Honda Civic Type R Sport Line 2021 UK review

Can a more civilised Type R really work - or just dilute what originally made it special? Do you have a problem with the way the Civic Type R looks?Honda thinks you might, which is why it has added this Sport Line version. It exists chiefly to tone down the warzone aesthetic of what is surely the finest senior hot hatch of the current crop.The big casualty is the high-level rear wing – that see-it-a-mile-away identifier of Type R-ness. It has been replaced by something subtler, even if, should you inspect the undersides at its extremities, the new part still features vortex-generating fins.The wheels are downsized, too, from 20in on the Type R GT to 19in, although space remains for the full-fat car’s 350mm MMC brake discs. Those wheels wear what’s now the third different tyre Honda has fitted to its Ford Focus ST rival, after using Continental Sport Contact 6 rubber on the original and semi-slick Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s for the hardcore Limited Edition launched last year. It’s Michelin’s Pilot Sport 4 S rubber that has been called up for duty this time – in our experience, just about the best road-focused tyre around, with soft sidewalls yet also plenty of precision and support.Finally, the red exterior pinstriping of the regular Type R has disappeared, as has the red cloth of the otherwise unchanged bucket seats, and some of the ordinary Civic’s soundproofing, removed from the regular Type R to save weight, has been put back in.That said, the Sport Line’s kerb weight is the same as before, at 1380kg – a class-leading figure.