DRIVEN Type R sets benchmark

New model refines the formula of the last generation to create the ultimate everyday performance car

- Steve Sutcliffe

• First test of Honda's mega hot hatch
• It's pricey, but well worth the £47k cost

DESPITE the rabid anticipation surrounding the new A price tag Honda has attached to it, the car itself contains surprisingly few all-new components when compared with the model it replaces. Yes, it has a new bodyshell that's 15 per cent stiffer than before (which is a great starting point), but its engine and gearbox are essentially the same as in the car it replaces, as are its steering, brakes and suspension.

And yet the overall result is a hot hatchback that once again rewrites the rulebook when it comes to front-wheel drive dynamics. It is, quite simply, the best hot hatchback there has ever been. In places, by quite some margin.

How? Well, what Honda has done with the Type R this time is clever - and quite unusual. Rather than spending their time and money developing a range of brand-new components, Honda's engineers have instead evolved what they already knew worked rather well on the existing Type R, fine-tuning them to a level that would never have been possible had they started from scratch.

MATURE - Exterior and interior design have come of age, yet hot Honda's road and track manners are as fun as ever

On the one hand, you could argue that the budget wouldn't have allowed them to develop an all-new powertrain in the first place, so they had no option but to work on what they already had. On the other hand, few manufacturers would have the confidence to allow their engineers to spend four years essentially honing a car that was already in a class of one. But that's precisely what Honda has done in this instance.