Test drive: Honda Civic Type R

I have added a new hot hatchback to my, patent pending, 'I've driven that' - collection. It as it turns out is also the second most powerful car that you can drive at the Auto 2016 event.

The EP3 Honda Civic Type R is an iconic hot hatchback revered for it's brilliant chassis, fun handling characteristics and tuning possibilities. But the third generation was not loved all that much. Honda has tried to rectify that with the latest available model the fourth generation.

Honda Civic Type R in championship white

First lets kick off with the - there's no other word for it - insane styling. It looks ready modified with

Why? Just why

wheel-arches that look as they'd been borrowed from another car and spoilers. Big, big spoilers. The one on the boot is so large that when the car rolled in to the test drive car area that is how I recognized it. It was like a shark fin on top of car roofs. I find the styling stupid and a bit embarrassing. In my view a hot hatchback should be so discrete that only car bores will be able to notice it. This gathers attention as much as a cosplayer walking in costume through a train station.

The wing is so tall you can't see it in the rear-view mirror.

When falling into the harsh semi-racing seats, and I mean falling they're much lower down than you'd think, you find yourself in a Honda with a button that says +R. This button changes the lighting and instruments to red. It's obviously the race button. That is all you need to know about this car. No complicated computer to go into where to choose gearbox, suspension or steering settings.

Four tailpipes in a hot hatchback is too many. You too Audi, two is enough.

The Civic Type R is not meant for anyone with backache. It reacts with shakes and rattles to every little bump. Turning off the +R function evens out the ride a tad but not enough. It appears this chassis is not meant for anything else than race tracks. The steering confirms that. It's weighty and precise, not much lock is needed to make a sharp turn. The driving sensation is enhanced by the manual gearbox. A manual in a high performance hatchback! Oh joy. It's just as sharp and precise as one would like it. Short throws and a close proximity to the steering wheel aids the driver to make quicker shifts.

What? Do you want to know the speed at which you're traveling

What makes a hot hatchback is its engine. The fourth generation Civic Type R has a 2.0 litre turbo VTEC developing 310 horsepower. This goes through the front wheels which it actually handles rather well. On hard acceleration it tracks straight with minimal torque steer. Turbo lag was quite absent as well, but I think that was down to the manual gearbox which meant I always kept it at higher than normal revs. Finally the noise. Despite the tuning look of the exhausts it sounded real. No extra burble, crackle or bang only pure vtec kicked in yo.

I wouldn't buy this car purely on the looks. I can understand the track ready look because it feels like it would be very capable at pounding round a few circuits. Many others have also been repelled by the look of this car since the one I drove is the first I've seen on the road. Subtle hot hatchbacks are the way to go.

Test drive: Jaguar F-Type R coupé

Alright so, the Auto2016 event started off with a bang for my part at least. Instead of starting the weekend off cautiously I decided to dive straight to shark infested waters by driving the most expensive and most powerful car available the Jaguar F-Type R.

Jaguar F-Type R in a special Jaguar Experience livery

 I entered the large area where the test drive cars are kept with anxiety and general uneasiness. I was among one of the first to drive this thing. It is worth over 200 000 euros, what if i bin it? What if some orangutan in a Renault drives into me? Then there wouldn't be any F-Type for the rest to drive around in. I entered the car as gracefully as I could and started the engine in what turned to be a very echoey room. During the test drive I was accompanied by a nice woman wearing a discrete Jaguar jumper, because no one is allowed to drive off alone in any of the test drive cars. The lady showed me where to open the flaps on the exhaust, I gave the engine a 'gentle' warmup just to make sure the Jag got everybody's attention and then drove off.

The four tail pipes emit a sound only made by a furious deity.

The general numbness, though, went away quickly when I entered the outside world. The F-Type R in normal city traffic is actually not scary at all. It's extremely easy to maneuver and the visibility, all though not great, is sufficient enough for you to sense the corners of the car. The test drive route for the event is around 20 minutes and exciting at all. Mostly in the city a bit of motorway acceleration and that's it. But the F-Type made the route very exciting indeed.

The suspension is not set up for comfort

When applying the throttle for some big speed it punches through the air and waves and buildings and anything else really, with an absolutely brutal V8 soundtrack. The general numbness that existed in my legs before the test drive returned. The acceleration is something I've never experienced before. I'd love to compare the acceleration and the sensation of speed to something else but truth be told, this is by far the fastest most powerful car I've ever driven. Only words that come to mind are holy sh*t I need to drive this on an autobahn and try again.

I apologize for the bad picture, my hands were shaking

The car is an absolute beast when it wants to be and in dynamic mode it is constantly rattling the cage door wanting to be freed. It feels very normal when you're not feeling playful but no one is ever going to drive this car normally. It's a complete animal with a massive character wrapped in a handsome and muscular suit, that can burble the alphabet if it wanted to on the overrun.
I honestly cannot be objective with reviewing this car, but then again I'm not a real journalist.



Specs: The Jaguar F-Type coupé has a supercharged 550 horsepower V8. Power delivered through a ZF eight speed gearbox to the rear wheels or all four wheels (test car had AWD).

Auto 2016 Car Show

This weekend in Helsinki, Finland there will be held a car show called Auto 2016. It won't showcase concepts that may or may not enter production in the year 2028 but instead new and relevant cars that already are or will enter the showrooms in the near future.

I predict the glamour and prestige of Paris or Tokyo motor show will be absent as well but this car show has a special niche that I have never come across. There will be over 100 cars that you will be able to test drive. You're not anymore restricted to just look and talk about the cars on display. Hurray!

Obviously the organisers of the event and importers of the cars cannot just give you the keys to any flagship model from their selection. This means most of the cars will represent what I call the buying with the brain sector. That mostly means small hatchbacks, economical SUVs and well, other boring every day greywackes.

But it's not all bad. Some test drive cars are fully loaded such as the latest Civic TypeR and VW Golf R variant. But certainly the highlight will be when I place my right foot on the throttle pedal of the Jaguar F-type R. Yes, indeed, any ham-fisted lead-footed lunatic with a driver's license can this weekend step out from the virtual world of Forza Horizon 3 and drive a 550 horsepower super cat in the real world. That's some serious trust the local Jaguar importers have on this nation which invented the Scandinavian flick.

Anyhow. This weekend will be filled a lot of driving in very different cars ranging from the Mazda 2 to Mercedes GLC. Probably all the test drives and opinions on cars that are only on the floor will end up on this blog. That's a lot of content.

Vision Gran Turismo: Mazda LM55

Since really nothing is happening in the car world at the moment, apart from the new 5-series being revealed. Let us revisit the world of Gran Turismo 6 and its Vision project. A project that lost its wings quite abruptly around a year ago.

Mazda LM55 in some sort of GT6 green

Anyhow, here's Mazda's contribution to the Vision Gran Turismo project the LM55. It's quite an unusual VGT concept since it is more of an homage to an earlier Mazda. You guessed it, the Le Mans winning 787B. All the other concepts so far have been legitimate new models which illustrate the future design direction of the manufacturer in question. And with that the manufacturers have tried to design road-going track-monsters such as the BMW and Mitsubishi concepts. Which incidentally today look like the BMW M2 and the Mitsubishi GT-PHEV concept revealed this year at the Paris motor show.

Hunting down the next Audi, Toyota and Porsche

The Mazda LM55 is a straight up Le Mans racer, which is immediately apparent by its appearance. For a body sculpted by wind tunnel and maths it looks quite elegant and striking. To the styling Mazda has adopted the Kodo philosophy which they also use in their road cars. I like Mazda's overall road car design, if they could bring it to the racetracks I'd be in the grandstands sporting a Mazda cap that's for sure. Great styling cues which also have an engineering purpose are the hollow wheel arches. You can see the suspension arm moving while going along at 340 kph on the - not so smooth - Mulsanne straight, which is a nice touch. 

Smooth purposeful lines

It is not my favourite VGT car to drive in the game. It understeers a lot, the rotary engine noise is way better on the 787B and I find the gearing a bit odd. I thought that the gearing for endurance racers should be long but on the eight speed LM55 it's stressful. An eight speed box is too much, around Circuit de la Sarthe for instance you don't really need a lower gear than third. Maybe because of that the car is very twitchy under breaking as well. Bear in mind I drive with a normal controller, which may contribute to my bad driving.

I would really like to see Mazda return to the front of prototype racing. And if it would look this good they will certainly have a fan headquarters camping outside the Dunlop curve.

Lamborghini Espada: Gandini art part 2

Since I have nothing to report from the Paris Motor Show (I wasn't there), let me present another Italian 70's sports/super car to you. Designed by the same person as the car from the previous post.

Lamborghini Espada in Rosso

The Lamborghini Espada was the most sold Lambo before the Countach. When you think most sold car remember which manufacturer we're talking about. They made and sold an overwhelming 1,217 Espadas during its ten years in production (1968-1978). This was huge for Lamborghini since they only sold a couple of hundred cars per model at that time. And for you classic car buyers, this also means that there are many Espadas out for sale today at quite a reasonable price - for a classic Lamborghini at least.

The 928 next to it looked like and SUV

As revealed in the title it was designed by one of Bertones greatest designer Marcello Gandini. The styling is sleek and... well, long. The long lines at the sides and the bonnet emphasize the length of this four-seater. Espada is Spanish and means sword. This charactarizes the cars sharp look. I just wonder if the name was invented after it was designed or the other way around. The cars other dimensions are as extreme as its length. It's under 1.2 meters high and close to 1.9 meters wide. Lamborghini had come a long way from the tractor dimensions. Some Gandini styling details are the NACA ducts on the bonnet, which I believe are functional. They better be, for the good of the engine lying beneath. 

NACA ducts give some depth to the king-size - large bonnet

The wheels are copied from the Miura

This vast car needs a powerful engine to hurl it forward. Luckily Lamborghini only makes engines with more than a few cylinders. The Espada has a version of Lambo's 3.9 litre V12 also seen in the Miura. Power output changed over the years from an initial 330 horsepower to 350 in the series II. Weirdly, for the series III the power was reduced to 325 HP. There were also ugly US-spec bumpers added to the series III which made it less desirable. That meant the series II sold the most and is the most wanted Espada today. 

The fuel filler is behind the plastic ducts

What comes to Italian supercars this may not be the most striking but it has an enormous amount of road presence. It is usable too with a large boot and two very usable backseats. Jay Leno talks about his Espada being his only car for some time. This is obviously possible only in a country where fuel prices are so low that it's almost viewed as a human right.