I CAN'T PLAY THE IMPARTIAL JOURNALIST HERE. There is no statement of full disclosure that can wash the years of Civic obsession from my hide, no feigned detachment that can neutralize the days I spent laboring for hoarded pennies, blistering my hands, skipping meals and haircuts and drinks with pretty ladies for brakes and cylinder heads and a gauge cluster with an honest-to-God tachometer. It cannot be done.

Which is why I felt a hitch in my chest when Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo made it clear he wants to get back to building cars with a pulse.

Be still my teenage heart.

This Euro-spec bruiser is the last of the forbidden fruit. It's aimed at splitting cars like the Golf R and Focus RS wide open. It's also the first time Honda has let the company's new turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder out in the wild—the same engine that will eventually show up in the U.S.-spec Type R. It's a terror, ripping to 7000 rpm and good for 306 hp, but it doesn't feel like the engines I fell in love with. The kick in the pants of the secondary cam profile is gone, replaced by generic, blinding acceleration. Playing with the onboard acceleration timer, I saw 0–62-mph numbers in the low fives. Officially, Honda says the hatch will do it in 5.7 seconds.

Honda

And that from front-wheel drive. VW and Ford may shove power to all four corners in their megahatches, but Honda does not. Instead, the Type R's onslaught of engineering and electronic wizardry keeps the car pointed in the right direction. There's surprisingly little torque steer for a machine that drops V-8 power on heroic front tires.

Big vents, bigger wings, and exaggerated aero bits let local law enforcement know you can afford a citation or two, while the cabin serves up all the goodies my younger self would have murdered for: seats with beefy bolsters, plenty of red trim, and a chunky aluminum shift knob.

There's also a tempting "+R" button on the dash. Mash it and the car's electronic hive mind stiffens dampers by some 30 percent, reduces power steering assistance, and turns the throttle mapping vicious. It's insufferable on the street, happy enough on the Automotodróm Slovakia Ring. Traction control loosens up, letting the Type R slip a bit before chomping down on the fun. The car understeers in the tight sections but has a shocking amount of grip in the big, fast sweepers.

Make no mistake, this is as sinister as the Civic gets. It can blister the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:50.63. It has a very believable top speed of 168 mph. The four-piston Brembo calipers and 13.8-inch front discs stand up to hilarious levels of abuse, but this isn't the Honda I fell for as a younger goon. It's less about the joy of driving and more about bloodlust for whatever's fool enough to go fender to fender.

Honda Civic Type R (European spec)

Price: (U.K.) $46,882

Powertrain: 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4, 306 hp, 295 lb-ft; fwd, 6-speed manual

Weight: 3050 lb

0–62 mph: 5.7 sec

Top speed: 168 mph

On sale: Now

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