By Andre Palma
Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE 2006 launch of the 8th generation Civic meant a lot of things for many people. For Honda the car made a statement that a product that grows up can still be fun to drive. To the competition, a benchmark was again be set for the tricky compact sedan market. Everyday motorists got a bigger car, with an efficient engine and styling that lived up to the times. For some of us though, a new Civic only meant one thing.

While 90 percent of the population will consider the Honda Civic as an entry-level sedan that seats five comfortably and does the daily commute without fussing or missing a beat, smaller niches in the market sees it otherwise. Another nine percent see this car as a blank canvas, a car that allows them to express their individuality and passion for tinkering with cars.

Tragedies in personal expression can be seen rolling the streets of Manila on a daily basis, festooned with every conceivable aftermarket trinket and bauble. The remaining one percent, see the Civic for what it really is.

If you’ve strapped on a helmet, pulled on gloves and laced up driving boots in the last 15 years of so, there is a large chance you’ve jumped into some make or model of the Civic and driven it in competition. The car’s decent basic DNA is likely the reason for such wide acceptance in the motor sport community.

Relatively cheap to procure, easy to prepare, blessed with a decent chassis and available with engines that revved until most others turned blue — choosing a Civic as the basis for a race car seemed almost default.

Yet no matter how prepared and modified your Civic was, there was one particular model that every single one of us wanted: one that was built differently from the rest, one that could only be had, in limited numbers from abroad. Since 1997, the Civic Type R has been the Civic to have.

Meaner and leaner than the average member of the flock, these were cars built from standard daily commuters and finished as road racers for the masses. With a reinforced and stiffened chassis, suspension settings for a more spirited nature and an engine so taut and able, these hatches finished in championship white just screamed low-key, affordable performance.

Underdog

Three generations later, the underdog of the automotive performance world is back. In March of last year, the Japanese domestic market saw the release of another Civic Type R. For the first time available in the very same four-door configuration we have here on Philippine shores, the notion of a local release is tantalizing indeed. One need but look at the claimed performance numbers to see just how different a machine the Civic Type R is from the ordinary family sedan.

At the heart of the Type R is a factory-tuned K20A engine, a 2.0-liter inline four cylinder that is rated at 220 bhp and 220 Nm of torque. In typical Honda fashion, most of the power and pull is seen in the later end of the rpm range, upward of 8,000 rpm for horsepower and 6,000 rpm for torque. Six-speed, close ratio manual gearboxes come standard with a limited slip differential.

Braking is upgraded by four-piston Brembo calipers. Interesting that the already stiff chassis of the 8th Generation Civic is further made rigid by over 50 percent. A bespoke body kit and Recaro interiors are standard fare also. Think of the current Type R as a race car that seats five.

Bright beacon

Another bright beacon on the horizon is the fact that another Southeast Asian market is being supplied with the Civic Type R. Malaysia gets exactly the same unit as Japan and has been enjoying the signature, free-revving wail of the Type R since March last year.

Contacts in Honda Philippines are noncommittal about a Philippine release of the Civic Type R. Some people I’ve talked to cite the fact that a left-hand-drive version of this car is not made in Japan and therefore poses the largest hurdle to a local release.

Rumor mills further muddle the situation as the US market, which drives on the same side of the road as us, might get this car in the near future. The size of their market allows for such special dispensation from the guys at Tochigi Research and Development. All we can do is to continue waiting and hoping. This is a car that is indeed worth the wait.