Few diverse remaining offerings
The new Honda Civic Type-R costs just under €80,000, making it almost €20,000 more expensive than the outgoing model, whose powertrain and overall recipe has quite a lot in common with the new one. We are therefore dealing with a significant price increase, which means that the Type-R is now a bit higher in the market. But what is the competition actually asking for its goods these days?
To answer this question, we must first point out that the new Honda Civic Type-R actually has no competition at all. The model offers a powerful engine (more than 300 hp) and front-wheel drive in combination with a manual gearbox – the classic hot hatchrecipe. If we look at the range of other car brands, there is actually only one brand that offers a car according to that recipe in the C-segment. And that’s Ford with the Focus ST.
Although Volkswagen also has a manual and potent front-wheel drive in its range with the Golf GTI, its power and price are so far below the Civic Type-R that we cannot call it a competitor. Besides the Civic and Focus, there is no other front-wheel drive hatchback with around 300 hp – let alone one with a manual gearbox. With Hyundai no longer supplying the i30 N, Renault no Mégane RS, Volkswagen no GTI Clubsport and Cupra no extra hot Leon, all Type R counterparts have four-wheel drive and an automatic – except the Focus.
This is the current offer (in order of increasing starting prices):
| Brand | Fashion model | Drive | Transmission | Assets | 0-100 time | Price |
| Ford | Focus ST | Front wheels | Manual gearbox | 280 hp | 5.7 seconds | €59,200 |
| BMW | M135i xDrive | 4WD | Vending machine | 306 hp | 4.8 seconds | €67,160 |
| Audi | S3 | 4WD | Vending machine | 310 hp | 4.8 seconds | €70,935 |
| Volkswagen | Golf R 20 years | 4WD | Vending machine | 333 hp | 4.6 seconds | €73,590 |
| Honda | Civic Type R | Front wheels | Manual gearbox | 330 hp | 5.4 seconds | €78,980 |
| Mercedes AMG | A35 | 4WD | Vending machine | 306 hp | 4.7 seconds | €82,045 |
In the overview you can see that the Honda Civic Type-R with its sharply increased starting price now indeed operates in the highest regions of the segment. The car is stronger and faster than the Focus ST, but at a significantly higher price. The competitors are a bit faster on the 0-100 with their more complex powertrains, but are a bit cheaper despite more powertrain technology. Except for the A35, which is a bit more expensive. Please note: especially with Mercedes, Audi and BMW you will be able to spend a lot of money on the decoration of your hot hatch, while it is always complete with Honda.
What is also striking is that the Golf R is more expensive than the Audi S3, although that is probably because you can now only order the R as ’20 Years’ with an extra potent version of the turbo four-cylinder and some extra decoration. In addition, the range of Mercedes and BMW is remarkably far apart in terms of pricing. Finally: the Audi RS3 and Mercedes-AMG A45 are not included in this comparison, because they both offer around 400 hp and cost around a ton in euros.
All in all, the hot hatch range in the C segment is not very diverse. A segment that once had so much to offer is actually a fraction of what it was with the disappearance of the aforementioned brands, among others.
Therefore the question: which hot hatch from yesteryear do you think back to fondly? And which one should it be for you from the current offer? Let me know in the comments.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl