Video: 2017 Honda Civic Type R Review: First Impressions

But here you are with basically a factory performance version of the Honda Civic that slots above the Honda Civic SI. Now the Type R comes in the Civic's new hatchback variation, itself already kind of an aggressive looking car, but the Civic Type R takes it to other levels here. You've got this very aggressive front splitter here with a red stripe here and kind of a carbon fiber look to it that extends below the front bumpers here. Just a lot of kind of big, gaping portals. And a lot of them are kind of just for show here, 'cause they don't actually let in any more air, but you come around the side and that theme sort of continues here. You notice the side sills, again, just another extension here down below. There's 20 inch alloy wheels, big Brembo cross drilled brakes, and these wheels are actually two inches larger than the Civic SI's wheels, 18 inch alloys. Come around back. A lot more bodywork here. Continues the theme you've seen up front. There's three tailpipes here versus two tailpipes on the regular Civic hatchback. And, you come up here, and look at this wing. This is just a giant, big wing. Unmistakable. You're gonna be able to tell the Type R apart from any other Civic very, very easily. And, since it's so high, it actually doesn't obstruct visibility that bad when you're looking straight back. Now, let's talk about the inside of the car a little bit. A lot of red going on. You've got kind of a red badge in the middle of the steering wheel and sections of the rim of the wheel itself. Very, very highly bolstered one piece sport seats. Much more bolstered actually then the seats in the Civic SI, which are also kind of sportier seats. And, check out that transmission. It's a six speed manual transmission. So, stick shift purists do get to shift their own gears here in the Civic Type R. Unfortunately, there is not a dual clutch automatic option, as you get in a certain other performance compacts. And, under the hood, that takes us to probably the most exciting thing here. A turbocharged two liter four cylinder engine, as opposed to the 1.5 liter turbo engine that you get elsewhere. 306 horsepower, 295 pounds feet of torque. It drives the front wheel, so no all wheel drive, which might be a disappointment to some enthusiasts, but there is a limited slip differential. There's three stage dampers, Honda says. There's driving modes that can change everything from steering field, to the suspension, to a whole lot of other stuff. So, we're excited to get behind the wheel closer to the Type R's on sale date, later in 2017.