Honda Civic Type R vs NSX-R: Type R's greatest hits

Khodrocar - When Ayrton Senna tested the Honda NSX-R at Suzuka in the early 1990s, it was, to him, just a day of promotional activity.

He could never have known anoraks like me would still be wittering on about that day a quarter of a century later. But it’s just too good to forget, isn’t it? One of the great Formula 1 drivers at the height of his powers, whipping chunks out of a very special supercar – on one of the few truly iconic motor racing circuits, no less – as though a championship was on the line. Then there are the surgical heel-and-toe downchanges, the kerb-hopping four-wheel drifts... 

Not even the questionable footwear could dull the occasion. 

Fast-forward 25 years to the middle of July 2017, around the time of the British Grand Prix, and the moment is being recreated with modern-day participants. The stand-in Formula 1 great is Fernando Alonso – who else? – and the car is the spanking new Civic Type R. After posing for photographs – sober trainers, dark socks – the two-time world champion drives the Type R to another of motor racing’s most famous venues, Silverstone. Rather than hammer the thing through Maggots and Becketts as though there’s a spot in Q3 to be had, however, Alonso merely shoves it in the car park labelled ‘F1 Personnel’. 

Oh, well. Maybe that Suzuka moment will never be bettered. With a new Civic Type R and a stunning first-generation NSX-R (this one Pearl Yellow rather than the Championship White of Senna’s car) sat before me, their keys stuffed into my pocket, I reckon this might just be a moment that’ll be worth retelling 25 years hence. 

Between them, the fifth-generation Civic Type R and the hardcore NSX-R, which sits so low you could trip over it, bookend the Type R story. I suppose it’s fitting that Honda’s fastest hot hatch yet should arrive in the same year that its performance brand reaches the quarter century. The Type R dynasty began with the pop-up headlight NSX-R in 1992, the first car to wear the now famous red ‘H’ badge. Honda would have you believe the NSX-R’s normally aspirated 3.0-litre V6 develops 276bhp, but if that high-revving, motorsport- derived unit isn’t actually churning out more than 100bhp per litre, I’ll be amazed. Nonetheless, it’s unlikely to develop more power than the Civic’s turbocharged four-pot, which is rated at 316bhp. Such is progress. 

Talking of progress, the new Type R is such a big improvement on the previous model that it’s hard to believe they were separated by just two short years. It has independent rear suspension now, of course, and a Comfort mode that allows the car to ride with remarkable fluidity and control across a bumpy road. It also has very direct steering, a brilliantly effective limited-slip differential, excellent brakes and a playful, adjustable chassis. The engine is mightily strong too, if somewhat laggy, and the seating position is close to being perfect.