By Colby Buchanan
I like the Civic and I really like the Type R, but there’s something about making a wingless version that feels off. The Type R has been pretty outlandish in terms of styling for the sake of precision aerodynamics, so to remove one of its most iconic features doesn’t seem right. It’s only for the European market so maybe the massive wing was a little too ostentatious? But it just doesn’t look like a Type R anymore.
Yes, it will have all the extra go-faster bits and the 306 hp but it looks like an Si. I’m no expert on the Honda subculture but I would imagine it’s similar to the Evo and STi where the distinction between the top and bottom trim is pretty polarizing. I have no doubt that they created it due to consumer demand but I wouldn’t be looking to buy a Type R if it didn’t have the look-at-me wing.
The Honda Civic Type R is now 'subtle' or ‘lightweight’. Will you go soft and ditch the wing, or go hard and lose the radio and air con? https://t.co/dvHv5vHeYL pic.twitter.com/8rPEzOaUCw
— Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) February 20, 2020
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Jeff Glucker
This is so wrong. The entire point of the current Type R is to be the embodiment of the tuner culture, ready-built from the factory. In fact I’d be happier if they’d swapped out the wing for a bolt-on carbon one with aluminum stanchions. Bigger, obviously.
I’ll counterpoint that by pointing out that an EK9 Type R looks positively restrained by comparison to even a regular civic these days.
https://media.fastestlaps.com/honda-civic-type-r-ek9.jpg
I was thinking someone might bring that up! And of course so does the Integra, both generations actually. Different times. I’m honestly still getting used to the looks of my new LX coupe. It’s just so many lines. But that’s why for me, based on the current design, if it’s going to be crazy anyway let’s just go all in.
I feel a little bad for Honda, in that I imagine this was probably a response to a lot of “it’s a great car, but it’s just too out-there for me”. I can relate; I haven’t driven a Type R, but I’m quite impressed with all the good press it’s gotten, and the interior definitely feels like a good place to be for some hooning. Problem is, it’s just plain overstyled for me, inside and out. Great bones, too boy-racer (and this is coming from an owner of a 2011 WRX). So, I can appreciate Honda taking those comments to heart and taking corrective action.
…but, when the rest of the car still looks like a Gundam, just taking the wing off isn’t gonna do it, and now they’re going to get stuck in “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” limbo, with people now complaining that they’re better off just going all-in and keeping the wing, after all (for the record, I think I’m in that camp as well — it’s never gonna be a sleeper, might as well turn it up to 11).
I also wonder, coming from the Subaru side of things, whether Honda observed how much brou-ha-ha there’s been over the presence or absence of the giant wings on WRX and STi models over the years, and just decided to hedge their bet.
Too bad it makes anyone over 30 look like they are having a midlife crisis. Although as Zentropy notes the rest of the car has the same effect.
More choice is a good thing. Personally, I am in favour of seeing more fast cars that are “sleepers” (ok, this still looks wild) rather than the opposite that Volvo and others did: Selling “R-design”-options with bits that look go-fast on the same old 109 hp base models.
Or worse, half baked “sport” models with large wheels, lowered suspension etc. so you still get an unsporty car, but now with crapper ride quality.
Ummm… that thing mounted to the hatch is a wing. It’s just no longer wearing a towel rack.
Regardless, the car still carries the styling of a smashed beer bottle. If getting looks is your thing, I think the “wingless” version of the Type R is still ugly enough to accomplish that.
Remember when ‘S’ was the fastest letter in the alphabet? Nowadays everyone’s all about ‘R’. Probably the most expensive letter you can buy for your car.
R goes back a long way.
https://images.cdn.circlesix.co/image/1/700/0/uploads/posts/2015/10/52cd4ff8-436c-4904-9276-aec346ad5873.jpg
further back than that..
https://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/two_third_slider/public/cars_images/1953_r_type_continental_black.jpg
It used to stand for “refinement” officially, because “sport” was too easy?
https://i.ibb.co/16gYYt8/R-mqvqc-ATJKA5r-BEXr-Zi-Tg.png
It stood for Racing!
https://www.media.volvocars.com/image/low/143338/1_1/5/0/jpg
Not for starters, with the 850 T-5R and 850 R.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_R
Ah that’s just Swedish circumspect modesty. We know what they were really thinking. 😉
I just asked for this yesterday. And here it is. And i don’t really like it. Maybe I need the CTR powertrain in an Acura…
Accord Type R?
The old Accord Euro R was really nice.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c729ac5a5fbea3161cc53f6146af006e045ea56196612bc94cf2a9f361a865d9.jpg
Now that is quite nice. Honda, if you want to court the older enthusiast crowd that love the Type R’s powertrain and chassis but can’t quite stomach the boy-racer looks, this would be an excellent way to go. Credit where it’s due, though, as I understand it the current-gen Acoord Sport is, while not Type R, quite good.
…Maybe? For whatever it would cost, I’m probably enough of a brand snob to want it to be an Acura.
Many of you may have already read this long ago, but I’ve been meaning to share on Last Call and keep forgetting.
This car combines two of my favorites: the Amazon wagon, and the E30. I think this is a pretty creative build, and love almost everything about it, except for the BMW dash (I’d have kept the original).
https://petrolicious.com/articles/theres-a-bmw-e30-hiding-underneath-this-volvo-amazon-hot-rod
https://d39a3h63xew422.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/09163228/Daniel-Piker-Adams-BMW-E30-Volvo-122-Amazon-Wagon-1-2000×1333.jpg
That thing is BADASS!
I love this car, and have seen it in person. It’s fantastic. For anyone else interested, I’d suggest digging into the build thread at SwedeSpeed & also Stef Schrader’s post about it on Jalopnik.
https://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?462961-Adam-s-Amazon-Wagon-Project-Update-Thread-quot-HeadQuarters-quot#/topics/462961
https://jalopnik.com/true-hero-swapped-a-volvo-amazon-wagon-body-onto-a-bmw-1826320988
Thanks for the build thread link! I love this car.
The photos of the Soviet Information Bureau have been digitized.
https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,soviet%20information%20bureau&tab=default_tab&search_scope=default_scope&vid=HVD_IMAGES&lang=en_US&offset=0
My favourite are those showing the different cultures of a vast continent, really, but there’s a few cars in there, too. Like this one:
“Industrial Construction in the Steppes of Kazakhstan. Geologists and engineers arrive in a remote part of the Kazakh steppes to choose a site for the construction of still another industrial enterprise in Kazakhstan. Photo: G. Zelma and S. Friedlyand.”
(1938-1951. Fung Library SIB_2288)
https://i.ibb.co/2vxDMLz/15-433132411.jpg
Like most digitalization efforts, it’s very time-consuming to browse on a phone, but I hope to check it out more on a PC later.
The photos of the Soviet Information Bureau have been digitized.
https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,soviet%20information%20bureau&tab=default_tab&search_scope=default_scope&vid=HVD_IMAGES&lang=en_US&offset=0
My favourite are those showing the different cultures of a vast continent, really, but there’s a few cars in there, too. Like this one:
“Industrial Construction in the Steppes of Kazakhstan. Geologists and engineers arrive in a remote part of the Kazakh steppes to choose a site for the construction of still another industrial enterprise in Kazakhstan. Photo: G. Zelma and S. Friedlyand.”
(1938-1951. Fung Library SIB_2288)
https://i.ibb.co/2vxDMLz/15-433132411.jpg
Like most digitalization efforts, it’s very time-consuming to browse on a phone, but I hope to check it out more on a PC later.
Reminds me of the Fox Mustang days, when the 5.0 LX was quicker and faster than the GT, because it wasn’t carrying the weight and drag of the spoilers.
I’m kicking myself for not picking up a 5.0 LX notchback when no one wanted them.