The present Honda Civic isn’t lengthy for this world. Coming someday subsequent 12 months is the next-generation compact automotive, however earlier than that occurs, the automaker needs to provide it one other dose of spice. Enter the 2021 Honda Civic Sort R Restricted Version, a limited-production (duh) machine that makes the recent hatch much more aggressive and crowd pleasing.
Alterations from the usual Sort R are minimal. The LE comes completely in Phoenix Yellow, with gloss black accents on the roof, spoiler, mirror caps, and hood scoop. BBS cast aluminum wheels save 4.5 kilos per nook over the conventional rollers, and Honda eliminated the rear window wiper, cargo shade, and a few inside sound deadening for a complete of fifty kilos of weight financial savings. Extra importantly, the wheels and new-to-Sort R Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires eradicate 22 kilos of unsprung mass. Eager to benefit from these cuts (and the stickier tires), Honda retuned the dampers and steering barely, decreasing physique roll and bettering response.
These all sound like comparatively minor adjustments, significantly for the reason that Restricted Version will get the very same working gear because the Sort R Touring. A turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four seems underneath the hood, pushing 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet to the entrance wheels through a six-speed guide gearbox. And to be sincere, the lighter wheels, stickier tires, and retuned suspension don’t actually make their presence recognized on the highway, the place pace limits and customary sense counsel preserving issues beneath seven-tenths. With that in thoughts, we hit the observe to see if we might plunk out a swan music that befits the Civic Sort R Restricted Version.
Not-So-Mellow Yellow
The South Palm course on the Thermal Membership was our house for the day, permitting us ample time to be taught the observe and change into conversant in the Civic Sort R household. Our first outing was in a 2021 Sort R Touring, which begins at $37,495. A carryover mannequin, the 2021 Touring nonetheless dealt with South Palm with loads of grip and accelerative power, thanks partly to updates for the 2020 mannequin 12 months that features improved engine cooling and a retuned Lively Damper System that samples inputs extra regularly.
After a number of laps within the Touring, it was time to slide behind the wheel of the Restricted Version. At decrease speeds, the adjustments relative to the bottom Sort R aren’t apparent. However after crossing the start-finish line just a few occasions, the Phoenix Yellow LE began to make extra sense. The stickier tires and firmer dampers yielded palpably greater speeds in corners, whereas the 22-pound unsprung weight discount meant quicker acceleration on exit – amazingly, we might really feel that distinction on the observe. We seen we had been carrying extra pace on the finish of every straight, portending good issues for the Sort R Restricted Version’s efficiency credentials.
Your writer isn’t knowledgeable race automotive driver, so even on a closed course, extracting each ounce of functionality from the Civic Sort R is a Sisyphean activity. Nonetheless, it’s clear the seemingly minute adjustments Honda engineers made to the Restricted Version lead to distinctive enhancements, a feat that’s all of the extra spectacular given South Palm’s comparatively brief, low-speed format. We didn’t time every car, however our expertise on the Thermal Membership makes the Restricted Version’s record-breaking Suzuka lap very plausible.
It’s not numbers both, because the Civic Sort R Restricted Version additionally feels extra succesful and assured. A lot of that comes all the way down to the retuned electrical energy steering. Honda says it benchmarked the manual-assist rack of the first-generation NSX supercar, and amazingly, that isn’t simply good advertising. Within the drive selector’s most aggressive R+ setting (Consolation and Sport are additionally accessible), steering enhance additionally evaporates to virtually nothing, however a heavy tiller is nugatory if it doesn’t relay data.
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Fortunately, the Restricted’s Alcantara-wrapped wheel (shared with different Sort Rs) is vigorous and verbose, relaying precisely how a lot grip these Cup 2s have left in reserve. Dialing in further steering lock little by little on one of many observe’s huge sweepers, it was abundantly clear once we had been approaching the bounds of understeer, a testomony to the talkative, heavy steering. And in the midst of 15 very onerous minutes on the observe, the Sort R by no means hiccuped, its solely shortcoming showing between the driving force seat and the steering wheel – racing is tough, y’all.
The Commoner
Though we had been solely given on-track time within the 2021 Civic Sort R Restricted Version, Honda offered us with a 2020 Sort R Touring to get to Thermal from our house base in Los Angeles. An financial system automotive driving on 20-inch wheels and very low-profile tires isn’t an excellent recipe for journey consolation, however the Sort R is surprisingly soft, even on the freeway slab. A few of that’s due to the Civic’s good bones – strategically positioned soft-touch plastic and an exuberant inside design courses up the joint quite properly. In the meantime, the Sort R’s aggressive entrance seats are additionally well-padded, providing each assist and cheap consolation.
Set to Consolation, the adaptive dampers do an excellent job of absorbing most imperfections, although giant heaves nonetheless despatched our organs flying upward into the lap belt, an appropriate compromise for the Sort R’s exuberant efficiency. Much less satisfying is the relentless tire roar and engine clatter. Talking of, the Sort R’s underhood noises by no means sound athletic – in sporty driving, solely the blatty exhaust word betrays this as a sizzling hatch, whereas the two.0 drones a surprisingly un-Honda-like music. The Sort R wants extra turbo whistle and fewer injector clicking, and the whooshing consumption might be retuned for some extra aural drama.
Total although, the Civic Sort R is a incredible each day driver for the fanatic, with greater than sufficient athleticism to scratch that itch on the weekends and loads of consolation to whereas away a each day commute. Alas, we’re not utterly positive we will say the identical of the Restricted Version. Its diminished physique roll on-track leads us to imagine it may not have as a lot compliance over tough roads as its Touring sibling. That may be a moot level anyway. Restricted to 600 items and beginning at a comparatively expensive $43,995, the Phoenix Yellow Honda isn’t prone to entice informal commuters.
As a substitute, the 2021 Honda Civic Sort R Restricted Version is all however assured to change into a observe star for collectors, significantly those that already personal a red-badged Honda. (Enjoyable truth: the 2021 mannequin’s shade scheme pays homage to the yellow tones accessible on each the US-market Acura Integra Sort R and the forbidden-fruit 1997-2000 Civic Sort R.) If the Restricted Version will get relegated to storage responsibility by speculators, that will be an actual disgrace. If we realized something in our time behind the wheel, it actually belongs on a observe.
