Never judge a book by its cover, don't get too excited or you'll only be disappointed and don't run before you can walk.
All valuable lessons taught to me by my mother.
That other well-known phrase 'always listen to your mum' is a lesson I obviously paid no attention to because when the Civic Type R arrived on my doorstep on the eve of its decommissioning by Honda, I'd had the last three years to pre-empt what I was going to write: "Super fast, super fun, but largely impracticable for more than two people."
The problem being I have always wanted a Civic Type R.
All valuable lessons taught to me by my mother.
That other well-known phrase 'always listen to your mum' is a lesson I obviously paid no attention to because when the Civic Type R arrived on my doorstep on the eve of its decommissioning by Honda, I'd had the last three years to pre-empt what I was going to write: "Super fast, super fun, but largely impracticable for more than two people."
The problem being I have always wanted a Civic Type R.
For years it has been revered as the hottest hot hatch on the market and for that reason alone I judged it before driving it and got far too excited about driving it.
A review had already been written in my head and my brain was sprinting faster than Usain Bolt trying to get away from Delhi.
It is not that the Honda is a bad car, far from it, because in many ways it is a far better car than I was ever expecting. It just wasn't what I was expecting.
There are quicker rivals on the market, yet few can match the Civic Type R's engaging nature.
It's a car that simply becomes more enjoyable the longer you spend behind wheel.
The 2.0-litre VTEC engine produces only 198bhp which, compared to the 261 horses in the Seat Leon Cupra R or the Renault Meganesport 250, is relatively low, but the Honda is more impressive than the statistics suggest.
Low down the Honda, while punchy, is not as ferocious as the Seat but take it above 5,500 revs per minute and it comes alive, before screaming all the way up to the red line.
It's a bit like watching someone sneezing eight times in a row, in a way you feel kind of sorry for them but deep down you know they're having fun!
So I wasn't entirely wrong. The Civic Type R, like any good hot hatchback is fast and fun (just in a much more Japanese way that its rivals).
It also excels on A and B-roads thanks to responsive steering and great traction, but it is the package as a whole where the Honda really excels - it is also spacious and practical.
I used the car to take a few friends to the train station this week - not that I needed a quick car to get them to the platform in time as trains in this country always run late - and despite them all being in excess of six-foot tall not one of them complained of a lack of leg room.
It is the same in the boot too, where there was ample room for four large suitcases.
When this car was launched in 2007 its biggest rival was not the VW Golf GTi or the Ford Focus ST, but the car it was replacing: the old Civic Type R.
Three years down the line and as it's about to go off sale, the Civic Type R is still rates hotter than hot in the hot hatch segment.
By Richard Jones
A review had already been written in my head and my brain was sprinting faster than Usain Bolt trying to get away from Delhi.
It is not that the Honda is a bad car, far from it, because in many ways it is a far better car than I was ever expecting. It just wasn't what I was expecting.
There are quicker rivals on the market, yet few can match the Civic Type R's engaging nature.
It's a car that simply becomes more enjoyable the longer you spend behind wheel.
The 2.0-litre VTEC engine produces only 198bhp which, compared to the 261 horses in the Seat Leon Cupra R or the Renault Meganesport 250, is relatively low, but the Honda is more impressive than the statistics suggest.
Low down the Honda, while punchy, is not as ferocious as the Seat but take it above 5,500 revs per minute and it comes alive, before screaming all the way up to the red line.
It's a bit like watching someone sneezing eight times in a row, in a way you feel kind of sorry for them but deep down you know they're having fun!
So I wasn't entirely wrong. The Civic Type R, like any good hot hatchback is fast and fun (just in a much more Japanese way that its rivals).
It also excels on A and B-roads thanks to responsive steering and great traction, but it is the package as a whole where the Honda really excels - it is also spacious and practical.
I used the car to take a few friends to the train station this week - not that I needed a quick car to get them to the platform in time as trains in this country always run late - and despite them all being in excess of six-foot tall not one of them complained of a lack of leg room.
It is the same in the boot too, where there was ample room for four large suitcases.
When this car was launched in 2007 its biggest rival was not the VW Golf GTi or the Ford Focus ST, but the car it was replacing: the old Civic Type R.
Three years down the line and as it's about to go off sale, the Civic Type R is still rates hotter than hot in the hot hatch segment.
By Richard Jones
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