The New Honda Civic Type R's Engine Sounds Amazingly Like A Beautiful Five-Cylinder

This new video from Honda gives us our first chance to hear the new Civic Type R, and despite running a four-pot turbo, it sounds remarkably like it has an extra cylinder at its disposal

Matt Robinson

23 Mar 2017

What intrigued us most about the new Honda Civic Type R when we examined it at the Geneva Motor Show was its exhaust. That third, smaller pipe isn’t there for show: Type R Assistant Project Lead Hideki Kakinuma told us it “creates a certain negative pressure” at mid and high RPM, with the aim of reducing booming noise in the cabin while increasing overall volume.

It seems what the new trick exhaust also does is give the Type R a delicious, almost five-cylinder-like burble, as showcased in this new video from Honda. It seems highly unlikely that it’s the result of sound editing trickery, although we are eager to hear the exhaust note of the turbo four-pot Type R ‘in person’ with our own ears.

The old car wasn’t brilliant in the sound department, with a dull boom resonating through the cabin at certain engine speeds. It wasn’t particularly characterful from the outside either. This time around, Honda look to have rectified the uninspiring noise of the 2.0-litre turbo, and then some.

What do you think of the new Type R’s exhaust note?

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

It does sound amazing. Im not fond of the look though, there’s a lot going on from whatever angle you look at it… I wish we would have an understated Type R, without the kind of look that invites the wrong kind of attention (especially in UK)

With our previous-gen longtermer I didn’t have any problem with the “wrong kind of attention” as you call it, but yeah, it is busy in the styling department! Old one wasn’t exactly pretty but I did love the way it stuck out like a sore thumb in car parks.

Could be a really good car but pls compare it to other fwd hatches because everyone knows that the focus rs/sti/a45 will wreck it in terms of acceleration and all weather driving. Maybe compare it to the gti clubsport and the megane rs ? Would give a better view of what you can expect out of a fwd hatch platform

Well tbf it’s in a similar price range to the r/rs.

To be honest. Be a use of the very high drivetrain loss with awd. The type r is probably putting more power to the wheels than the RS. It’s also expected to weigh less. So… the civic should definitely have better highway acceleration. And better lap times. I also highly prefer the civics interior

It’ll be compared to whatever is relevant and in the same price bracket, and that’ll inevitably mean Focus RS. We can’t just ignore an obvious comparison because it’s deemed ‘unfair’ in terms of acceleration and all weather driving!

In any case, the four-wheel drive hot hatches may have the jump on the 2WD hatches in terms of acceleration and wet weather performance, but they’re heavier and in some cases less engaging to drive. I’d have a Golf GTI Clubsport or Seat Leon Cupra over a Focus RS, for instance…

I’m sorry, but it sounds a tad bit too artificial. No?

I don’t know, but I guess I’ll have to wait until someone records a video of the new CTR’s exhaust note on the open roads.

well, the 4cyl engine doesn’t naturally create that sound or tone, its to do with the exhaust system.

If only no fake rear vents…

are you the lead engineer for this car? If not, how do you say its fake vents and not functional or at the very least say a method to reduce weight?

No doubt it would look better without the fake vents in the front and rear bumper covers.

New fartcan

Honda aims for the vapers

I was like
NANI !!!!?

I still couldn’t understand why Honda replace the handbrake lever with an button. It may looks brilliant and sounds gorgeous but handbrake is the only way to kick the tail off in a FF at low speed and they kill that fun now. Don’t know what they are thinking about.

Maybe they get rid that lever to kill whoever drive it 😂

You can always resort to Scandianvian Flick, but yes. Maybe Honda thinks no one who buys this car is going to end up doing handbrake turns, since it’s “dangerous” to do so.

Well, when the majority of people don’t ever do that in their cars, it’s not that much of a concern for them. I can admit I did the occasional e-brake power slide on dirt or in wet parking lots back when I had my ST, but if it didn’t come with a real handbrake, it wouldn’t have been a deal-breaker.

Modernization, maybe it’ll still let u J turn? Either way you usually dont need the hand brake to kick the tail out. Just gas it, turn in then brake and counter steer.