Today, Honda reckons they’ve done it again with the new Honda Civic Type R, the FL5. I even said it was one of the best modern cars I’d driven when testing it. Honda smashed a Nürburgring record with it. Wild styling, and even wilder performance. The true renaissance for the Type R came in 2017, with the introduction of the FK8. However, this model never reached New Zealand. In 2015, Honda got serious again, introducing the first turbocharged Type R, the FK2. If it weren’t for the Civic Type R, the badge may have been relegated to the history books.įollowing the original EK9 and its spirited successor, the EP3, the Civic Type R survived through the 2000’s in a mildly weakened form as the FN2. The Civic Type R is the only Type R to survive.
Since then, Honda’s focus has shifted towards the mainstream market, with their range becoming a bit more pedestrian as a result. The 1990s was Honda’s Led Zeppelin IV moment. This era was unquestionably one of Honda’s best, which cemented them into the history books with some of the best four-cylinder engines, ever. Then, Honda capped-off the decade with a gift to itself, with the superb Honda S2000. An Accord Type R appeared a year later in the UK. It appeared on the new Integra in 1995, and later on the Civic in August 1997 with the launch of EK9 Honda Civic Type R. Soon after the NSX, the Type R badge began populating Honda’s range. Identified by their iconic Championship White paintwork, the Type R badge came to represent Honda’s focus on minimising weight and maximizing performance potential. Soon after, the Type R badge emerged for the NSX in 1992. In the same era as Pearl Jam and Pikachu, the Japanese had begun taking the auto-industry by storm.įresh off their late 1980’s success in Formula 1, the 1990’s to early 2000’s was a golden era for Honda’s road cars.
Teenagers are talking Grand Turismo, a game for the high-tech device called a PlayStation. Grunge is in, so are flannel shirts and flared jeans. This must be one of those ‘ pinch me, I’m dreaming’ moments. Honda New Zealand saw fit to hold a party, and invited DriveLife to Pukehoke Raceway for a celebratory fang of Honda’s latest Type R creation.
The year 2022 marks the 50 th anniversary of the Honda Civic and the 25 th anniversary of the Honda Civic Type R. After its global reveal mere months ago, the new Honda Civic Type R has landed in New Zealand.
0 kommentar(er)
