CIVIC RECEPTION

The all-new FL5-gen Civic Type R is here, and expectations are sky-high. Waiting for it are the rapid and capable Golf and Audi RS3 and the brilliant Hyundai i30 N

- JOHN BARKER

IT'S DAY ONE, WE'VE BARELY driven the cars, and yet there's a growing feeling of inevitability about this test. We've set up our weighing equipment in one of the PalmerSport garages at the Bedford Autodrome, just next door to the evo office, and editorial assistant Sam Jenkins is running the test cars back and forth. When he arrives with the new Civic Type R he says: 'Wow... that feels like a hot hatch made by Porsche!'

Colour me unsurprised. The feel of the major controls in the previous FK8 model was superb and in our first drive of the new FL5 in the last issue, Dickie Meaden concluded that Honda's obsession with the incremental improvement of everything driver-centric had delivered again. He liked the looks, too. I was able to forgive the FK8's styling because of the way it drove, but for Dickie and a chunk of potential customers it was a deal-breaker.

This new model appears wider and lower but crucially less overblown visually, its 'floating' rear spoiler more subtle and the detailing less riotous and gratuitous. It's also better in the metal than pictures, sitting very nicely on its wide tracks, fat wheels and tyres filling its bespoke, BMW M2-like bulging arches. The results of the weigh-in are a surprise. Not that the Audi RS3 saloon is the heaviest of the group at 1597kg with the Volkswagen Golf R '20 Years' edition next on 1529kg, but that the Honda, despite its size, is lighter than the Hyundai, the i30 N 1465kg and the Type R 1437kg. The last FK8 we weighed was 1409kg.