{"id":2103975,"date":"2026-08-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2103975"},"modified":"2026-08-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T21:00:00","slug":"a-japanese-hot-hatch-for-the-price-of-a-city-car-we-found-these-used-type-rs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2103975","title":{"rendered":"A Japanese hot hatch for the price of a city car? We found these used Type Rs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Honda has brought a long-awaited sprinkling of kei car magic to British shores with its new Super-N<\/a>. And what a fab thing it is too; a narrow and thus nippy device, emitting no emissions from its tailpipe as it merrily sashays through traffic. Perhaps most notable of all for people like us is its taste of manual gear shifts and faux-Type R engine noise, bonus features that make its \u00a318,995 price tag look a steal.<\/p>\n

Or is it? That same sum of money can secure you a real Type R in fine fettle. A mere fraction of the sum gets you something older, shabbier but little less fun. We\u2019re talking about the Honda Civic Type R<\/a> hot hatchback, a car that\u2019s been with us through six generations and recently retired form UK showrooms quite plausibly declaring itself the most composed and competent front-wheel-drive performance car in history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Really?<\/h3>\n

Yep. The FL5-gen Civic Type R launched in 2023 with a ginormous, Porsche Cayman-troubling fifty grand list price, but promptly hit a home run thanks to the carefully polished evolution of its forebear\u2019s dynamics. A brilliant car was now, um, brilliant-er, and quite a lot less challenging to look at, too. Dealers were given teeny allocations as buyers queued up to lay down a deposit. Even now you won\u2019t pay much less than \u00a345k for an average-mileage (and still warrantied!) example<\/a>. Far be it from us to declare it a future-proof classic with the resale value of a rare mineral, but in the short term it looks a safe financial bet. One that\u2019s also mesmeric to drive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to pay less than that.<\/h3>\n

We hear you. The FK8 before it is little less superb to drive \u2013 arguably more so, if you like a firmly focused ride and a more blas\u00e9 attitude to rolling refinement. This is essentially the rawer genesis of the FL5, offering similar 320bhp-ish performance in a lighter package. Its 229bhp\/ton power to weight ratio is therefore a mite better and you still have a fabulous six-speed manual to slot around and a snappy limited-slip differential transferring all of its turbocharged torque deftly to the tarmac.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It feels like a road-legal touring car, with the wings and bulges of a race warrior to go with it. Plenty of contemporary criticism surrounded its looks \u2013 if you can stomach its design, it\u2019s a knockout car. If you can also stomach a high mileage, prices drop teasingly close to \u00a320,000<\/a>, though expect to pay \u00a330k (and beyond) for a fresher example. Proof that good cars hold their money.<\/p>\n

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\"Honda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Things to look out for? That it\u2019s been looked after properly, ideally. A no-brainer on any used car, of course, but check that its tyres are matching brands, that the clutch operates easily and there\u2019s no knocks from the suspension on a test drive. It\u2019s a car that demands to be driven hard \u2013 no great shakes if it\u2019s been appropriately looked after, but have a thorough poke around to be sure. Pursue a fastidious attitude to servicing and avoid questionable modifications that might be costly to insure (or reverse).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You promised less than a Super-N\u2026<\/h3>\n

That\u2019ll be Honda\u2019s first turbocharged hot hatchback, the FK2 Civic Type R. It lived a curiously short life, sold between 2015 and \u201917 before the FK8 promptly took over for a fuller, seven-year stint. This earlier car lives in the shadows as a result, perhaps considered a less desirable toe in the water for the rejuvenated Type R brand. Everyone forgets it\u2019s really blimmin\u2019 good too, which is terrific news if you want to spend less than \u00a320k on a still fabulous-feeling car.<\/p>\n

It uses the same 2.0-litre turbo four VTEC as its successor, producing marginally less power (306bhp) but the same torque (295lb ft) to ensure its 5.7-second dash from 0-62mph and 167mph top speed don\u2019t pale in comparison. It kicked off Honda\u2019s Nordschleife obsession, too, briefly nabbing honours from Renault to claim \u2018fastest front-drive car\u2019 honours around the \u2018Ring in 2015 with a 7m50.63 lap. It was beaten a year later by Volkswagen (and its majestic Golf GTI Clubsport S) but even the recently departed FL5 Civic is only around 10 seconds swifter around the Green Hell than this FK2. Not bad when the older car can be bought for a third of the price<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Honda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As above, it\u2019s a fairly hardy car, and a cursory check of its wear and tear \u2013 to gauge how hard it\u2019s been used \u2013 is the best advice. Some early cars had head gasket issues, and examples with an awkward to operate (and thus very traumatised) gearbox should be avoided.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go cheaper still\u2026<\/h3>\n

We have three more generations of Civic Type R to choose from. The effervescent performance treatment first appeared on the sixth generation of the venerable Honda hatch in 1997 \u2013 the Japanese market EK9. It was never officially sold in the UK \u2013 we instead got the luminous yellow Civic Jordan, a striking 500-car run in 1999 \u2013 but JDM examples occasionally dwell in the classifieds. They\u2019re rare, so expect to pay the same money as the FK2 above<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Better value is the first Civic Type R officially sold here, the \u2018breadvan\u2019 EP3. It was even built in Britain \u2013 at Honda\u2019s now sadly defunct Swindon plant \u2013 and it performed well in a bustling hot hatch market, going toe-to-toe with the Renault Sport Clio 172s, Citroen Saxo VTSs and MG ZR 160s of the early Noughties with fine handling and a revvy VTEC powerplant. Fun things \u2013 and yours from around \u00a37,000 with a fair wind<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The biggest bargain of all, though? That\u2019d be the FN2 which followed it. Slotting all that was good about the EP3 beneath the spaceship styling of the Mk8 Civic, it held plenty of promise \u2013 yet among the half-dozen heroes on this page, it\u2019s the least revered. Still good to drive, easily sharpened further on the aftermarket, and starting below four grand<\/a>, it asks little more than the deposit Honda demands for a Super-N lease.<\/p>\n

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\"Honda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honda has brought a long-awaited sprinkling of kei car magic to British shores with its new Super-N. And what a fab thing it is too; a narrow and thus nippy device, emitting no emissions from its tailpipe as it merrily sashays through traffic. Perhaps most notable of all for people like us is its taste […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2103975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2103975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2103975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2103975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2103975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2103975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}