to CarAdvice I don’t have to buy these magazines any more.) In my opinion just keep it simple and to the point, it is something the major magazines lacked, annoyingly they keep blabbing on about rubbish sometimes.
Any ways about the Civic. What a great car it drives great and looks great. I hope Honda Australia brings the sedan, because it looks better and apparently drives a bit better as well.
No hard feelings just my opinion, on a few little tweaks to make a great website more “sophisticated”.
“Every so often your car reviews always seem to have a controversial statement” God I so glad they do,I want some ones real opinion of a drive not some worn out jerno thats so bored in what he now does its more of a script than a write up. Great write up Paul ! Sounds like a fun affordable drive.
Nik, Your comments are welcome but I would stake myself in an EVO 1X to “outhandle” every car you have named above on a relatively short track. The Porsche would be the standard Carrera – oh what the heck, throw in the Carrera S if you like.
Err…Nik.
How’s about you hop into an AWD before you make such sweeping and incorrect statements.
AWD vehicles do have more grip around corners due to available power having more avenues of escape. As such, an AWD can carry more speed out of a corner in comparison to a RWD/FWD.
That’s why the RS 4 eats an M3 through corners.
Get your facts straight champ.
tony I am sure you would kick some butt in the EVO IX.
After reading the article again and reading my comment. I think I have misunderstood Paul’s intentions. My bad :(
I would just like to say there should be more respect out there for FWD chassis. AWDs are great but also cost more than FWD. My ‘anger’ mainly comes from reading the Mazda Performance Day review on CarAdvice. I attend the Sydney Mazda Perfomrance Day and the MPS3 was not as bad as it was portrayed. It is great hot hatch, it cost a lot less than a RX-8 and MPS6(in my opinion the worst car there) and also easily out grunts a MX-5. Also the “Suprisingly it handles well for a FWD” statement it was in the XR4, Tiburon, Civic Type-R etc. review. It shouldn’t be a suprise as we have seen lately with a huge wave of front drive hot hatches, these cars can handle! Maybe not as well as your WRX, EVO, Elise, M3, Porsche but they come at a significantly lower price tag as well.
Bavarian Missile I am so glad that everyone has a right to their opinion and I greatly respect the opinion of all the writers at CarAdvice. Keep up the good work!!!
I don’t want this discussion forum about the Civic Type-R to be ’spamed’ with irrelevant comments so this is my last irrelevant post.
We should have also had the earlier Civic Type-R. Also a great looking Honda screamer. But it seems that Honda AUS missed the boat with its Hot Hatch. A few years back at the Sydney Motor Show I asked why the Gen 7 Civic Type-R wasn’t being imported and the reply was it was too pricey and there was no market for it in AUS. Well what a rude shock Honda AUS must have got with the current hot hatch madness.
Benjie my facts are right. You are right in saying that an AWD has more grip coming out of the corner. But it does not mean that it has better mid-corner grip. Lateral Gs are what I’m talking about and the M3, Elise(1.4G), Porsche,and especially F1 cars (which can pull up to for 4G) have more mid corner grip and fell more planted and none of them are AWD. AWD will give you good straight line grip not necessarily the best cornering grip. A lot of cheap FWD can generate huge lateral Gs including the Civic Type-R, thats what I am trying to say here.
geez, you guys at CarAdvice must have backs of steel of something! I also to the review of the c30(great car) but you said that you liked the suspension but every other car reviewer begged to differ and same with the civic type r!! still love you proper,normal person.no bulls**t reviews!
I’m pretty sure you can thank the handling of F1 cars not to the drivetrain but the massive aerofoils creating a huge downforce :)
Looks great… but looks like a computer geek virgin designed it for the techno street racers out there. Dare say it will look much better in the flesh?
I agree with Nik on his comments on AWDs, because people always think that they “handle” great, where in actual fact its just that they have better powerdown grip. Most AWDs rerquire a slow in fast out approach when attacking a corner, because they have very similar front rear weight distribution to FWDs, which have more weight over the front axle as apposed to a RWD or mid-engined RWD which have more even weight distribution. Also, cars like WRXs, Evos etc are based on family sedans (bigger, taller, heavier) and require sophisticated technology such as ACD, AYC to make them really “handle”. Take this technology away they are just like a standard WRX which has no more cornering speed, in fact less than say an Integra Type R or MX5, RX8, 350z etc.
In adverse conditions however such as dirt, gravel, snow, or rain its a could be a different matter but we are not talking rallying here.
Ive had my 07 civic type r for a few months now and im loving every bit of it. It can be too much of a head turner sometimes and thats no good when u live in a dodgy suburb. Some dude even engraved his initials onto my driver’s side door! i also have a number plate with my name on it and these days everyone is shouting out ‘hey ed!’ to me when im cruising around minding my own business. never happened with my old car. so yeah, thats the only down-side i have to owning one of these. having a car that looks like a friggin space ship can attract the wrong type of attention. i thought silver was a more discrete colour than red but i realised silver actually looks better!
“geez, you guys at CarAdvice must have backs of steel of something! I also to the review of the c30(great car) but you said that you liked the suspension but every other car reviewer begged to differ and same with the civic type r!! still love you proper,normal person.no bulls**t reviews!”
his comment on the suspension here was spot on to me. the type of people who are interested in this kind of car dont mind a bit of firm suspension if it means reduced bodyroll. someone complaining about the suspension on the type r being too hard is the same as complaining about hyundai accents not being fast enough
but yes the type r isnt good on bumpy roads. riding over normal bumps feels like riding over pot-holes. and riding over pot-holes feels like… well, lets just say that when i hit my first pot-hole i quickly parked it on the side and got out the car to inspect the car for damage. my last car was a family car so obviously its taken me a while to get used to firm suspension. now that im used to it, its all good. gonna take it to the track soon
lol all u people do on this thing is fight fight fight :D… just leave ur thoughts on the car and go LOL… anyway from the back it look like the new WRX so i dunno who copied who LOL
In general, the Civic Type R 2007 is a piece of RUBBISH!!
Honda created the worse racing vehicle ever.
Bullshxting it’s performance…..0-100km in 6.6secs which is IMPOSSIBLE to reach. I’d say the car reach 100km in slighly less than 8secs (7.x s).
The back of the car simply looks ugly. The front looks Okay. However, the interior looks awesome. I guess this is the only bit I’d say YES to the car.
The funniest thing was my friend got rid of the car after owning it for 10 days. Thumb down to this piece of crap.
The above is my OWN personaly opinion ONLY.
God of Racer:
I think you mate needs some driving lessons (no offense intended here). I’m no racing driver however I have had my baby at 6.7sec to 100 so im not sure what hes doing or if you had some heavy passengers :P Coming from a 2002 Integra ,this car had a lot riding on it and I feel its delivered all of my expectations.
lol, anyone who buys a civic type R in the pursuit of a fast 0-100 time is a bit dumb. the turbo oppositions do the job better.
you have simply missed the point behind the car. many magazines rate it at number one in its class
awww that sucks, so it only comes in manual aye? any hope for it bein auto?
I agree with the ones stating that AWDs do not nessicarely have better cornering attributes opposed to FWD or RWD, an AWD will still suffer from understeer as FWDs do and with limited lift-off oversteer due to down-power at the front end an understeering situation is harder to compensate for. the ability to hold line inturn achieving lateral G’s is largely a result of, as mentioned before, chassis tuning and suspension/tyre setup. An awd will almost always have a greater rolling drag and additional weight hence using more fuel and having more engine-to-road power loss. an evo or wrx will out corner most other cars due to high exit levels of grip and the complex suspension setups. FWDs offer very predictable cornering attributes and RWDs offer the ability to hold speed in the event of a break of traction. If anyone dissagrees with me please let me know and give a reason. And who the F*uck wants this car in auto…y are people like you born, its like scuba diving in a submarine or trying to be a unique train driver. get an accord if u want an auto.
I have found the TYPE R to be a Rocket! As a all round package this vehicle eats eights and is worthy of a future cult following (limited Oz release), considering its price tag, nothing like it on the roads today, I would go as far as saying AHEAD OF ITS TIME! Warning: You seriously have to be a good driver to use this weapon as its design intends. keep it over 5200rpm!!!!
I have got this baby for a few months now too… what can i say… but f**ken awesome!!
of course the car is not for everyone… it wasn’t intended to be in the first place. but if you’re in doubt, go for a test drive at your local dealer… take it for spin.. keep it above 5000rpm… and you’ll find out what the rest of us is talking about.
**cheeky smiles guaranteed**
WHY WAS MY COMMENTS REGARDING MY TYPE R REMOVED, IT WAS ONLY POSTED YESTERDAY
honda have certainly made this car to lead the automotive industry to an insight of the future. i believe honda are well ahead of time and it shows through the never ever advancing of the vtec technology and also never comprimising anything else. Dude with a Type R, your one lucky bloke. keep revving :)
I would just like some comments on the claimed 0-100 time of 6.6 sec.
I am seriously considering this car; love the looks. But I’ve read two road test recently that claim the 0-100 times to be 7.8 & 8.0 sec not 6.6 sec. Can anyone confirm that the 6.6 sec is correct?
This car is just a piece of fine crafted jewel. It might not be the best racing car on the road, but it is never the intent of Honda when they were building it. Even before this car was launched, they have been talking about this is more for those grown up loyal Honda fans on the older Type R Civic/Integra. Therefore the rawness has been tuned down (like the new WRX), but the quality has been improved as well as the layout for interior.
Honda fans would know this, that Honda has its own philsophy when making cars, and they all have their own character. For example, they don’t put Turbo in MOST of their cars, (except some NSX? people please correct me on this), and it makes their cars more ‘balanced’ to my likings.
If you want to compare this car, try smth like Golf GTI, which you might end up paying more with the options.
Hi guys! Since always i liked honda cars and for a good reason. I had a 2003 model integra type r, which i was smashing every day until i kilded it. Than i bought civic type r and i was smashing it again but this car wansnt as good as integra. I was a bit disapointed. None the less it is a weapon. This cars are for the tracks not city, because you have to rev it up to the hevens, so those who want hot hatch to go 0-100 in under 7 go for turboed car. Civic type r to sprint to 100kmh in 6.6, no chance, forget it, it will sprint in 7.6 and if you are a good driver you might get it under 7.4 sec.
Now im down to 1 point on my licence, that is because to feal the thrill of it you have to drive above 80kmh. So i decided to get rid of civic and buy something with more torque to give me still a thril of performance, an instant snap of power in and around the city. So i bought holden astra hsv vxr.
VXR EATS civic type r. The acceleration in 2nd it is absolutley furious it will fry ur brain from 2000 to 6500 rpm all day long. The 0-100kmh? Havent yet clocked it but it is around 6.5, will let you know when i do.
By the way it will be a while because, i lost my last piont.
Anyways there will still be people with different opinions and that is good because not every car is for everyone. The civic type r is a good and fast car.
The vxr is a good and fast car.
Go around and test drive cars and find the one whitch fits you the most and f**k others opinions.
I agree with a few people here… I own the new Type R. I test drove a golf GTI, mazda 3 MPS, Golf GT, VXR. all are good in their own way but since I do about 4ookm a week i wanted creature comforts and ergonomics. The hnda seats are hard but they hold you in place and are snug fit. Simple way to find out which car is for you is to take if for a deacent test drive, all on the same day to be able to compare accurately. I don’t know any of those other hatches but I love my civic. Its the most fun to drive of the whole lot
I fell in love with the little (Tardis Effect in action)Type R and have been let down by dealers who say \”you cant test drive one,as they only import 150 per year,and there are NO demos\” I rolled up with my old Tickford AU Fairmont Ghia, which is in mint condition and was offered $9500 for a trade which was very genorous I thought,But \”\”No test drive of the Type R\”\”. I went and bought a XR5. Great car and service from Ford. ( I still really like the Type R)
For price the civic type r is the best hot hatch. Yes it is slower than a few and the 0-100 time is a bit iffy but for what you get for your money. Remember the turbo ones are more expensive. A 4 cylinder type r is a cheap car to service compared to its 6 cylinder rivals and the ones with turbos. The new Civic 2006- is slower and more refined. the 2001-2006 one is faster and miles more fun to drive with. A new type r has 4 more BHP and yet is about 100kg heavier than the old one. Do the maths. It wont do 6.6 0-100 the old one will. What other options are there.
A focus ST – turbo and expensive to run
A golg GTi – Same speed loads more money and not as reliable
Seat Leon Cupra – slower and not as reliable
Clio sport – french, enough said.
Like (but not the same) a Imprezza of a few years ago its the cheapest way to a ****ing gr8 car.
Man the back of that car looks crap. I hope the japanese sedan version comes to australia it looks heaps better
The claimed 0-100km/h is damn near impossible to achieve. The styling is a bit to toy-ish and doesn’t suit many buyers IMO.
If you want a great drivers car I would skip this car and get the integra type R even if it’s a old car now.
If you want speed and acceleration get a turbo, it’s very pitiful seeing guys revving the sh*T out of their hondas at the lights only for me to leave them with gear changes at only 4500-5000rpm.
Keep trying I say.