There’s real joy in conducting a naturally aspirated engine of this quality. Where other performance engines strain and grit their teeth during the struggle to provide maximum performance, the i-VTEC motor feels happiest when you’re driving the trousers off it. Below the cam changeover it sounds as thin as ever, but open it up and it will sing all day long in the thick of its broad power band.
The problem for Honda is the increasing weight of cars in this segment; the Type R weighs 1338kg on our scales. Weight needs torque to get it moving – a commodity that’s in short supply in the Civic – and although there’s a noticeably better spread of pulling power at lower revs than in the previous Type R, it’s hardly a fireball.
Our 0-60mph time of 7.4sec should be viewed in the context of the wet track on which it was recorded, but the 6.6sec time quoted by Honda belies the feel of the car. Unless you’re right at the top of the rev range, it never seems that quick.
Take 50-70mph in fourth gear for example. In a Focus ST you’ll dispatch it in 4.0sec. In the Honda it takes 5.3sec, so you’ll need to shift to third in search of a 3.7sec time to stay with the Ford.
In some ways, Honda has been its own worst enemy in trying to smooth the engine’s power delivery. Now that the exaggerated sensation of the 2.0-litre four coming on cam has been diminished, the excitement of accessing the promised land felt in the old car is less.
The gearchange, meanwhile, is now better than ever, with a fabulous flick of the wrist connecting each ratio.
With 300mm ventilated discs on the front wheels, and 260mm solid discs at the rear, you’d expect the Type R to stop convincingly, and it does. Better still, there’s a well-judged feel to the pedal.
You don’t have to drive the Type R far to realise that the biggest failing of the old car – its artificial and glutinous power steering – has been dramatically improved, too. It is now sensibly weighted and engagingly sporty, if short on genuine feel.