Bad news. Dear reader, you are at least as vicious as we are at Auto Moto. A Honda Civic Type R against a Toyota GR Yaris… Another meeting to sleep on your feet. However, despite its incongruity, you are still reading these lines. In your defense, perhaps it is a question here of knowing how, once again, we manage to justify ourselves to commit such a comparison. Let’s admit.
It is undeniable, apart from their nationality, these two sportswomen have little to do with each other. Power, engine architecture, transmission, size, price… Difficult to find any common characteristic.
Although about the price, these two Japanese initially appear much too expensive for what they are. Nearly €40,000 for a Yaris, it is enormous. And €55,000 for a Honda Civic, it’s not a straw either. In this case, it is 10,000 € more than for the previous generation of Type R. A nice sum, whereas on first reading the technical sheet, or even passing a head under the largely blown hood, nothing changes a lot. Yes, but everything is changing a little, nuance.
The engine block, which develops only nine small additional horsepower, is certainly renewed, but in particular adopts a new turbo whose number of blades and their design are reviewed to improve response time.
Before approaching it so closely, the “R” even seems to settle down. The head of design, who was probably 12 in 2017 at the time of an “overdesigned” FK8, is mathematically 18 today. And it shows. However, more mature, the body multiplies the real aerodynamic properties. A paradox illustrated by the rear wing. Better integrated into the line of the car, almost invisible from now on from the central mirror, it generates more downforce than before without increasing drag.
And if, against an ugly current trend, the forged aluminum rims shrink slightly from 20 to 19 inches, it is to reduce the unsprung masses. Between showing off and common sense, Honda has chosen.
The last doubts as to the added value of this latest opus in relation to its predecessor vanish at the first hectometres. Definitively. Thanks to its performance, its level of grip, its sound?
Better, it is now possible to switch from one radio station to another via the multimedia interface or have the remaining battery life displayed on the on-board computer without letting out a barrage of insults or failing to end up in the decor. If that, it is not the revolution! Now based on the eleventh generation Civic, the Type R naturally takes over the instrumentation, much less cryptic than in the past.
More seriously, the driving position, which was already tending towards perfection, comes even closer. The buttocks, well aligned with the pedals, always touch the floor a little more, by a few millimeters, while the cozy seat, covered with fabric, not slippery leather, holds its occupant at all costs.
As before, just as much as the installation of the driver, the consistency of the commands makes it possible to instantly become one with the machine. Despite its electric assistance, which has become the norm today, the steering transcribes the grain of the road like few others through a steering wheel rim, thin just right, deliciously covered with Alcantara.
But the most electrifying by far is the short mechanical gearbox lever; the contact in the palm of the hand of its metal knob cut in the mass, its precise guidance, its short travels and its frank locks make it the best manual control on the market, that’s it! Until you regret that the engine is not more hollow to use it more often.
Because exit the turbo effect of VTEC, quite marked at low revs so far. The 4-cylinder 2.0 leaves some of its (dirty) character behind. But what it loses in temperament despite the deployment of an additional 20 Nm, the K20C1, by its code name, wins it in availability. From an arrival that is both earlier and more progressive, the impressive breath stretches from 2,000 to 7,000 rpm without stopping. The only downside remains the sound, whatever, whether amplified by the speakers or not, the trick being deactivated.
At the forefront of the mechanical attack, the front axle of this traction still and always resists the invader. Solid, it once again combines decoupled pivots and a limited-slip differential to stretch the trajectory as much as possible. Including floor throttle. It’s science fiction. In any case, on the cool, but dry asphalt of this winter test, the Yaris and its four-wheel drive are not the prerogative of catapulting out of corners.
The two cars theoretically share the same Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. But by their refined design and their gripthose of the Honda are curiously reminiscent of their glorious semi-slick elders, the Sport Cup 2. In its last entrenchments in fast curves, this brave 5-door family car starts to dig into its suspensions like a racing track racer.
Although the weight increases by about half a quintal, the Type R seems more responsive and light. More rigid, it’s a fact, it obeys the finger and especially the eye. Be careful then not to exaggerate your gestures, at the risk of sinking the rope too soon and/or too hard. This joy also arises from the fact that the rear axle, without being as fickle as that of a Renault Megane RS Trophy R, takes more initiatives. Especially keeping your foot on the brake when entering a turn. The high-definition touch of the middle pedal invites you to do so without fear: bite, power, ease of dosing, resistance, everything is there.
Finally, as it is now possible to adjust the steering of the damping independently of everything else (engine response, direction, aggressiveness of the heel-toe, etc.) to eventually return to more flexibility, the Type R, in addition to to be one of the most sensational sports cars to drive of our time, is an excellent GT, comfortable, with four seats and a large boot. But €55,000 for two cars is no exaggeration.
Leaving such a successful Honda, the Yaris, which is not really one (it only shares its headlights, lights, mirrors and antenna with our European 5-door), first passes for a big scam.
The driving position makes you dizzy as it is elevated. You have to skilfully aim between a cumbersome retro interior and the multimedia interface screen to hope to glimpse the rope of right turns. The clumsy crankset, whose two right pedals seem to be pulling the face, discourages the slightest heel-toe. The vague growl of the 3-cylinder evokes that of a modest Aygo. And the firmness of the suspension, underlined by the shortness of the wheelbase, makes this beginning of experience even more painful.
Then comes the metamorphosis. All it takes is a wave of the magic wand, this one being held at the end of the right foot. As the rhythm increases, the alchemy works. The damping makes more use of its travels. Before that, the small 1.6 turbo changed its tone. His grunts covered by the violent exhalations of overeating are still not recovering from it at night. But his aggressiveness is more than awake. That much energy fits in just 1618 cm3 is hardly believable. Despite its architecture and its artificial respiration, this block continues the effort up to 7000 rev / min without ever being asked.
In the euphoria, the direction, precise, like the control of the transmission, rigorously guided, make it possible to keep a minimum the clear ideas, in the absence of offering a feeling as detailed as on board the Civic.
After opening this Pandora’s box on four wheels, it’s hard to ease off. At a time when most modern sports cars display power levels and above all sizes that are ever less compatible with our road environment, this 261 hp integral, barely 4 meters long and around 1.80 meters wide, takes on the air of a crime spree. At the wheel, it goes flat out, everywhere, all the time.
The genius of the GR resides in the opportunity to add a pinch of fantasy to this efficiency. By preferring in particular the Sport program to the Normal and Track of the all-wheel drive. The rear axle then receives up to 70% of the torque to gently spin around the front. All the more so in this Track version whose Torsen differentials facilitate corner entry on the brakes as well as corner exit on the gas.
This is how many sports cars, more expensive and more powerful, like the Civic Type R, ultimately remain within range of the little “Toy” when the profile of the course is suitable. There is really something to take for Sébastien Ogier. Like what, like its compatriot, the Yaris does deserve the investment. Because €40,000 for a racing car, which it should have been initially, is a bargain.
What makes these two creatures unaffordable is rather our taxation. Because there is an encrypted characteristic that they do share, unfortunately. Each emits 186 g/km of CO2. Both are thus exposed to a penalty of more than €12,500 in 2023.
Worse, this dissuasive policy quite simply threatens their very short-term existence on our territory. Hence our desire to bring together these machines as technically different as they are similar in their way of provoking emotion: by placing the driver at the center of the experience thanks to mechanical sensations much more present than at the wheel of much more presumptuous…and expensive machines.
Our Verdict
As long as we can, we will celebrate these endangered sportswomen; authentic, with a strong mechanical dimension and almost affordable. That said, although it’s not the cheapest of this encounter, the Civic Type R particularly commands attention by offering a degree of feel that is rare today. It’s a bit like the Porsche 911 GT3 of the GTIs. Yes, that’s as good as that. Thanks Toyota. But Honda hats off!
Technical sheet Honda Civic Type R
- Engine: transverse front, 4-cylinder turbo, direct injection, 1,996 cc3.
- Transmission: front-wheel drive, 6-speed manual
- Power (hp @ rpm): 329 @ 6,500
- Torque (Nm at rpm): 420 at 2,200
- Curb weight (kg): 1,429
- Long.xlarg.xhaut. (m) : 4,59×1,89×1,41
- Wheelbase (m): 2.74
- Tank (l): 47
- Vitesse maxi (km/h) : 275
- 0 to 100 km/h: 5”4
- Standard tires: 265/30 R19
- Test tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
- Prix : 55 000 €
Data sheet Toyota GR Yaris
- Engine: transverse front, 3-cylinder turbo, direct injection, 1618 cc3.
- Transmission: all-wheel, 6-speed manual
- Power (hp @ rpm): 261 @ 6,500
- Torque (Nm at rpm): 360 at 3000
- Curb weight (kg): 1,310
- Long.xlarg.xhaut. (m) : 4×1,81×1,46
- Wheelbase (m): 2.56
- Tank (l): 50
- Vitesse maxi (km/h) : 230
- 0 to 100 km/h: 5”5
- Standard tires: 225/40 R18
- Test tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
- Prix : 39 400 €
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