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What's the difference?
Before we dive in, this isn’t your typical road test.
That’s because there’s no road, per se. Instead, the majority of what you’re about to read comes from The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.
You’ve read the headline, though, so you’re probably putting it all together: a Honda Civic Type R on a well-liked race track must be bliss. Let’s find out.
A very quick catch-up for those not in the know. The Honda Civic Type R (or CTR if you like) is the brand’s only performance model on sale after the demise of the NSX supercar.
The current (FL5) CTR is a little over a year old, having been launched internationally in late 2022, but has only been on Aussie shores for a little while. In fact, we’ve already reviewed it for the road, back in April.
But Honda Australia was keen to get media behind the wheel in a setting it says the CTR thrives in - a racetrack. Its predecessor was a car loved almost universally, can this one live up to the new standard?
Giant carmakers seem like pretty sober sorts of places. Everything goes through endless committees, every decision has to be signed off, sent in, sent back, subjected to endless scrutiny to make sure it will make money.
Sometimes, a brand will do something odd like BMW's i3 which is like sending up a flare to get people talking.
Hyundai, for many years, seemed to be trying to emulate Toyota. After a brief flourish in the '90s when it did for curves on cars what Kim Kardashian did for curves on grubby internet sites, the company lost its bottle and tried to go full mainstream. Never go full mainstream, that's for the old folks.
Then, out of the blue, came the Veloster. It's probably one of the most wilfully weird cars in decades (apart from various Citroens, but that's a special case).
One long door on the driver's side, two shorter doors on the passenger side. When BMW did something similar with the Mini Clubman, right-hand drive markets didn't get their own version of the kerb-side door, but Hyundai isn't like that.
Making the Veloster properly in right-hand drive is a wonderful gesture from a company that worked out being itself was a better idea than being Toyota.
In the realm of factory-built performance road cars for less than six-figures, the track capability offered by the Civic Type R is hard to rival.
The way it communicates and encourages smooth driving is impressive. Its mechanical grip limits are clear well before you reach them and the car is very forgiving with small slides and gentle lift-off oversteer. It lets you know you’re approaching the limits well before you hit ‘em.
Performance hatchbacks from Volkswagen, the Golf GTI and R, are arguably more useable day to day, but don’t come close dynamically. The Hyundai i30 N is wicked fun and deceptively capable for its lower price, but lacks the Type R’s high-shine polish.
Is the FL5 Type R pricey? Yes. Is it worth it? Maybe.
Is it probably the last time a purely combustion-powered hot hatch is going to be this good? Almost certainly.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
Another good bit of Berry wisdom was the idea that the Turbo is the sweet spot of the range. While the Premium is indeed packed with goodies, they're not must-haves - the Turbo has everything you need while the Premium adds the wants.
So, at its core, this Turbo Premium is good warm hatch fun in a wacky, head-turning body, wrapped around a good cabin that could be a little less plasticky. Best of all, the fun design matches the fun-to-drive personality. It's a thoroughly modern Hyundai and I want (even more) to drive the full-fat bonkers N version we look like we're not going to get.
The last Type R was divisive to say the least - rather sharp and aggressive styling reminiscent of a robot from a 1990s anime, with plenty of design details and enough black trim to give white CTR’s that Star Wars stormtrooper vibe.
It was loved and hated, and there seemed to be few who found their opinion in the middle of those.
This generation changes that.
Much softer styling and a more restrained approach to detail makes this Type R look much more mature - for better or worse, depending on your view - than the last, though it hasn't lost much of its ‘look at me’ factor.
Sleeker headlights, softer lines in both body panels and in places like the grille, as well as a smaller hood vent are all clear.
Aerodynamics played a big part in the design of this car, with Honda Australia’s tech team telling us the time it spent in the wind tunnel during development was so long they wanted to get press photography done there.
The small flick or canard ahead of the rear wheel, for example, directs air into the rear wheel to cool the brakes.
Of course, there’s still a great big wing mounted to the rear. How else are you going to know it’s a Type R? For that, you could also look down to the tri-exit exhaust, we suppose.
You do not have to find the Veloster pretty to think it's cool. You can see echoes of the i30 donor car that lurks under the more interesting metal, with a big grille, sharper headlights and plenty of black bits to up the aggro for the Turbo model.
The rear bumper sports a pair of drainpipe-sized exhausts that aren't afraid to bellow a bit.
It's different from right to left in profile, with the rear door almost disappearing into the rear haunches on the passenger side. The high rear glass may not be great for seeing out of but it helps keep the Veloster identifiable and influential - there are more than a few cars getting about sporting a similar high rump with big lights.
The cabin is, like its predecessor, fairly restrained and very i30-like. It's all put together very well and is only let down by the centre console's plastics being a bit hard, scratchy and insubstantial.
The Civic Type R is a four-seat hatchback, so if you were looking to cart four of your nearest and dearest around regularly, you may need to look elsewhere.
However, for a car that holds front-wheel drive lap records at circuits like Mount Panorama and indeed The Bend, it’s a pretty convenient thing.
Its tech behind the 9.0-inch multimedia screen is a little dated, but it’s still functional and most will use phone mirroring often enough that the native system is an occasional necessity.
In terms of the physical practicality, it benefits from the glow-up the standard Civic has undergone.
Physical controls for the climate remain (good!) and there are two very useable cupholders and a relatively well-sized storage bin under the elbow rest.
The seats are well-bolstered and comfortable in the front, providing the duality of a car that will hold you stable during track driving and be plush enough to keep you comfy on the drive home.
In the back, only two passengers can sit in the Type R despite the car being spacious enough for a third seat to at least be an option. Instead there’s a permanently accessible cupholder, but no armrest.
It is very spacious, with ample knee room and possibly even enough headroom for rear passengers to wear helmets if the idea of a four-up track lap takes your fancy.
Behind that, 411 litres of boot space is impressive for the segment, though the boot’s lip is fairly high and rounded at the sides.
I think the Veloster is very clever. M'colleague Richard Berry thinks the third door is a bit silly - say, like a third armpit. I'm of the opinion it's an exceptionally clever solution to a problem: how do I have a funky car without throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
Something like a three door hatch (yes, I know they're out of vogue) makes moving people about difficult even if you only do it occasionally. The Veloster's third door provides relatively easy access to the two back seats for people under about 150cm, and you can get okay access to a baby seat. Try that in an 86.
The new door aperture is quite a bit bigger than the old car and there is a bit more rear headroom which I'd still call marginal for my 179cm frame. Leg and knee room are okay, sitting behind my own driving position.
The boot is a useful if not staggering 303 litres. You have four cupholders across the two rows and door pockets in the front doors. Ahead of the gear selector you'll find a tray with the Qi charging pad and two USB connections, but only one will work with the stereo and is marked as such.
Honda’s relatively new retail business structure means some sting is taken out of the Civic Type R’s $72,600 price tag as it’s drive-away. No on-road fees.
But it’s still well north of the $50,990, before on-roads, the previous generation FK8 version started from, and there’s not a huge list of additional features you’ll find in the cabin.
Dual-zone climate control, a wireless smartphone charger, 9.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, ambient lighting, all features that didn’t garner much attention at 200km/h down The Bend’s main straight.
However, the Type R’s impressive 'LogR' track day telemetry and lap timing software, bright red bucket seats and Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, aluminium pedals and gearshift knob made of the same were all put to proper use.
The LogR app for your smartphone allows you to take the data recorded by the CTR on track and analyse it, compare your lap with others (even from other drivers) at the same track, and can even automatically score and give feedback on your laps.
Personally, I wasn’t particularly upset to find out I was significantly slower than 2022 TCR Champion and general Australian motorsport veteran Tony D’Alberto.
There’s no sunroof, leather trim, seat heating or ventilation, no head-up display or even power-adjust for the driver’s seat. But more expensive (and sometimes less capable) sports cars are sold for more money with fewer mod-cons.
Remarkably, Hyundai has just dropped the second-generation Veloster in Australia. I was convinced it would be a one-hit wonder, but here we are with the replacement for the SR Turbo of the first-generation, the $41,990 Veloster Turbo Premium with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission.
It also has 18-inch alloys with sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, an eight-speaker stereo, sat nav, electric windows and mirrors, keyless entry and start, climate control, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, auto LED headlights, auto high beam, auto wipers, heated and ventilated electric front seats, sunroof, Qi wireless charging pad, head-up display, leather trim and a space-saver spare.
A 7.0-inch screen on the dash runs the media system, with a sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It all works very nicely and the generally ho-hum Infinity speakers do a solid if unspectacular job of filling the cabin with noise.
Like the last Type R, this hot hatch boasts a highly-strung turbocharged 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder engine under the bonnet, complete with red engine cover and Type R badging.
The new iteration of this engine makes 235kW at 6500rpm and 420Nm between 2600 and 4000rpm, with much of the 7.0kW/20Nm increase over the last car making itself known all the way through the rev range.
For changing gears, a six-speed manual gearbox with auto-rev matching - should you choose to keep it active - is the only option. That gearbox transfers power to the front wheels only, as is traditional.
The drivetrain can be adjusted for intensity via the drive modes, 'Comfort', 'Sport', '+R' (which saw plenty of use on this test) and 'Individual'.
The 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder is a familiar sight in Hyundais, in this case offering up 150kW at 6000rpm and 265Nm between 1500 and 4500rpm, which is a nice wide torque curve. Power goes to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Performance is swift rather than startling, with the Veloster's 1350kg cracking the ton in the 7.1 seconds, 0.6 seconds quicker than the manual.
Honda says the Type R’s official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is 8.9L/100km, the last-gen car’s figure was 8.8L/100km.
Of course, we didn’t get to test fuel efficiency on the track and if we did, we can’t imagine it would have been incredible. The car's 47-litre tank needed a refuel during our session.
But last time we drove the Type R, we spent a week and about 500km testing the hot hatch and found it used 11.5L/100km, not too far from the claim and reasonable for a car of this performance pedigree.
Hyundai claims you'll get 6.9L/100km on the combined cycle. As ever, Hyundai is unusually close to real world figures, with my indicated average landing at a very respectable 8.2L/100km in a fairly urban kind of week.
This is the bit you want, yeah? What’s it like behind the wheel of the new Civic Type R when road surfaces are at their best and a speed limit isn’t of concern?
Having spent plenty of time behind the wheel of the last CTR, two key words come to mind... familiar and refined.
Where the last generation at times felt on the sharp, tense edge even without sacrificing ability, the new Type R smooths out a lot of the minimal shortcomings of the last generation, just as it has for the exterior styling.
Its setting is relatively firm and direct, but not too heavy for track stints, with good communicative feedback for steering inputs.
It allows for smoother steering and a sense of how hard you can steer without over-shifting weight. Which in itself is another impressive aspect of the CTR, how smoothly you’re able to transfer weight not only in cornering but under braking and acceleration.
The 1429kg hot hatch will only complain gently with some tyre noise if you’re approaching it's fairly lofty limitations, the car’s inherent mechanical grip working well with the Michelin Pilot 4Ss.
For a front-drive car, its rear feels impressively planted, a trait the FK8 surprised many with, to the point that a regular comment from media and professional drivers is that it’s hard to believe the CTR is FWD.
Under hard braking, the rear stays steady, allowing plenty of control if you come in too hot for a corner. The pads and rotors seemed to hold up with a lot of track time, too.
Power and torque delivery feel familiar if you’ve spent time in an FK8, even pulling out of tight-ish corners in third acceleration doesn't disappoint.
Its gearbox, too, might be one of the best feeling shifters around at the moment.
With or without rev-matching, a downshift in the FL5 feels smooth, visceral, and results in an engine whine that makes you feel like this car is more at home on a circuit than a boulevard.
The FL5’s abilities are on show in a smoother manner than its predecessor, and it makes the car more encouraging to drive quickly and smoothly.
While rough inputs will still yield impressive results, the FL5 CTR’s a surprisingly comfortable thing to drive rapidly through bends and under hard braking.
Handling, acceleration (a claimed 0-100km/h in 5.1sec and we don’t doubt it), grip and cornering, braking, and now more than ever, comfort. At the risk of gushing, it’s hard to fault the Type R on track.
This might be the best front-wheel drive performance car of all time.
I was fortunate enough to have some time on my hands, so I volunteered to take the base spec Veloster to Hyundai to swap into the Turbo. And look, it's fine, but in the same way the second-to-last-Celica was fine - nothing to write home about, more show than go. Comfortable, quiet, hatchy.
And the Turbo is many of those things. Except, as in the i30, when you step up to the turbo engine it wakes up a chassis that is truly terrific.
While it rides really, really well, it also piles through corners with even more enthusiasm than a similarly powered i30 N-Line, which is no slouch.
The Veloster is lower and slightly lighter, adding to the fun. And it doesn't spend half the time hitting the bump stops like the old car.
There are almost no duds in the Hyundai range when it comes to ride and handling, but the steering is in another league compared to the outgoing model's.
It's quick and points the car where you want, the front end digging in and tracking clean and true. It's terrific fun.
But, like just about every other Hyundai, its compliance and daily drivability is super-impressive. Only bad roads upset the rear suspension but the front is largely unflappable.
Flappable is the dual-clutch transmission. It occasionally hunts around looking for a gear and I spent a lot of time pulling the paddles to get it to do the right thing.
It was particularly recalcitrant downshifting without manual intervention, no matter what drive mode I chose. It can also clunk a bit when it's confused. I reckon I'd take Richard's advice and stick with a manual.
ANCAP hasn’t crash-tested the current generation Honda Civic, though its European counterpart Euro NCAP has, awarding it a full five stars.
It scored relatively well for occupant safety (89 per cent for adults and 87 per cent for children) while being adequate in terms of pedestrian (82 per cent) and active safety assist (83 per cent).
While it’s possible the Type R would have minor differences, it’s safe to take the results of that test as a relatively accurate measure of the CTR’s safety performance.
It features eight airbags, including front, front knee, and rear passenger-side impact, and full-length curtain airbags.
In terms of active and intervention safety, there’s Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), lane keep assist and departure warning, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors and a reversing camera, plus traffic sign assist and driver monitoring.
This Veloster arrives with six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, lane keep assist, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning and forward AEB with pedestrian detection.
Although not rated by ANCAP at the time of writing, the Turbo and Turbo Premium are likely to score a maximum five stars.
The lower grade - as with other newer Hyundais with the lower spec AEB - is probably going to drop a star.
Both rear seats score an ISOFIX and top tether anchor point.
The Type R is covered by the same warranty and servicing as any other Civic, which is a huge score when it comes to high-performance cars and the costs usually associated with them.
Honda’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is fairly standard these days, but it includes roadside assistance.
Servicing is a flat fee of $199 per interval for five years, which come in every 12 months or 10,000km.
As always, Hyundai's solid five year/unlimited kilometre warranty is along for the ride. Slightly annoyingly, you'll need to return to your dealer every 12 months or 10,000km for scheduled service and prices are capped.
Four of the five services cost $299 with the fourth year at $375. Over the first five services, you'll average $314.