And talking of speed, there’s plenty of that to be had, too. We mentioned the fettling of the engine, and while the differential from FK8 to FL5 is not massive, the extra 20Nm of torque made themselves known fairly instantly on the wet track. Where you could fairly confidently feed the power in with the FK8, a similar squeeze of the throttle in the FL5 garnered an alarming level of slip that we simply didn’t experience in the older model. We were willing to blame this on the weather rather than weigh in too heavily on the car, but the difference was stark all the same. Needless to say, we’ll be interested to get this car in the dry to see just how it stacks up.
Now, it would be impossible to talk about the Civic Type R without referencing the gearbox. It’s just sublime. Accurate, smooth, quick, and almost perfect. There are some issues, mainly regarding the continuation of the rev-hang problem found in the FK8, which has been carried over into the FL5. Pushing all the way to the red-line will almost always see you hit the limiter as you shift, but being aware of lifting slightly earlier is all you need to avoid the annoyance.
Do we have anything else to add? Well, that VTEC engine continues to howl as it always has, but we detected a new level of shrillness to this latest version that once again just slightly lifts the new Civic above the outgoing model. It absolutely roars through the revs, and we wonder yet again if there’s another engine that can come close to matching it in this price range.
A lot of work has clearly gone into this new FL5 Civic Type R, and we’re pleased to say that across the board the effort has been entirely worth it. As an upgraded package of goodies, it’s quite incredible, and while it’s true the rate of improvement is definitely beginning to reach a plateau, we figure there’s enough here to justify the new car’s arrival.