HONDA CIVIC Type R

IS IT ABOUT TIME THE FN2 TYPE R SHARED THE LOVE?

- ANDY ENRIGHT

WERE YOU TO believe everything you read on the internet, you'd know that this is the worst Civic Type R that Honda ever built. The FN2 has no diff, no torque and no independent rear suspension. It's around 100kg heavier than its predecessor, the breadvan-shaped EP3, with no added power. "It just doesn't feel that quick," said Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, adding "all the poise and controllability that you used to get in the old car is just sort of... gone". Wheels threw the FN2 Type R into two big sports car tests. It came last at the 2008 Handling Olympics and was slowest around Haunted Hills in a hot hatch megatest in March 2011.

So what went wrong? And why is this car even here when it's clearly the runt of the CTR litter? Hindsight and perspective - those two luxuries we are now afforded - frame this Civic in a very different light. It's the last of the normally aspirated screamers, which explains why it was slower around Haunted Hills (the clue is in the name) than its torque-rich turbocharged brethren. So while its 193Nm is less than you'd get in your holiday hire Hyundai i30 (and less than half the quota of a current Civic Type R), there are a number of compensations that we once took for granted. Things that we dearly miss today.

Try finding a modern hot hatch with a characterful engine (a barrage of manufactured exhaust pops or dual-clutch tromboning doesn't count). Once you've done that, refine your search further by finding one with a beautiful manual gearbox. I'll save you some time. That car doesn't exist. Granted, a pair of what some may view as anachronisms don't confer worthiness in and of themselves, but there's more to the Civic.