As opposed to the reviews that James May did for Top Gear or does for The Grand Tour, the ones the British journalist uploads to DriveTribe are a bit shorter. This one, for example, is not even three minutes long, but it’s full of irresistible humor and devoid of journalistic hoo-ha.
May took a 2018 model year for a spin in right-hand drive, a British example of the breed. Coincidence or not, Honda builds the Civic Type R in Swindon at a factory where production will come to a grinding halt in 2021. The higher-ups intend to redistribute production of the five-door hatchback to North America, but the finer details of the change aren’t known for the time being.
Turning our attention to the review, James starts by driving the Civic Type R at no more than 20 miles per hour in London. “It’s fast” is the man's opinion, and we’re much obliged to agree with him. There’s no other front-wheel-drive hot hatchback with this much output in the world, packing 320 PS (316 horsepower) and 400 Nm (295 pound-feet) of torque from 2.0 liters of displacement.
May thinks the styling is good, “very Japanese” to his eyes. On the other hand, Captain Slow doesn’t mention how fake the vents are. If you were wondering if that ginormous thing at the rear is a spoiler or a wing, James believes it’s the latter because “you can get your head underneath it.”
Practicality? James May fits in the trunk, and the rear seats provide sufficient legroom for his build. A niggle the British journalist couldn’t defend is the infotainment system, which is laggy and features one too many touch buttons without haptic feedback. So “is it any good? Yes, it is!”
As far as no-nonsense reviews go, this one ticks all the right boxes. Good on you, James May, and congratulations to Honda for making such a thrilling hot hatchback!
In related news, the Civic Type R prepares to enter 2020 with revised styling and probably more power from the VTEC Turbo. As for James, expect to see him once again in The Grand Tour next year. The show will return for reason 4 and beyond, and Clarkson claims “Marvel will be jealous of our budgets” going forward.
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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