The new Honda Civic Type-R is the automaker's ticket in bringing back the Type-R badge to local showrooms. According to Honda Australia's Senior Director Lindsay Smalley, "We believe buyers are starting to look beyond stripped-out boy racer specials and petrol-guzzling V8s, turning to cars more in tune with today's times. Buyers in this sector still want cars that are sporty and fun to drive yet are more refined, comfortable and practical. It's not just all about the power. It is the whole experience and grown-up buyers understand that."
The remarks of Smalley were likened to the comments that a manufacturer would make before the unveiling of a model that lacks in refinement, fun criteria, and performance. That was the case with the little Civic, Smalley has created an impression that the halo effect of the Type R will power up Honda's desire to reach that 8 percent market share by 2010. Moreover, it can also be noted that the Type-R is the first Civic to wear the Type-R badge in the eight generations stay of the brand in Australia and at the same time it is also the first British-built Honda ever introduced.
Staring from the day that the Type-R was unveiled as a concept at Geneva last march 2006, it has stayed at the top of Honda Australia's priority list. And now it has turned into a reality after some hard bargaining that happened behind the scenes of last years Paris Auto Show.
The pricing for the Honda Civic Type R is not yet finalized however the single specification model is expected to grace Australian showrooms by the end of June and will have a starting price of over $40,000. The Honda's prediction for the Civic Type-R is 100 for a month. Honda is pretty much confident with the Type-R since it has loaded it with plenty of standard kit just to lure in plenty of buyers.
The standard features of the Type-R will include 18-inch alloys with space-saver Alcantara-shaped sports seats, cruise control, stability control, trip computer, six airbags, ABS, electronic brake-force distribution and assist, fog lights, remote keyless entry, drilled aluminum pedals, reach-and rake-adjustable steering, multi-function wheel, 60:40 split rear seats which comes in colors red, silver or black. The interior trim is a combination of red/black which is guaranteed to look better than it sounds.
The wrap-around two-tier instrument display was also made easier to read. Anthony Davidson, the super Aguri F1 driver was also present at the launching of the Type-R. Davidson had only spent half hour in the Civic and on the track and already he was able to extract more than what most drivers can achieve in a month.
At the core of the Type-R philosophy is Honda's free-spinning iVTEC technology that revs up 8000 rpm of maximum power. According to Davidson, "Keep it smooth and keep the revs up and you will get the best out this engine. I love it because it wants you to keep revving it, it's like a baby race engine."
The Type-R's naturally aspirated 2.0 liter inline four provides peak power of 148 kW at 7800 rpm and 193 Nm of torque at 5600 rpm. The Type-R is also capable of 0 to 100 km/h sprint in just 6.6 seconds and reaches top speed of 235 km/h. With the launching of the Type-R its is expected that it will help boost sales of other Honda products especially when it comes to performance and aftermarket department in which the are included.
