Similar to the Toyota Supra, the Honda Civic Type R wasn't designed for straight-line showdowns. But as opposed to the Supra, the front-wheel-drive Civic Type R wheel hops too much while launching from a dig.
Sam CarLegion recently raced a CTR against a manual-equipped 'Yota. From a standstill, the best quarter-mile times of these very different machines are 12.4 and 13.9 seconds. According to the RaceBox GPS-based performance meter, zero to 60 miles per hour (make that 97 kilometers per hour) took 3.9 and 5.3 seconds.
The only scenario where Honda's award-winning hatchback can redeem itself is from a rolling start. Sam CarLegion tried besting the guy in the Supra twice: first from 32 miles per hour (50 kilometers per hour), then from 43 miles per hour (70 kilometers per hour).
But alas, the BMW-sourced engine in that rear-wheel-drive Supra was too much for the lesser inline-four turbo in the Civic Type R. Tipping the scales at 3,343 pounds (1,516 kilograms) compared to 3,183 pounds (1,444 kilograms) for the Honda, the MKV in the featured clip makes 382 ponies and 368 pound-feet (500 Nm).
The Honda's 2.0-liter mill is pretty impressive in its own right due to 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet (420 Nm), but as opposed to BMW, the Japanese automaker isn't sandbagging. In every form, the B58 is more potent than BMW says it is. This rule of thumb further applies to the M division's twin-turbo S58.
There's even a B58-equipped Supra drift car with 1,000 horsepower on deck, which is why the 3.0-liter engine is hailed as the modern 2JZ. The truth is, we're talking about oranges and apples here. There's no way one can decide which one's better, especially given the advances in engine tech from the JZ's era (1990 through 2007) to the B58's production launch in 2015 in the 340i.
Even the MKV is extremely different from the MKIV before it. From the BMW CLAR-derived chassis to the ZF-supplied transmissions (both manual and automatic), and even the country where it's built (Austria rather than Japan), the GR Supra cannot be compared to the fourth gen we all know and love.
At press time, $44,640 is the starting price of the MKV stateside. That's for the 2.0-liter turbo, which is too much money in comparison to the boxer-engined GR86. The 3.0-liter turbo starts at $53,600 for the 2023 model year, and the six-speed manual can be had for the same price as the eight-speed automatic transmission.
The Civic Type R's appeal is hindered by the ongoing market adjustments applied by Honda dealers in the United States. The FL5 is expensive in its own right at $43,795, which is $19,045 more than the Civic Hatchback. A tremendous difference in pricing applies to the Integra as well, with the standard version costing $31,500 compared to $50,800 for the Type S.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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