What Makes The Honda’s Type R So Great
A Type R is a specific performance specification Honda utilizes for a select few enthusiast cars, such as the Civic Type R. Type Rs are the top-spec performance Honda machines.
Who Started the Type R Designation?
The first Type R was the brainchild of Honda’s Special Projects Development Manager, Shigeru Uehara. After helping birth the NSX, Uehara was tasked with honing the already sharp supercar into something more. The project, according to Uehara, started with a single goal: “The role of the Type R is to provide drivers who love sports driving.” The result of that goal was the NSX-R.
The 1992 Honda NSX-R was the first to adopt the R name. A japanese domestic market-only (JDM) car, it was sold until 1995.
The first Type R got suspension upgrades, aerodynamic changes, bigger tires, and saw drastic weight-reduction thanks to Honda’s engineers pulling the car’s audio system, HVAC, sound-deadening, and electric windows. The resulting car was a hit and remains a legend to this day.
What Models Currently Feature the Type R Designation?
There’s currently only one Honda product that features the Type R designation, and that’s the outgoing 10th-generation Civic.
The current Civic Type R is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that puts out a claimed 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. That performance is sent to the front wheels, and the front wheels alone, via a 6-speed manual transmission and wildly tricky front differential that eliminates torque steer completely.
This Civic Type R also has the most drastic and polarizing styling of any Type R ever, with loads of aerodynamic flourishes, canards, wings, intakes, big wheels, fender flares, and a three-port central exit exhaust.
What Are Past Type R Models?
- The NSX-R was the progenitor of the Type R species.
- There were two generations of Integra Type R, the DC2 and DC5 generations.
- The Accord Type R was only available during the car’s sixth generation.
- A total of five generations of the Civic Type R.
How Much Does a New Civic Type R Cost?
Too much!
