charles
Adrian PatonJeremy Clarkson gives the new Honda Civic Type R a big thumbs-down
May 28th 2007 04:49
Click on image for hi-res version
Motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame has given the new Honda Civic Type R a big-thumbs down in his weekly column for the UK Sunday Times.
While he freely admits to being a fan of the hi-revving nature of the Honda VTEC mills, he was less than impressed with Honda's latest offering in the European Domestic Market.
He had a little rant about the difficulty in adjusting the bucket seats, the rear spoiler that means you cannot see the car behind, the engine (carried over from the previous model) that offers no extra oomph from the previous "EP3" version, and finally, the largely unforgiving suspension.
"Engine? Well what they’ve done is taken the 198bhp unit from the old Civic and popped it, pretty much unchanged, into the new one. That, of course, would be fine if the new one weighed the same as the old one, but it doesn’t. It weighs a whole lot more.
Cunningly, Honda has tried to mask this lack of oomph by fitting the new Type R with a suspension system that, plainly, is made out of bricks. Even my wife, who likes hard-riding cars and thinks the Subaru Impreza is “a bit soft”, was alarmed by the way the Honda leapt and crashed down the road."
Made out of bricks - ouch!
He adds: "I think it’s a disgrace. I don’t care what it’s like on a track, or when it’s doing handbrake turns in a supermarket car park: on a normal road, on a normal day, the ride quality is completely unacceptable. Anyone whose body is held together with a skeleton is going to come home every night in several agonising pieces."
Given this road-test was conducted on the comparatively forgiving B-roads in the UK, one must wonder how this model would fare on Sydney roads, for instance, when most customers take delivery sometime in July.
Chiropractors will be rubbing their hands together with glee - either that, or Mr. Clarkson has gone soft.
Read the full article here.
[Source: Sunday Times]
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Comment by R Fan
Comment by charles
ZCars
Ponderous
In comparison with other hot hatches on the market, the Civic Type R stands out because of the way it sacrifices a certain degree of comfort for great handling and prospective buyers will be all for it.
The Type R variants have always been focussed with a relatively unforgiving suspension. But on that right stretch of road, it's absolute heaven.
Charles.
Comment by Sy
Having been a CTR lover for many years now, I simply love the balls-out nature of the old one, yes it felt a bit stripped down and devoid of lots of creature comforts, but it offers immense driver pleasure. Handling is great, immediacy of power, good breaking and an awesome gearbox, I still smile with my current 06 plate every time i drive it!
I can see exactly where JC is coming from with his argument on the new one. The engine are gearbox are great yes, but they need to offer more oomph to compete now with the Focus and Mazda MPS. Honda specifically designed the new one to be easier to live with and all JCs complaints are about this. The seats are annoying, the rear spoiler blocks the view and the ride is just too bad for every day use.
Its a car which sits in the middle between 2 classes as being too difficult to live with as an every day hatchback car, but not quite powerful enough to catch the newer hot hatches.
Comment by charles
ZCars
Ponderous
I'm a big fan of the CTR as well. Which model do you own - EK9 or EP3R?
Comment by Drove it
Useless power range, shocking torque steer under full throttle.
suspension that bounces and shakes even on a flat road.
Looks great new, that's it.
After a couple of years most of it's bolts would have fallen off.
Chyropractors dream car.
Comment by Honeycomb
Comment by charles
ZCars
Ponderous
Did this happen in Australia?