
If the 50-pound reduction that Honda gave the Limited Edition is a healthy diet, the TC is an athlete in their prime. It’s plenty quick, though the real transformation isn’t in the engine. In our case, it retained the stock output of 306 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque with some adjustment to the ECU. The 2.0-liter turbo-four can be tuned from 270 to 330 horsepower depending on the race series. So, unlike the shift feel in higher-spec race cars, the TC's remains forgiving and the car could easily be streetable. The pedals, clutch and flywheel remain stock. With a tap of the stock Start Engine button the car thunders to life, thanks to the lack of sound insulation and a Borla turbo-back exhaust. You have to ignore all that and instead focus on a MoTec C125 datalogger for all the vitals. Warning lights illuminate the IP like a Christmas tree due to extraneous sensors being disconnected. You’re ensconced in a multi-point roll cage and safety netting, and you face the familiar contours of the stock dash, or at least the top half of it. Or, rather, Honda never added it to begin with, as cars are plucked from the assembly line and delivered as bodies-in-white to Honda Performance Development in southern California for the transformation. Honda gutted 300 pounds of bulk that includes most of the interior and sound-deadening. Your right hand falls naturally to the cue-ball shift knob from the 2017–19 Type R, but beyond that is a sea of white paint. Once you’re strapped in by the six-point harness, things begin to feel familiar even if they don’t look it. And don’t forget, for that price Honda delivers a competition machine that’s been rigorously tested and built to comply with the rules of several touring car series.Īs a result, the car proves remarkably easy to drive (though squeezing over the roll cage into the heavily bolstered OMP racing seat is a different story).
#2021 honda civic type r cost professional
You don't even need a racing license, and for many drivers, cars like this will be their first stints in the world of professional motorsports.
#2021 honda civic type r cost pro
That makes the racing a lot more accessible for the average person.Īt $89,900, the Civic Type R TC probably isn’t what most people would call accessible, but it’s a small fraction of what it would cost to run even a modest pro campaign. Touring cars, on the other hand, start out on the same assembly lines as what’s in our driveways, cars like the BMW M240i, Hyundai Veloster N, Audi RS3 and Nissan 370Z. Formula 1 and Indy might be the pinnacles of racing, but the cars have little to do with what we can buy. The next rung up, it turns out, is a turnkey TC America race car.

Having recently sampled both the track weapon Honda Civic Type R and the even more capable 2021 Civic Type R Limited Edition, we wondered if we could climb any higher on the Civic’s performance ladder.


There have been fuel-sipping hybrids, sedans for people clueless to the untapped performance potential of their commuters, and sporty Si hot hatches. Honda has always done a fantastic job of offering a variety of grades for its ubiquitous everycar, the Civic.
