It appears that the rumored Civic Type R-R is more than just vapourware, Auto Express is currently running a hands-on article in its latest issue on the Type R-R.
This new civic looks to be an absolute beast, but it’s a beast with a heavy price tag… £64,000* is a lot of money for an extra 60bhp and no sound deadening.
Extortionate?
Well maybe just a little considering you could buy three brand new Civic Type R’s for the same money. So what exactly are you getting for the extra £44,000 pounds? The type R-R starts off as a standard Type R but the clever folks at Honda give it a little spit and polish and add an extra R, contrary to the popular rumors the car still uses the 2.0l i-VTEC unit and not a 2.4l as expected. The car also retains its front wheel drive transmission and is not four wheel drive as was also expected.
Here’s a quick list of changes that I’ve gleamed from the article:
What you get
- Full-on race bucket seats
- Alcantara steering wheel
- Dash mounted start button
- Tweaked ECU
- VTEC cut-in reduced from 5,400rpm to 5,100rpm
- Six speed sequential gearbox
- Increased steering response
- Tweaked suspension
What they take away
- Stripped out cabin
- No stereo
- No Sound Deadening
I can’t help but suspect your could get similar results for a lot less, there are many tuners getting similar power figures from existing Type R’s without charging their clients £44k. There again sequential gearboxes aren’t cheap, likely setting you back the best part of £5k, but even taking that into account; is the Type R-R badge really worth a premium of this size?
* The price quoted is taken from the Auto Express magazine and is not mentioned in the online article, it is also not stated whether this will definately be a production model or simply a race series option. Judging by the indicated cost I’d assume the latter.
Edit: 25/04/2007:
I should have mentioned earlier that the Auto Express UK magazine states that this Civic Type R-R is produced by Honda’s Italian partner JAS Motorsport.
The online Auto Express article can be read here.
