• Honda Civic Type R claims hat trick of honours
• Civic Type R also wins hot hatch and international editors’ car of the year
• A global win for the car with international editors voting
The Honda Civic Type R has triumphed in the coveted BBC TopGear magazine Car of the Year awards, taking a hat-trick of honours. Picking up the hot hatch of the year, international editors’ car of the year and then going on to claim the overall prize, car of the year.
The awards issue of BBC TopGear Magazine is their annual celebration of the very best cars of the year. As the world’s largest monthly car magazine, this year their awards went global with the editors of all 22 of their international editions voting for their favourite cars of the year.
Built in Swindon, the Civic Type R shares the same fundamentals as the new Civic hatchback and has been engineered from the ground up to deliver the most rewarding drive in the hot-hatch segment – both on road and on the race track.
“The Civic Type R isn’t just the best Hot Hatch of the Year, it’s the best Car of the Year,” said BBC TopGear magazine. “It’s addictive, rhythmic and devastatingly rapid; a true hero for the masses delivering accessibility and madness in one package. The thrill comes from the sheer single-mindedness of it.”
“To score a hat trick of awards at the BBC TopGear’s Car of the Year awards is a great honour,” says Philip Ross, Senior Vice President, Honda Motor Europe. “The new Civic Type R is a complete package, providing customers with performance, rewarding driving experience and best-in-class practicality. The greatest thanks for this achievement goes to the engineers, designers and the associates at the factory building the cars. Without them and the one Honda mentality, this would not have been possible.”
The Civic Type R has a top speed of 169mph and can do the 0-62mph sprint in just 5.7 seconds. The power comes from the 2.0-litre VTEC TURBO engine that has been optimised and refined to produce 320 PS with peak torque of 400 Nm.
