HONDA CIVIC TYPE R

Civic Type R is as fun as expected, but with some irritating technology

- Steve Sutcliffe

THERE are no two ways about it, the latest Honda Civic Type R has become an expensive and indulgent kind of car. In this day and age, you could even call it a misfit, with its eye-watering £52k price tag, six-speed manual gearbox and four-seat configuration.

But where it counts - on the road, or better still on a track like Brands Hatch - there is no other hot hatch that can touch the latest Type R. It is, quite simply, the fastest and arguably most thrilling front-wheel-drive car there has ever been. So we were more than a little excited about the prospect of running one for six months, just to see how much more civilised (or otherwise) it might be beside its more raucous predecessors.