2019 Honda Civic Type R Review (w/ video)

In today’s climate of electric and hybrid technology pouring spoiled milk all over the hope of youth considering a sports car, the Type R is a breath of fresh air. I’ve been reviewing cars for several years now and have a solid top five. They aren’t all the most expensive or the fastest but all have one thing in common…they have sports car DNA.

This Type R is equipped with a 2 L turbo-charged 4-cylinder engine producing 306 HP and 295 lb-ft of torque mated to a 6-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels and stopping power provided by 4-piston aluminum front Brembo brake calipers.

I don’t even know where to start because there’s so much good to go over. I guess we can talk about the ride and handling first. Really exceptional. The drive modes actually offer significant suspension changes depending on the mode. I stayed in Comfort most of my time on the highway as it just floated over the bumps. Sport was a good option for around town offering slightly more road feel. And R mode was the most aggressive setting. Not only for the suspension but also throttle response. Even when in cruise control, if a mode was changed you could feel the difference immediately.

Throttle response was practically seamless with no significant turbo lag. Even in taller gears response was quick. It was so quick in fact that it felt significantly lighter than its actual 3117 lb curb weight. The overall drivability and driver connected feel was great. Driving it felt like I was bonding with the car, like a new fast friendship rather than the car driving me around. It stuck so well in high-speed corners and stopped just as well thanks to the Brembo front brakes.

While the noise outside the car wasn’t super impressive, inside the car it was pretty quiet with a constant subtle reminder than you’re in a Type R. The gearbox was very rewarding and fun to use. I especially like the auto blip feature in each drive mode. It made me want to see how the car would do on track.

The exterior of the Type R is finished in Sonic Gray Pearl with 20” black alloy wheels wrapped in 245/30 R20 high performance summer tires.

The exterior of the Type R really sets it apart from the rest of the Civic lineup. Which is a good thing. If you’re going to buy this car, I feel like everyone should know it’s special.

When talking to my dad, he said he didn’t like the styling. My response was it’s not marketed to your age group dad…which makes a big difference in the buyer of this vehicle. I see two groups of people buying this car specifically. Younger (not newely licensed young) people that love sports car and maybe like bold styling to go along with it. And then there’s the person that just loves old school Honda sports cars and has been waiting for this car for who knows how long and will buy it even over sticker. That group could be older just based on being a long time Honda fan.

Regardless, it is a truly uniquely styled car that looks good no matter where you stand.

The interior of this Type R features a red and black color scheme. I might actually love the interior more than the exterior. It’s very high quality for the cars sticker price and looks really sporty. The seats were very comfortable and the red accents throughout really livened up the space. I liked the individually numbered badge inside and the shift knob finish (although it gets very hot when left in the sun).

The stereo system worked great for podcasts and music and Apple CarPlay made life easy. There was plenty of room in the back seats for friends and the trunk for all of our belongings.

This car was the first press car I e-mailed and asked for a few days longer. Luckily Honda said yes because I love it. Day one I could see myself giving this a five out of five, which has probably one happened twice before that I can remember. It’s actually a problem because I’m now constantly trying to figure out a way to get one in my life for good.