![APEX PREDATOR APEX PREDATOR](https://cdn.magzter.com/1343918525/1677048026/articles/4R2CTG7B31677580227911/APEX-PREDATOR.jpg)
It's been coming. Yet strangely, the moment that finally explodes the idea of hot hatches being in any way junior' arrives when I'm not behind the wheel but behind a grass verge. Stood here, trying not to cramp Luc Lacey's style as he photographs an i30 N blasting over an off-camber crest, the latest red-hot Civic nailed to its back box before they dive downhill together.
This is like something from the recent Top Gun spin-off, only ground-based in damp Middle England instead of high above the bone-dry desert of Kern County, CA. No vapour cones or sonic boom, instead beefcake bodywork and fat tyres generating a wall of roar as these not-at-all-junior cars draw in.
Then come blipped downshifts one automated, the other human-instigated before we hear those loud, nasal exhausts rumbling on overrun. The Honda’s cuts through with more waspish energy.
The two cars rocket by showing barely any lean at all, afterburners lit and breathily putting down up to 601bhp. Two front-driven hatchbacks, six-hundred-and-one brake horsepower. Crazy. But more than the numbers is the fact that this scene is so unbelievably far removed from that of an old 205 GTi cocking a wheel or a Mk3 Focus ST wagging its tail on the brakes. Aside from the odd head-banger, hot hatches of yore really were junior. But these creations? They’re more grown-up, especially the Honda, and boy do you appreciate this while witnessing a BTCC-style drive-by.
Today is our first chance to put the new Honda Civic Type R, code name FLS, up against some esteemed and carefully selected foes. Time to see just how good it really is.
THE CHALLENGERS
Denne historien er fra February 22, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.
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Denne historien er fra February 22, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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30 CARS FOR £30K
A £30k budget would buy you only one of the new cars tested in this week's mag - or any of these used dream machines.
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AUDI A6 E-TRON
Does this new electric executive car hit the spot in UK-market spec?
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Concept will lay bare the firm's plans for an entry-level electric city car
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Damien Smith
What a year for Aston Martin on the world's race tracks. By the time the Adrian Newey era officially begins for the underperforming Formula 1 team on 1 March, the competition version of his Valkyrie hypercar will have made its race debut.
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BYD ATTO 2
Chinese giant's next EV is family-minded medium SUV
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Performance sub-brand returns to spice up Nissan's electric family SUV
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The shape of things to come
Coventry Uni students competed to design a radical FCEV supercar that Riversimple will put into production by 2030. STEVE CROPLEY reports
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PORSCHE 911 DAKAR TO RETURN AS HOT HYBRID
All-roads sports car due with 534bhp and innovative T-Hybrid tech
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KGM'S NEW OWNER SPARKS OPTIMISM ABOUT UK FUTURE
“Pushing tech and design forward” after years of Ssangyong stagnation
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Cars for sale. Job lot
Bernie Ecclestone is selling this astonishing collection.