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.

Thoughts on the Audi S1

I have titled this post with the word "thoughts" because I have not actually driven the Audi S1, but that doesn't prevent me from reviewing it. Oh no.

Audi has been quite busy when it comes to releasing hot versions of it's cars. Namely the horsepower battle between the Audi RS3 and the Mercedes A45 AMG has been especially entertaining. With this evidence Audi definitely has a fixation on the HP figure. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that the A1's hot version, the S1, is the most powerful hatchback of this size. The engine bay has been crammed with a 2.0 litre 4-cylinder turbocharged power plant. It develops a mighty 231 horsepower which in true Audi S-car fashion is transferred to the road through Audi's Quattro four wheel drive system.

Audi S1 (2015) in Vegas yellow with Quattro exterior styling pack

 This sounds excellent, but it has caused some problems. Because no other A1 has Quattro 4-wheel drive the entire rear needed to be remodeled so that all the mechanical components required would fit. As a result the load space of the S1 is smaller than that of a normal A1. So if the key word you use when buying a car is "practical" then you're in the wrong market. Even though Audi has gone to great lengths to give the S1 a Quattro layout, I don't think it was altogether necessary. This is proven by the fact that in most drive modes the S1 is almost completely front wheel drive. At maximum, 50% of the power will be sent to the rear wheels and even this happens at rare occasions.

This is the 5-door Sportback version.

It even says S1 on the break calipers.

Then we come to my largest complaint about this car, you guessed it, the price. Here in my country the price is a breathtaking 45 000€ and thousand euros more for the 5-door Sportback model. If you want it to look different with Quattro styling cues and other small features the price will be around
50 000€. That is the same as a brand new VW Golf GTI, and it just isn't worth it. The S1's largest competitor the Mini Cooper John Cooper Works is 5000€ cheaper and is equally as powerful. And I can say this with certainty that the Mini is probably more fun and lively to drive than the Audi.

That's way too many exhaust pipes and just makes the car look like it's trying too hard.

The Audi S1 is certainly a hot piece of kit. But I feel it is too much. Not only the price but also the trick Quattro system. A hot hatchback should be all about fun and on the face of it the Audi S1 seems to take itself too seriously.

An hour of fun

Hot hatchbacks, these elusive machines hard to single out from a crowd of similar looking vehicles without a trained eye. This month I had the pleasure of driving the hot hatch defining machine.

The newest generation Volkswagen Golf GTI is the car in question. The German manufacturer started the journey of the GTI way back in the 1970's during the first oil crisis. These small and nimble funboxes were created to liven up the grey days of the hard working man, and almost 40 years later, liven up my damp January afternoon.

The Mk7 Golf is all in all a great improvement from its predecessor the Mk6. It's got better engines, bigger interior and somehow it's also lost some weight by being over 50 kg lighter. All this is mighty impressive. But let us leave those figures to the boring committee and focus on the new GTI.

As the previous Golf GTI, it has a 2.0 litre turbocharged power plant driving the front wheels. But with a small increase in power from 210 to 220 horsepower. That isn't much, but the other important force making the car move forward, torque, has gone up from 280 to 350nm which is much. This propels the GTI from 0-100k/h in 6.5 seconds and top out at 245k/h in sixth gear.

There is the traditional red stripe, that the Mk7 Golf needed.

 On the subject on gears, the car I drove had the optional 6-speed DSG, which is indeed a work of German engineering magic, it's brilliant! In hard acceleration it's brutally fast but sophisticated and in normal cruising it's absolutely seamless. The gearbox itself feels like it is a mix of two, as a hot hatchback, a mix of practicality and sports car fun. I tested this by driving 50k/h with 5th gear and gave it a little squeeze on the throttle. The gearbox didn't panic and immediately kick down to 3rd, instead it let the immense torque from the engine care for the small 'overtake-like' acceleration.

Horrible day and a great car makes a great day.

 Inside the new Golf GTI then. Let's not faff about, it's as pleasant as being inside a well build performance computer. Everything important is at hand, lavished with many toys - and best of all - makes a satisfying hum, which reminds you of the power underneath. The seats are sporty but not small or uncomfortable, plastics are of extremely high quality (as is expected) and did I mention the noise. Only complaint I have about this car is the on board computer touch screen thing. It's something a driver should touch on the move. The screen is a bit too low down which takes your eyes off the road and it controls far too many things.

And there's the screen that should only be operated while stationary.

But the important thing is the new Golf GTI is fantastic. It was my first drive in a real hot hatch with a DSG flappy-paddel gearbox (which may be obvious). But all I can say is, bring me the VW Golf R. I want more.

The drving position is excelent, and best of all you can't see the upholstery while sitting on it.

Making it better

In the post titled "The hottest wasp" I wrote about my favourite new hot hatch the Ford Fiesta ST. And to spice the ST up further, a company called Mountune got their hands on the 1.6 ecoboost and gave it a little more... well... boost.

Where the standard ST has 180 hp the Mountune Performance pack buffs it up to a meaty 215 hp. Add to that a sound that's described as a "rally noise from the 60's". And even the torque figure is up from 290Nm to 320Nm. These are all great things! I can not see these making the brilliant Fiesta ST any worse.
And to top it all off this Performance pack called MP215 is only around 800€ and the fitting takes only an hour. So that in my books is the most value 800€ you're aver going to spend.

It's supposed to be lower than the normal ST but i don't see it.

To tell the knowing motorists that you've made the best decision of your life.  

And this is the normal ST. It looks better than many super cars. 

The hottest wasp

Most (probably all) of the cars i write about on here I have never driven and probably never will. But this time it will be different.
Because I've got the pleasure to drive the new Ford Fiesta ST. Technical stuff first. It's got a 1.6 litre turbo with a nice 180 hp going through the front wheels in a typical hot hatch fashion. It's got an unexpected amount of torque as well, which took me by surprise. It felt like it had a much bigger engine what it really had when you overtook someone at say 60 kph (40 mph). When it was a sporty version of a normal car I was afraid that it would be a bit difficult to get used to with the clutch and so on. But instead it was very easy and you felt immediately right at home.
Since I have no experience of other hot hatches I can't say for certain that this is the one to buy. This is a very tough market. But I have to say that all the positives I've heard/read about the Fiesta ST is completely true. It most certainly is the hottest wasp I've ever driven.

And did I mention, it looks fantastic!

It's lowered by 15 mm to enhance that eager look.

And this is the one that I drove. It was an experience indeed.

Stick to European

There is a car i'd like to briefly talk about. It's the Dodge Caliber SRT-4. I saw two of them today, which is unusual in this part of the world. But that's not the point. The point is that it is two too many. As a concept the 'sporty' Caliber sounds intriguing. It has a 2.4 litre turbocharged four cylinder engine developing 295 hp, something that is too much for some American V8's. So it sounds all European and/or Japanese, or to put it in a single word, civilized.

It is essentially a hot hatch set to compete with the Golf GTI and so on. But I don't count it as a hot hatch because a hot hatch is supposed to be practical, fun, and sophisticated. It should be good at everything. And i bet you any money that the SRT-4 isn't. It is fast in a straight line though as an American car should, 0-100 kph in around 6 seconds. But that's not fast enough. It should be so fast that it would become blurry to spectators. Because the looks are so childish and vulgar at the same time that it's impossible to comprehend what kind of person thinks that the SRT-4 looks good enough to be seen in, unless you're twelve. And get this, it's front-wheel drive. It even has VVT (Variable Valve Timing) which Dodge say is a 'newer' technology (remember this is in the year 2008). Toyota used VVT in it's cars for the first time in 1992. I'm sorry. If this is the'newer' technology Dodge is proud about we should be worried.

So an American car with certainly an American body, with a Japanese engine (sort of), with front-wheel drive and with out-dated technology. Thankfully this hasn't caught on. 

I know this is a car that was new in 2008 and production stopped in 2009 and that this review/rant is late. But this blog wasn't up then and I had to come up with something to write.

The scoops and vents don't make the car faster or cooler.

It sure looks clumpy for a hot hatch. I do like the single exhaust pipe though.

Instead of a german GTI...?

The topic on hot hatches has been running hot (no pun intended) for the whole year so far. And it's going to get even hotter with a new hot hatch from France.

VW made the initials GTI famous with the Golf GTI in 1976. And eight years later the GTI badge got even more fame with the arrival of the Peugeot 205 GTi. Every car enthusiast with a budget had to have a go in a GTI because the biword for it was FUN. And now there are two new GTI's on the market. The VW Golf GTI mark VII and the Peugeot 208 GTi.

I'm more excited about the new 208 GTi because we know there's going to be a new GTI with a new Golf but it's always exciting when Peugeot makes a GTi even more so when the last one - the 207 - didn't have a GTi version. And since the one before that - the 206 GTi - didn't really stand up to the original 205 GTi. So what about the new one then? Firstly i have to say it looks great and kind of quirky. Which is just the right look for a hot french car. As for the engine. It has a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine developing 200 hp, which is just the right amount. It sure has gone a long way from the original 1.6 litre 105 hp naturally aspirated engine of the 205 GTi.

I sure hope this car has what it takes to take on the new hot VW Polo and it's other rivals, because I think it has the charm of an underdog.

I give you the Peugeot 208 GTi

Peugeot 208 GTi rear view

It looks like you're going to hit your left knee on the bottom of the steering wheel
every time you go for a gear change. I hope that's the case.

The GTi badge placed where it was on the original 205 GTi. Nice touch.

And the newest german GTI just for formalities