2000 Honda Accord Type R review from UK and Ireland

No faults whatsoever.

This car has got it all. Searing performance, pin sharp handling, five seats, a big boot, utter reliability, great dealers and the best four cylinder engine money can buy.

Even after 26,000 miles in my hands, the noise, and the kick in the pants this handbuilt VTEC engine delivers between 6,000 and 8,500 RPM (yes, really!) make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and make me grin like an idiot. Imagine the noise as a kind of mix between a Suzuki GSX-R1000, and a NASCAR, and you're fairly close. Totally awesome. Driven like this, it passes 60 in less than 7 seconds, and will accelerate like a 747 past 100 mph.

The dash is a bit dull, but the half leather Recaros are faultless, and the standard of build is well up to the likes of anything BMW or Mercedes could offer. Despite being driven hard for virtually every mile I've had it, nothing has broken or fallen off, and it has never missed a beat. All I have to do between services is add about half a litre of oil and top up the screenwash.

Despite its 100 bhp / litre, this is no highly strung prima donna. It's flawlessly reliable, and is equally happy sitting in the car park that is the M25 for hours at a time, as it is screaming to stratospheric revs round a twisty B-road.

The chassis is also very impressive, considering the standard Accord is not exactly razor sharp. Steering is a bit light, but offers reasonable feedback, and the turn-in is as sharp as you could want. Brakes too are among the best of any road car I've driven, wiping off speed no matter how much abuse you give them. Pushed really hard it will understeer, but it's quite gentle, and a touch of left foot braking, or an ease of the throttle sorts it out nicely.

Servicing has been reasonably priced, and the dealers are an object lesson. Work is carried out on time, to a high standard, and a courtesy car is always available. When they've worked on the car, it comes back valeted and looking as new. No wonder Japanese cars walk the JD Power survey every year.

My only slight niggle is that it can drink fuel at an alarming rate, especially if you explore the VTEC zone. My record worst was 16 mpg during a cross country thrash to a mates house, although the average tends to be 25-27 mpg. However, considering the performance on tap, I suppose it's not too bad.

To summarise, this is a car which has more all round ability than almost anything else. It has obviously been designed by people who love driving, and more unusually by those who know what car ownership is like in the real world. Anyone who is cannot understand why the Japanese car industry is the most successful in the world should drive one of these and prepare to be enlightened.

Wonderful.