2003 Honda Civic Type R review from UK and Ireland

No problems at all (touch wood)!!

I've had my Type R for about a year and love it.

For a hot hatch, this car is no doubt ONE of the best!! People will tell you differently, but when you're discussing hot hatches, how come the Type R is always there or thereabouts?? It's not a car for everyone due to the lack of torque in the lower rev range. However the Type R was designed for the track, and therefore needs to be driven with some knowledge of how it performs best. If you keep it in the higher rev range, it performs immensely and will scream you through the gears, then you're doing 130mph without knowing it. Round a track or country road is where it performs best, it handles amazingly and effortlessly in the higher rev band. It's not just an engine with a turbo, this car was designed like a race car.

Also because the power kicks in at 5000 revs I find it easy to drive sensibly around town, meaning fuel consumption is pretty good for a hot hatch. My Type R is better than my old Golf GTI MK3.

Negatives -

The Type R has been stripped down to make it lighter (like the old school hot hatches), however this means road noise is an issue for some people, but I don't think it's that bad (it's a hot hatch not a Bentley). Stereo isn't the best and it's a bit basic inside. Tuning potential isn't that good - very expensive to get more BHP, this is partly due to Honda putting performance parts on as standard.