Goodbye Civic Type R

As demonstrations go, this isn't quite the G20 protest.

Determined to voice our dissatisfaction at the demise of the Civic Type R, the TG Revolutionary Army has marched on Honda's Swindon factory. Unfortunately there are only five of us. Our sole weapons are a flimsy sign suspended on a few sticks - one of which snaps feebly in the first gust of wind - and a broken vuvuzela. And no one can remember the words to the long-winded though metrically precise chant devised in the pub yesterday.

Words: Sam Philip
Photos: Barry Hayden

Come to think of it, we're probably not even in the right place. Far from being an in-house decision, Honda has been forced to can the Civic Type R in the face of next year's more stringent Euro V emissions regulations, which makes our Swindon demonstration the equivalent of turning up at a field full of horses to protest about the ban on fox-hunting ("Yeah, guys, we know. Totally on your side. Now pass us some hay, would you?"). But the Euro emissions people are in Belgium, probably, which is really far away, and it felt a bit more symbolic to picket the Swindon plant. This is where the current Civic Type R is built, and will continue to be built next year for non-Euro markets. This seems unfair.

What we lack in organisation, numbers and noise, we make up for in cars. With the help of the most excellent guys from the Type-R owners' forum (yes, they've kept the original hyphen, despite Honda dropping it from the latest Civic), we've corralled together each of the Type-Rs ever offered on sale in the UK: two Civics, an Integra, an Accord and - our pièce de résistance - the NSX. That ‘the' is important there: it is the only one, the only UK-spec NSX-R in existence. Near priceless, irreplaceable, loaned to TG by its owner who has surely mistaken us for reliable people of mechanical sympathy. If an NSX-R isn't enough to make those fat cats in Eurohall realise the error of their ways then, well, we'll just have to, er, have another cup of tea, and...

After 45 minutes failing to attract the attention of the national media, a cleaning lady politely asks us to move. Thwarted by The Man, our protest fizzles out like a disappointing fizzly thing, and we set off on the far more important business of whanging these cars around the countryside.

Completely by chance, and definitely nothing to do with standing beside it for half-an-hour throwing rocks at anyone who dared to come near, I get first shot in the NSX-R.

It's almost heartbreakingly perfect, this car. Imported and converted to UK spec by Honda eight years ago, when the company got cold feet and aborted plans to offer the NSX-R, it was bought by its current owner, who's kept it in pristine condition since. With barely 20,000 miles on the clock, the interior is as fresh as the day it rolled off the production line, the bodywork as pristine. (Incidentally, the owner tells us he's open to offers on his car. Get Googling, interested buyers.)

And, oh yes, it's bloody amazing to drive. One of the very best, ever. The NSX-R isn't mad-quick by modern supercar standards, but there's an absolute mechanical rightness to all its controls that makes everything else on the road feel extraneous and fluffy. Short-throw gearboxes are often described as having a ‘rifle-bolt action'. Not being a shooting type, I have no idea what a rifle-bolt action feels like - or indeed is - but if it's half as satisfying as the sharp-cut shift on the NSX-R, those gunsmiths are doing a fine job.

The devotion of the Honda engineers in refining the none-too-shabby NSX into a Type-R was nothing short of fanatical. The bonnet and rear wing are made from carbon fibre, the gearknob fashioned from titanium, the carpets lighter, the rear glass thinner and - my personal favourite - the leather around the gearknob replaced with mesh to save a few more grams. Overall, they carved 120kg from the stock NSX.

Honda claimed the output of the NSX-R's 3.2-litre V6 remained unchanged from the standard motor's 276bhp. It was rumoured to be far more. It feels like far more: 60mph comes up in just over four seconds, and once the NSX-R hooks onto the VTEC cam at 6,000rpm, it emits the most glorious, sonorous rowl - a word I have just invented that combines the best bits of roaring and howling. It revs and and rowls and revs, and why the hell didn't Honda bring a few more of these amazing cars to the UK?

While the NSX-R represents the distilled, refined essence of Type-R'ness, the four other cars we have here - with not a turbo between them - all share its DNA. Yes, they've been driven hard, ragged back and forth across the country by their owners, but they remain damn good to drive.

Though 70,000 miles old, the Integra - widely regarded in its day as the greatest front-drive car - still launches at its 8,400rpm red line with dizzying intent and, thanks to the total lack of sound-deadening, dizzying noise. The Accord and last-gen Civic aren't quite so raucous, but they remain refreshingly pared-back and revvy. And, though Clarkson might have given it a mild kicking, the current Civic Type R is still a thing of surprising purity in an era where hot hatches are increasingly getting bigger of turbo and lower on involvement.

"The thing about Type-Rs," says Chris Dooks, founder of the owners' forum and keeper of the Accord in our shoot, "is that they're no-nonsense sports cars. No frills. You can use them every day and they're not too thirsty, but then at weekends you can take them to a track and treat them like racers. They all share a character - rewarding to drive, but you have to work for the performance. It's addictive..."

So what next for Type R in the UK? The Honda brass are keen to stress that this doesn't necessarily spell the end for the brand, and that any future model has to adhere to the pure, driver-focused philosophy of its predecessors. However, they won't rule out the possibility of the next R being - whisper it - turbocharged. Actually, don't whisper it: the Type R faithful aren't as resistant to the idea of forced induction as you might imagine.

"A turbocharged R?" muses Chris. "Sure, why not? As long as the chassis is well set-up, the weight kept down and the engine still revs high like the current engines, then as far as I, and most of the forum, are concerned, it's all gravy. There are a few that will obviously want to keep Type-R normally aspirated, but the extra power and lower emissions of a turbo will be welcomed by most. But Honda should be warned that a lazy, torquey turbo with no character won't be well received..."

Take heed, Honda. You might have foiled this protest with your mop-wielding agent, but if Type R doesn't return quick-sharp, we'll be back. And next time, our vuvuzela will work.