- This episode of the New Car Show
is brought to you by Turo.
Stick around to the end for a special offer
only for Donut fans.
because I drove a car that was so good
that it inspired me to shamelessly rip off my idol,
Jeremy Clarkson.
This is the Honda Civic Type R
and since 1997 it's been putting fear into the hearts
of cars twice it's price.
Much to the dismay of my teenage self,
it was never available in United States,
until now.
So, what is it like to drive?
(revving)
Many new cars these days
that are marketed as hardcore track day toys
are absolutely terrible on our pockmarked California roads,
but not the Civic because it's a Honda
and Honda's are comfortable.
When driven gently you almost forget
that you're in one of the most capable
front wheel drive cars ever made.
(revving)
If you buy a Type R,
you're gonna have to accept that a lot of people
will be looking at you,
not because they're admiring your sensible purchase
of a hopped-up economy car,
but because the Civic Type R looks like something
that my 10 year old nephew
would draw on the back of his math workbook
after having too many sweets.
The hood scoop might appear non-functional at first glance
but it actually does work to vent hot air
and relieve pressure when you're going really, really fast.
This ridiculous wing looks like the product
of an AutoZone employee who's taken way too much Adderall
but Honda says that it produces 66 pounds of down force
at 124 miles an hours.
These little winglets on the front
channel air around the wheels and down the side of the car
reducing turbulence from the wheels.
Even the bottom of the car is nearly flat
to improve air flow.
That's race car (bleep).
This car is like a Brian O'Connor wet dream
but every little weird thing is designed to serve a purpose
and it does.
Civic's quiet.
The front visibility is good and the seats are comfortable.
The dash itself is uber simplistic
with only five buttons and two knobs.
It's classic Honda optimization.
They're plenty of little cubby holes to out stuff in,
it's a totally livable car.
If it wasn't for the red Honda emblem on the dash,
you'd think you were in a regular commuter car,
but you aren't.
(revving)
When driven not so gently, the Type R won't let you forget
that he was made for the track.
(revving and skidding)
This new Type R is not like the one's from Honda's past.
Gone are the legendary naturally aspirated engines
like the B18C5,
and in it's place
Honda has put a two liter turbo-charged motor.
Now Honda fanboys might bemoan the fact
that the new Civic Type R has gone turbo
because this car (beep) hauls ass.
(revving)
(light hip hop music)
Zero to 60 in five point eight seconds
might sound slow by today's standards
but you have to remember this car is front wheel drive
which means that the front wheels are putting down the power
and steering the car.
The Civic's competitors like the VW Golf R
had to use all wheel drive to get similar numbers,
but all wheel drive systems like that weigh a lot
and weight is not something that you want in a track car
which Honda proved when this Civic
set a Nürburgring track lap record
with a time of seven minutes 43 point eight.
Whoa, it is a very, very good car.
The Type R is so good
that it will make you change the format of your show
out of pure respect.
For that reason, it's the best car I have ever driven.
And on that bombshell, it's time to end.
Goodnight. (Top Gear theme song)
This episode of the New Car Show is sponsored by Turo.
We got this incredible car through the Turo app.
Turo is a car-sharing app that let's you
choose from over 850 makes and models,
which makes it super easy to choose the car that you want.
Turo has cars in over 5500 cities and 300 airports
in countries like the US, where I'm from,
the UK, where Jeremy Clarkson is from,
Canada and Germany, where I'm sure people are from.
You can even get the car delivered, it's very convenient
and I made a new friend.
First time Turo renters get
with the code,
So click the link below and rent your dream car today,
what car would you rent, let me know in the comments below.
Would you rent this Type R?
Again, that code is donut at checkout for 25 dollars off.
Make sure you use Turo
because they keep giving us cool cars to review
and I would really like to keep my job.
Thanks for watching the New Car Show.
Subscribe to Donut, we make new stuff every day
and you wanna make sure that you don't miss any of it.
This car is a turbo, you wanna know how that works?
Check out this episode of Science Garage.
Do you like other turbo Japanese cars?
Check out this episode of Up To Speed.
Follow me on Instagram @jamespumphrey.
Follow Donut on Instagram @donutmedia.
You wanna buy a shirt or something, go to shop.donut.media.
I love you.