New Civic Type R

[Phil]

Did anyone see Top Gear last night? They did a review on the new Civic Type R.

VHB test drove it and she loved it. Said it would give the sports clio a run for its money.

I have to say that the civic looks like a new age shopping trolly. I don't care how much BHP is in this car, I just would'nt be caught dead in it. I blame ford with their bloody focus. This started the weird shapes trend that were seening today.

I have a idea :p

I know, i'll stick a big mother of a engine in a lada and stick a S ( S for Skip ) badge on it. Then I release it as a new sports lada.

Honda you can keep you type R Civic.

[WhipLash]

The thing that stuck me was the position of the gear leaver. Its dash mounted on the normal version to allow for better use of space.

I thought that they would have moved it back to the standard floor mounted position, but they didn’t (probably would cost too much time and money for Honda in hind site). I don't know if it works in such a hot hatch, but it certainly doesn't look very sporty.

From a perceptional point of view, however, I liked the way the R was splashed around the car both inside and out - it really stood out but wasn't gaudy either. The handling looked great around the track too, considering that its front-wheel driven.

And don't forget that Ford's hot-Focus is due soon with over 200bhp.

I suppose there isn't much direct profit from making such hot versions, but I presume that the manufacturer hopes that if such hot versions become icons, then it boosts sales of the standard versions.

[ivo]

If Im not mistaken, dont rally cars have mounted gear levers also?
If its an advantage to a rally driver, and I know nothing about rallying , it must be an advantage to the lay driver?

[Phil]

But don't rally drivers use a triptronic system instead of a regular one.