Honda Civic Type R 2024 Review

When the latest (FL5-series) 2024 Honda Civic Type R arrived Down Under in mid-2023, it was one of most expensive front-wheel drive small cars in the country.

That status continues today, with a $72,600 drive-away sticker price that didn’t stop buyers forming a waiting list that has only now been cleared.

It makes the Type R around $20K more than the Hyundai i30 Sedan N ($52,000 plus on-road costs) and a few grand more than the Toyota GR Corolla GTS ($64,190 plus ORCs) and Volkswagen Golf R ($70,590 plus ORCs), the latter pair of which are all-wheel drive.

For background, it’s also a lot pricier than its predecessor. Compared to the previous-generation Type R, the smarter and better-equipped sixth-gen hot hatch tested here costs around $13,000 more.

Proper hot hatch equipment and decent tech, which is exactly what you’d expect at this price point.

Standard equipment for the 2024 Honda Civic Type R includes 19-inch alloy wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber, adaptive dampers, four-piston Brembo brakes up front, LED headlights, tail-lights, and daytime running lights (DRLs), suede-like bucket seats in red, an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel, and red seatbelts and carpet.

It looks the part, too, thanks to an edgy body kit, bonnet vent, gloss-black exterior styling elements and three exhaust outlets.

You don’t pay any extra for any of the four colour options – Rally Red, Sonic Grey, Crystal Black and Championship White – however, if you want the lairy carbon-fibre rear spoiler seen here, that’ll be an extra $4500.

Honda covers the Civic Type R with a standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, while services – capped at $199 each for the first five visits – are due every 12 months or 10,000km.

The latest 2024 Honda Civic Type R hasn’t been crash-tested in Australia and therefore, doesn’t get an ANCAP safety rating. However, the regular Civic on which it’s based has been awarded a five-star Euro NCAP rating overseas, making it a pretty safe bet.

It also comes equipped with a decent load of safety and driver assistance aids courtesy of Honda’s Sensing Suite, including eight airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane assist, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, automatic LED high-beam headlights and speed sign recognition.

There’s also plenty of cool tech on board the 2024 Honda Civic Type R, including a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster (with LED shift lights) and a 9.0-inch central touch-screen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, digital radio, navigation and Bluetooth.

Dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, voice assist and an eight-speaker audio system also come standard, while the new Type R also debuts Honda’s latest ‘LogR’ 2.0 data logging system, which brings cool tech like a lap timer, telemetry (yaw rate, brake pressure, steering angle and more), as well as the ability to offer driver feedback.

It’s a data-logging system we’ve used (and loved) previously and it’s an impressive bit of kit designed to help you get the most out of track days, which is really where the Type R does its best work.

You also get the choice of Comfort, Sport, and R+ drive modes, the latter of which employs an automatic rev-matching system.

Day to day, it’s all very user-friendly, from the physical climate control dials to a proper volume knob (unlike other Honda models that employ a touch-panel for volume control), and intuitive steering wheel layout; everything you need is at your fingertips and there’s very little to get distracted by.

Like all good hot hatches, the 2024 Honda Civic Type R is fitted with a capable powertrain and here it’s in the form of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that comes mated to just one transmission, a six-speed manual.

That’s just fine in our – and many enthusiasts’ – books but there’s no doubt the lack of an automatic will see some potential buyers look elsewhere.

While it uses the same fundamentals as the previous-gen Type R, this sixth-gen model ups the power and torque (previously 228kW/400Nm) thanks to a new cold-air intake system, more efficient intercooler and revised turbo.

Those happy to do the three-pedal dance are treated to a generous 235kW/420Nm, which is more than the i30 N (206kW/392Nm) and GR Corolla (221kW/370Nm) and virtually lineball with the Golf R’s 235kW/400Nm.

Honda claims a 0-100km/h sprint time of 5.4 seconds, an impressive figure for a front-drive, manual hatch.

We didn’t exactly drive like Miss Daisy during our time with the 2024 Honda Civic Type R, but we weren’t being silly either. Instead, we drove the same way we think most owners will, from A to B – mostly around town with a bit of highway driving – with a few squirts here and there.

As such, our average combined fuel consumption figure ended up at 12.3L/100km, which is a fair bit higher than Honda Australia’s average combined-cycle claim of 8.9L/100km, but we reckon a little more finesse would get you much closer to that number. 



Having recently discovered the 2024 Honda Civic Type R’s (extensive) track limits at The Bend Motorsport Park, it really is no surprise to find out this racy little hatch is just as capable on road.

There’s a level of connection between car and driver here that’s difficult to find in a lot of modern-day sports cars and the Civic Type R is so easy to become attuned to, even doing a convincing job as a dialled-down everyday driver in Comfort mode.

Those big red sports seats hug you comfortably without the rigidity of a proper race seat – even though the chunky bolstering can make ingress and egress challenging at times – while the suede-steering wheel feels grippy underhand and the pedals are perfectly positioned for heel-and-toe manoeuvres, not that you need to with the Type R’s adept rev-match function.

Then there’s that weighty steering, which requires a little more muscle than most but gives tremendous amounts of feedback. You feel everything happening underneath you.

For how firmly sprung and agile the 2024 Honda Civic Type R is set up, it’s surprisingly not as bone-jarring as you might expect around town, and even when you hit rough country roads its adaptive dampers do a great job of soaking up sharp hits.

Still, road noise flows – but doesn’t necessarily flood – relentlessly into the cabin, made much worse on coarse-chip surfaces and back-roads. But overall, it’s a lot more liveable than you might expect and those with hot hatch aspirations know will happily sacrifice a little daily comfort for the enjoyment this car delivers.

The only downfall is it can be difficult to enjoy the full breadth of the Type R’s performance on road because that turbo-four needs to be worked hard – which pretty quickly leads to speeding – to feel its best.

That said, there’s plenty of power on tap, right up to its 7000rpm limit, and it’s delivered in such an effortless and linear manner. The Type R really eggs you on, with astounding grip and superb cornering ability – it’s a hot hatch you’ll probably never get sick of driving.

The only area you might be left wanting is in the aural region. Inside the cabin, its augmented exhaust notes are most potent in R+ drive mode, but from the outside it doesn’t produce the head-turning pops and crackles of an off-the-shelf Hyundai i30 N, which not everyone is a fan of anyway.

True to its hot hatch DNA, the cabin is a sporty, crimson-coloured cocoon, yet even with all that red it doesn’t feel overdone.

But if you didn’t know the price when you first hopped into the cabin of the 2024 Honda Civic Type R, you’d be forgiven for being a little taken aback when you find out it costs more than $70,000.

That’s not to say it feels cheap, it just doesn’t feel as upmarket inside as something like the (similarly-priced) Volkswagen Golf R, which employs leathers, gloss black inlays and a more swanky interior in comparison to the Golf it’s based on.

Here, there’s a lot of ‘regular’ Civic going on, which even then is difficult to complain about, because the Civic VTi LX feels premium with its honeycomb air-vents and host of soft-touch materials throughout.

The Type R still get plenty of suede and plush materials throughout, as well as ambient interior lighting just in case there wasn’t enough red for you. And that aluminium gear knob is a highlight, with a solid, weighty feel underhand.

But you don’t get powered front seats, nor do you get seat heating or cooling. There’s also no sunroof option.

Meanwhile, the two-seater rear bench brings another challenge, because even though it’s spacious enough, the fact that you can’t carry a fifth passenger may be a burden.

The 410-litre boot will be enough for most – extending to 1212L with the 60/40-split rear seat folded – but you only get a tyre repair kit beneath the boot floor, not a real spare tyre.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the 2024 Honda Civic Type R is one of the best off-the-shelf hot hatches you can buy today – and you no longer have to wait to get one.

It’s not cheap and it’s certainly not the car to get if you prefer to blend in, but it is extremely engaging and surprisingly malleable. If you love driving then yes, buy one, because the Type R will make you love driving even more.

2024 Honda Civic Type R at a glance:
Price: $72,600 drive-away
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 235kW/420Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 8.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 203g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested