Bear with me as I explain a few things. First, there is no Honda Civic Type-R in America. Never has been and, possibly, never will be. What we have now is the two-door Si, the four-door Si, and the Mugen edition four-door Si. But, as exceptional as the USDM Si models are, Japan and Europe have one-upped us yet again with the Civic Type-R. Japan gets the blazingly fast Type-R sedan, while the European market is blessed with this hatchback, which looks every bit like a visitor from outer space.
As the across-the-Atlantic cousin to our own Civic Si, the juicy details on the Type-R are:
six-speed close-ratio transmission, 2.0-liter i-VTEC engine pushing 200bhp and special suspension tuning. And yet, somebody thought they could up the ante and take the new Type-R straight onto a professional rally stage.
Ignore the stickers, stripped-out interior, rally seats and carbon fiber center console on this Honda Civic Type-R. Instead, concentrate on the fact that this car has 260bhp, a limited-slip diff between the front wheels, a sequential gearbox, an extensive rally-ready cage, meticulously molded carbon bits, a lower and stiffer suspension, and bigger brakes.
Why? Because those are the bits you can buy off-the-shelf from JAS Motorsport-engineering house and race car manufacturer.
JAS, based in Italy, has been the official works team for Honda in various European touring car series for 10 years now, and has been fiddling with the new Euro Civic Type-R to create this Group R3 rally car. A 'Type-RR' if you will.
JAS built it with lots of help from Honda, so this thing could possibly hint at a future Type-R, one that might actually make it to the US. Honda admits there is room in the line-up. The new Civic has only been out for a couple of years, so there's plenty of time for an ultimate version before the next shape arrives. What's more, the standard Si's 197bhp is likely to be considered a bit weak in the near future. The MazdaSpeed3 already comes packing 263bhp, while the new WRX has 224bhp.
The Type-RR is not like some hot hatches that don't match the badge-it's seriously hardcore. The chassis and body shell have been stripped and then oven-cooked to get rid of the sealants (and to allow better contact patches for seam welding). That's a rally car-specific option, by the way, which stiffens the whole thing by 70 percent, but you wouldn't necessarily opt for it on a road car.
I drove it up a tarmac rally stage in northern Italy and, trust me, the ride is extremely stiff. The car skips and hops from bump to bump because there's so little compliance. Personally, I prefer softer springs on a car that sees normal roads. Yet the car somehow works. The most noticeable thing about this creation is the grip. I have a confession to make: I'd love to tell you that I know the ultimate level of grip from driving it right to the limit on this twisty hill route. But, truth be told, my courage and talent ran out before the cliff did. So I relied on what it felt like with Dani Sol (JAS' works driver and ex-Junior World Rally champ) driving and me in the passenger seat.
By Piers Ward
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