Honda has stuck two fingers up at the trend towards ever more subtle-looking hot hatches, says Alex Robbins in The Daily Telegraph. Its new Civic Type R looks "angry" and "menacing" and the looks set the tone for the rest of the car: the interior is "snazzy", the suspension taut, the steering super-quick. Prod the accelerator, and "whooshes and chuffing" from the turbo sets off a row of blinking lights across the top of the dashboard.
The drama is matched by the performance it "goes like a rocket" and the drive has all the marks of a great hot hatch: it combines "considerable thrills" with everyday practicality. It is a "boy racer's wet dream", says Dom Joly in The Sunday Times,"bristling with fins and jagged bits and exhaust pipes". And to drive? It's simply the most fun you can have on the road.
Price: £29,995. Engine: 1,996cc turbocharged petrol. Top speed: 168mph.
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What you could have for the same money
The Civic Type R may look "refreshingly different", says Alex Robbins in The Daily Telegraph, but it still can't match the poise and feel of the Volkswagen Golf R (above). It is "King Golf", says Nick Gibbs in the same paper. It's expensive (£30,000 for a family hatchback!), but also shockingly fast, with the kind of performance you'd have had to buy a Ferrari to match only a few decades ago.
The BMW M135i (£31,195) is very fast and very entertaining, says Top Gear. Those who want to do everyday things like drive other people around will go for the Golf R it's quite cramped in the back. But those who stick with the Beemer will get "one of the best driving and sounding hot hatches around". And unlike with the Civic, says Dom Joly, at least you can drive it around without inviting public ridicule.
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