“Let’s race public transit TopGear style!”

“And let’s rent a cool car for it!”

And thus, we obtained a 2024 Honda Civic Type R (CTR) for like a day and a half.

This car was divisive between MSIMA “professional journalists”. On one hand, it’s a god-damn Type R! On the other, it’s a modern car, for better or worse. So consumers, let’s jump on in.

We at MSIMA (and by that I mean the original duo of @monty424842 and @justinpierce1006 ) have yet to drive one of the “good, fast Hondas”. Pierce has driven a few civics and a b20b swapped CRX and I’ve driven a manual but beat to shit Acura TL type S and that same CRX. And also an RDX A spec but fuck that thing.

All of these cars do reflect a side of Honda: reliable, high mileage, beat to shit and back, but still fun 20+ year old cars. And the RDX. But none of those cars, with the exception of that CRX rev’ed particularly high, handled particularly well, or captured that “sporty Honda mystique” like an s2000, type R/type S, NSX, s600, CBR600RR engined FSAE car, etc etc. That swapped CRX sorta came close, but it was built by a high school kid and driven by our co-writer’s terrible ex-girlfriend. And the RDX A spec also existed.

So this was that first, proper foray into that high revving, tech fueled, perfect shifting Honda boi lyfe.

So let’s get the obvious bits outta the way. The stock shifter is really well made. It’s a lovely mechanical flick thats really addicting to use. Even the damn noise it makes is soothing to my “aging petrolhead ears”. It’s got good resistance when entering each gear, you feel weight in the throw, and the whole assembly feels direct. There isn’t much play in gear and you shift with purpose.

Pierce claims that his 1ft tall racing short shifter that lived in his old FRS was superior, but he claims lots of things and isn’t writing this review. I am though, and it puts Subaru’s failed attempt at designing bushings to shame. So unlike the my 90,000 mile STI, you don’t feel like you’re in neutral when in every gear! Also, sorry to burst the honda-boi bubble and shit on “the lore”, but to my hands a Porsche still has a better shifter. I don’t know what you expected, but uhhhh not sorry.

The seats are very nice. The red manually adjustable buckets both look great and offer great support, especially when mid corner. Apparently they shake and rattle at speed. And the cabin – for the most part – is a really nice place to be. Seating position is good, screens are clear (but also obtuse to use), everything is trimmed decently, etc etc. The rear seats are also a fine place to be, though the cup holder that splits the back seats is a bit odd.

It looks great too, sitting low and wide like the TCR race car it yearns to be. With nearly all of the fake vents of the outgoing Type R removed, you’re left with a far cleaner, more mature, and more subtly aggressive car. To me, the lack of misc fake plastic vents and weird angles makes it look more similar to a race car. The last gen CTR TCR car had all those fake vents and inlets covered by smooth carbon panels anyways. So the middle man can be skipped. There are still fake air curtain inlets, but eehhhh fuck it. And the wing is functional too!

Now, with some of those “automotive journalist common points” outta the way, let’s dig in a bit deeper.

The 11th generation Civic moved back to physical buttons after customer backlash forced Honda’s hand. So inside the car you get physical AC, radio, and drive mode controls! Wow, I wonder who else should do such things!

But, you also get some rather annoying little bits. For one, this “hot hatch” has an electronic parking brake. Which isn’t weird for a modern car, but it just fucks with my brain every time because when I see a manual gear lever, I’m expecting to see a manual hand brake. This leads to us learning that Honda did in-fact idiot proof the CTR, and the handbrake can automatically disengage if you drive with it on.

The center screen, while clear, is slower than a stoned snail in a head wind. You find yourself waiting for menus upon menus of text to load before clicking a laggy button with an essay written on it, only for yet another menu to appear. The car also relies too much on “apps” installed on this infotainment system.

And I found these “apps” to be a bit hard to discern while driving. Then going to change settings or do anything requires you to park, sit down with a warm glass of milk and your finest spectacles, and prepare to do a lot of reading. Because god damn did Honda decide to write a damn dissertation out of a selection menu. It would be fine if it was easy to read but it isn’t while you’re driving. Then again, does it matter? Because half of them are blocked unless you’re in park! But hey, at least all the data logging crap can be seen while you’re on the move! But you want to shut off rev-matching!? Fuck you, sit down, you’re playing Honda’s point and click adventure game.

Driver aids are also quite shit. Lane keep assist should be shut off. All it does is oscillate from one line to the next and will probably make you sick and wreck. Hill start assist works well but needs to be toggled every time the car starts. And auto rev-matching works really well but can also be disabled (looking at you BMW…). But not from a button, nay this feature is at the bottom of a random settings menu. Actually most of the car’s annoyances can be toggled off or shut up. Which is nice.

The car also had some visibility issues concerning the rear 3/4 of the car.

But are these all deal breakers? Annoying sure but I think some of these annoyances will be things that you adapt to, like the parking brake, while others you can just shut off completely or configure.

For example, the steering. It’s electrically assisted, and like the C8 Corvette or F80/82 M3/M4, putting it into sport mode doesn’t seem to change anything other than steering weight. The front end doesn’t feel any more livelier, the turn in isn’t quicker, and you certainly don’t feel more through the wheel. It just gets heavy for the sake of it. So, you can navigate into the car’s individual mode and leave steering in comfort. And suddenly the lack of weight and effort makes allows the car to, oddly enough, feel more natural. Fuck all of you in the auto industry for making me have to do this btw.

What you get through the wheel is pretty… well… Unlike older manual or even some hydraulic racks, you aren’t doing small corrects on the road. There isn’t the greatest feeling of what the road surface is. Apologies to use the pretentious word, but it lacks “texture” (shoot me). I know North Carolina backroads ain’t the worst, but a lot of that “noise” you feel through the wheel is almost filtered out. Maybe it’s the tires our rental was on, being some random Chinese brand vs some proper sticky rubber.

But what this car lacked in really great road feel, it more than made up for by letting you know exactly what the front end was up to. You can feel the diff working through the wheel, you know to the hundredths of a degree what angle the front wheels are at, and you can feel the front tires give way. The Type R is honestly really refreshing compared to some other sports cars out there. There is no ambiguity in what the front of the car wants to do and what it needs from you to extract the best from it.

Co-author @justinpierce1006 had further complaints about just how dead the steering felt. To me, having jumped out of two hydraulically assisted cars of varying age and quality, by far the largest complaint was the lack of road feel over any serious issues of vagueness in knowing what the car wants, and this could also be down to tires. (It’s not, to improve feel you need to change hardware).

It’s a shame then, that we couldn’t get this thing on track or in the mountains, because the two of us believe that’s where this car would shine the brightest.

The suspension was also electronically adjustable. I’m always surprised like your grandpa bamboozled over the sight of a 6 speed manual whenever I see things like electronically adjustable dampers in a car like this. “Something something” the unstoppable waltz of progress cares little for my delusions. But then again it’s a $50,000 car (or just about)! If crossovers get this shit then the CTR better as well. And it makes a noticeable different too.

Ridding on i77, the broken pavement that jolts you about suddenly smooths out at the touch of a button. It’s not S-Class smooth, there is only so much you can do in a sports car “hot hatch”, but it can ride rather comfortably. In its raciest mode, R+, the car rides similarly to my STI. That is to say the car will handle broken pavement like a champ but you’ll probably get jostled around a little. All the while you have a pretty decent idea what the car wants to do. The rear in this Type R did feel a bit disconnected, but we again think tires might be to blame.

The CTR cornered flat without a fuss, and if you push the car harder it only seemed to get better and better through a turn. There isn’t that much body roll through turns nor much pitch under braking. You also get the feeling that this chassis is stiff. The Type R really just begs you to keep pushing and pushing, to throw more corners at it to eat up.

The initial turn in is interesting. You feel the diff get to work and the whole car very eagerly dives towards an apex, almost like you’ve gotten sucked towards a black hole for a second. Then, you power out and feel the car naturally start to understeer a little and track out, although we think the shit tire choice on this rental might’ve also added to some of that understeer. And definitely to the torque steer you get when flooring it or powering out of low speed turns.

But persist we did, regardless of shit rubber, though my bitching will not cease.

Anyways what’s next on the list?

*ruffling through notes here*

Ah yes, da powatrain.

And ehhh it’s fine.

(You can send your complaints to my Oncologist, thanks)

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not shit, but having jumped out of my EJ25, that motor feels kinda sedate. Hell, I’m starting to think that I was a bit too harsh on the old Veloster N, because that thing was a full on audible delight compared to this 2.0 turbo. The motor is just too quiet.

VALVED EXHAUSTS EXIST FOR A REASON.

I don’t know if there was an NVH target to make this car shut up for daily driving, or if Californian and European drive by laws noise are really just that obtuse now, but you can’t hear much from the new motor. So, Honda piped in noise! But like, not from within the engine bay. No no, apparently they played some audio shenanigans to try and “capture the essence of the old k24” or something. And it really doesn’t work.

Apparently Car&Driver complained about the Type R’s excessive road noise, which is funny because you can’t hear it when the car is in R+ mode, due to it sounding like you’re playing Gran Turismo 1 in the cabin. Probably one of the most agreed upon things that Pierce and I couldn’t stop bitching about to each other was just how terrible that fake noise sounds. And you’re kidding yourself if you think it’s acceptable.

My sister’s Mini Countryman S makes similar noises but at least has the decency to provide the most adorable little backfires I’ve ever heard. The Type R sounds like it’s moaning in pleasure when you downshift with auto revmatching enabled. And it’s a shame because if you have the windows lowered, you can actually hear some fun induction and waste gate noises from the front of the car. More so if you toggle the exhaust noise setting to comfort but leave the powertrain in R+ (or else it accelerates like it has 100 hp). This shuts the noise up by a bit and you can actually try and make out some of its exhaust note from inside (sounds decent from outside btw).

The fake noise also fucks with your reception of speed. The synthesized exhaust just lacks imperfections (outside of being a mistake), and is a very flat noise that just kinda rises a little bit in pitch as you get faster. All this to say, the sound just doesn’t match how fast you go and how high you rev.

Now that’s enough ranting about fake engine noise. What’s that engine like to play with?

Well, the car didn’t seem too lively at first, especially coming straight from my STI. The initial impression of that powertrain was “it’s aight”. It moves the car well enough, you get a good “in your stomach” feeling of acceleration past like 4000 RPM, and you can feel the motor build more and more power as you rev it. But it wasn’t anything earth shattering. There was no moment where I sat there giggling to myself about how special it felt. The shifter took all that glory.

The throttle pedal was also a bit numb. For an electric throttle body I thought it felt fine, modulation wasn’t too difficult, and for a turbo motor with that kinda throttle, the response wasn’t terrible but also not special. Pierce hated it and said it was about as good as his used $50 logic.

The lack of theater in the powertrain paired to the delayed feeling of power gives an initial appearance of seriousness and honestly some boring disappointment. Like, either make more noise and make me want to rev it out or give more some more upfront oomph.

The stock power curve correlates with this behavior too. Torque peaks around 3000 RPM, there’s a small jump in power around 3500 RPM, and you don’t make that 315 HP until like 5500 RPM. The CTR has an engine that is a joy to blip when downshifting but doesn’t seem initially have that eagerness to find 7000 RPM unless you commit to breaking the speed limit.

It’s almost as if the car was geared slightly too high to have some dumb fun on the road. I’m sure on track it’s the opposite, but I really didn’t want to be doing illegal speeds with a PlayStation moaning farts into my ear while riding on LingLong knockoff rubber.

Unfortunately, the longer I drove the car, the more playful the quiet engine seemed to become. It starts to egg you on, especially with the windows down. You want to step on it more, hear the turbo spool, feel the changes in acceleration over the rev range, and find another excuse to shift into a higher gear just to downshift and start over again.

That 3000 RPM torque peak is paired with either a surge of boost or a cam change (probably the former) that looks at you and nudges you to commit. So you do, and ride the wave of pressurized air til the upper rev range. And then, 5500 RPM comes. Your ass now has all 315 HP as a reward for committing to the cause. The the shift lights start illuminating…

Green

Yellow

Yellow

Yellow

Red

RED

RED

Then shift! You best keep your damn foot through the floor because we’re still deep in boost and ready to this all over again. The car begs you to drive it like a fuckwad with a touring car fixation. And you should cave in. You should punch the car in second sending it barreling onto a banked highway on-ramp, feel the front end hook up, let it naturally track out and don’t forget to grab another gear.

The Type R practically years to be let loose onto Barber Motorsports Park. It is just as tired and bored as you are with its obtuse features, fake noise, and the circle jerk of hype that surrounds this car. It wants to just be shed of its excess bullshit and let loose to entertain you. It becomes a very fun thing very quickly.

The brembo brakes work btw. Good initial bite, a little lacking in feeling as you push harder. Don’t know if that’s stock behavior or if the car just has either cheap or worn pads, probably both.

So should you buy one? Well dynamically it’s pretty good, especially for a new car. But it also comes with some annoying current day tech (although most of it can be shut off), and that frankly embarrassing fake noise that has no place in a $45-50,000 “hot hatch”.

Compared to my STI, it was slower in a straight line, had less feel in the steering and brakes, has worse visibility, revs like 250 RPM less than the EJ257, sounded worse, and was very lacking in theater. The STI is an angrier car that’s more rewarding to open up. An EJ25 is be a worse motor in many ways, you’ll spend more on upkeep only for it blow up out of spite anyways. But an EJ treats you with really intoxicating noises at any speed, pulls harder, revs higher, and feels special. Fighting back, that Type R has better seats, a nicer-designed and more modern interior, the lord’s shifter, a less stupid wing, “more mature styling” or whatever, feels a bit sharper and refined, and is a far more livable car. You can make the Type R sedate for normal driving while the best an STI can do is dull up the throttle response and power delivery. I’d keep my STI still, it made me giggle more and I’m still a sucker for a more raw, special experience. Maybe a tuned Type R with that stupid fake noise module thrown into an incinerator would sway me further.

And in the recently used market, I’d take a GR Corolla circuit edition or whatever it’s called. Sure it’s a bit slower and not as nice inside, but the car was a bit more playful. The i3 is more unique, the car sounds better, and like the STI, you can fuck around with center diff settings then take it on gravel. And, you will have as much fun as on asphalt. Also I thought the gauge cluster graphics were less stupid. The Type R will be faster on track and still has the lord’s shifter, but I found the GR’olla to be a more engaging offering for (in theory) a bit less money.

Also, you could buy a BMW F87 M2, F80 M3, F82 M4; Porsche Boxster, Cayman, and some 911s; Lotus Elise, Elise SC, early Evoras; ND Miata and some left over cash; Subaru WRX STI, WRX STI Type RA, VB WRX; Alfa Romeo 4c (high mileage), Gulia Quadrifogio; The last gen Type R, Ford Focus RS, Mustang GT; Cheby Covette (multiple generations), Camaro gen 6 SS 1LE; VW Golf GTI, Golf R; Hyundai Veloster N; Toyota GR86 (and its relatives); A Nissan GTR if you truly believe in Santa Claus; Several AMG products I’m not giving a friend of mine the satisfaction of naming; Aston Martin V8 Vantage – look the list of random sporty alternatives from the used market goes on when your price point is around $50,000. It also gets similarly interesting overseas, as you can involve the French crap into the arena too.

At this price point, it’s great new car if you need a new car, and I believe the lack of theater and the noise can be fixed easily. But at that price, there are a lot of even better options from just a few years ago, and you should consider those as well. The Honda hype didn’t fully disappoint me, but it did not fully impress either. I like the Type R, but I’ve yet to really fall in love.