2025 Honda Civic Type R Review: Precision Instrument

Sometimes, the universe has a way of righting a wrong.

Due to scheduling issues back in 2023, I had to sit out on our sport compact comparison. Hot hatches are my jam: as a city dweller, the combination of ample power, tidy footprint, and plenty of practicality is a powerful one. I’ve learned to mostly avoid FOMO in this business—there’s simply too much to do—but that one still stung.

So when a last-minute booking change saw me swapped into a 2025 Honda Civic Type R for a week in California, well, the sun shone a little brighter that day. After the week, I didn’t want to give the car back. Simply put, the Civic Type R is magic.

It’s been enough time to let the newness of this CTR wear off. Yes, it’s a decidedly more demure shape than the OTT origami look of the last model—or at least, as demure as something with a wing straight out of touring car championships can be. What I appreciate so much about this Type R is its comparatively low-key nature; it’s lower and 0.6 inches (15 millimeters) wider, sure, but a quick glance doesn’t give the game up, at least up front. The squat stance screams “purposeful.” If anything, I’d say the wing is too far in that direction: I’d trade a bit of the lightweight aspect for a body-color hoop that blends better with the rest of the shape.

I could tell you how the Civic masterfully balances 315 horsepower (and 310 pound-feet of torque) across just the two 265-section contact patches. How power builds linearly until around 3,000 rpm, where a second kick in the backside is like VTEC but earlier, for the atrophied attention spans of this decade. Even if torque peaks at 4,000 rpm, the Civic will happily run right up towards redline with no delay. Don’t forget the sound: neither complex like a Porsche flat-six nor smooth like a BMW V8, it too is purposeful, the bassy thrum meaning business.

But it’s that shifter that seals it, that makes this one of the truly great ICE powertrains. The aluminum shift knob simply feels good in the hand, and it moves through the gates with the sort of engineered precision that only Honda and maybe Porsche manages. Throws are short and fast, yet all the while there is a clear feeling of being an integral part of the activities. I find myself rowing through the gears just because I can, it’s that much fun.

This is still a hot hatch too, so fuel economy matters. I drove the Civic for the better part of a week up and down the Pacific coast. Unobstructed highway and mountain runs were balanced with the typical LA slog, and yet it still regularly approached 30 mpg (7.8 L/100 km).

Anybody who thinks a front-drive car can’t be a truly great handler has obviously never experienced a hot Honda. The trick dual-axis front suspension essentially eliminates torque steer, leaving a beautifully clean and precise steering feel at all speeds. Yes, it is possible to induce some scrappiness at low speeds with traction control off. But that’s the thing: you have to be really trying to be bad in the Type R.

The Type R is relatively light (3,188 lb / 1,446 kilograms), and turns in with a sharpness that seems impossible for something with 62-percent of its mass on the front end. At higher speeds, it rotates at a point almost right where the driver’s right elbow is; neutral and predictable. Those Brembo front brakes ably haul it down throughout a canyon run, with zero change to that progressive pedal feel.

Forget grinning: I outright laughed during this drive. The Type R’s natural attitude is collaborative: the car wants you to be better and it helps achieve that, but never in a way that relegates the driver to the sidelines.

In a move I can only hope other automakers mimic, Honda did the unthinkable with this Type R and actually gave it smaller wheels than before.  The result is a car that still rides firmly of course, but with an elasticity and flow that was lacking in the last generation. There’s no need to neuter the mighty engine, either: with Individual mode, it’s easy to pair the feistiest powertrain settings with the soft suspension, netting the best of both worlds.

On a particularly long run from Ventura to Carlsbad, the Type R surprised me. It is a remarkably civilized cruiser when needed. Stick it in sixth and the CTR will happily burble its way down a couple hundred miles of highway, with a fair amount of tire noise but little otherwise. It also happily swallowed all of my luggage and road trip snacks with plenty of room left.

Yes, the Type R only seats four, not five. But those in the back will enjoy the same levels of space that they’d find in a regular Civic—only with more red carpets.

The FL5-generation Civic ushered in a vastly improved cabin, and that makes the Type R easier to live with. The clean dashboard design isn't just for aesthetics: it focuses most of the physical controls into one handy spot, along with those clicky climate control dials. The drive mode selector is where it should be (by the shifter), and there's a useful storage cubby with the wireless charger and two USB ports. Looking directly ahead there are no major differences between this and lesser models: only the red H emblem and hollowed-out lower spoke of the wheel give it away. Okay, and the bright red carpets in your peripheral view…

There is a lot of red. Those seats look aggressive, and yes, the lower bolsters do require a bit of effort to clear. Once in however, they’re very comfortable.

There isn’t a ton of digital distraction within the Type R cabin. Its 9.0-inch touchscreen does whatever I need and little more. Wireless Apple CarPlay is easy to set up and gives me no issues through the week. The wireless charger is a little slow; if you’re doing longer drives, use a cord.

The fully digital instrument cluster is clear and easy to read, and I like the nostalgic nod that is the yellow needle. Switching to +R mode changes the screen to an S2000-like tachometer, and brings in all the important temps to keep an eye on. Drivers can also make use of the stopwatch and—should they find themselves on a track—the LogR app provides feedback on lap times. Neat.

On the daily-driving side, the adaptive cruise control works well, as does the blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. I never needed heated seats (though they’d be nice for colder climes), but I maintain any track-capable car should have ventilation.

The Type R now goes for $47,045 ($54,930 CAD) including destination. That puts it just shy of the latest Volkswagen Golf R’s entry point (or slightly above it in Canada), which offers more power and driven axles. There aren’t any real options save the premium exterior paints or the pretty forged wheels.

But hey, look on the bright side: it’s still less than the average new car transaction price these days—assuming you can find a CTR for list, of course.

I’m not here to yuck anybody’s yum. I get the appeal of the all-wheel drive competitors out there: the pick-it-up-by-the-scruff chuckability of the Toyota GR Corolla, the ruthlessly efficient yet tweakable Volkswagen Golf R. And yes, the Hyundai Elantra N does deliver a lot of the front-drive fun of the Type R for significantly less cash. There is truly no bad choice in the current hot hatch (er, compact) space.

Yet none have that singular, almost obsessive attention to detail as the 2025 Civic Type R. This is the 911 GT3 of hot hatches: tight and mechanical while maintaining a wonderfully analog feel. None of the inherent practicality of the shape is sacrificed for this soulful feel, either. Thank you, universe.

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