Is The New Type R Worth $73,000? The Answer Will Surprise You (2023 Honda Civic Type R Review)

Full review of the 2023 Honda Civic Type R, including the 2.0-litre turbo engine, handling, ride, price, features and running costs.

The Honda Civic Type R is now priced at $72,600 driveaway in Australia, which is a huge increase on the old model. But, with many people calling this the best hot hatch on sale, is the new FL5 CTR worth big money?

The Civic Type R uses a 235kW (316hp) tune in Australia but overseas it has 243kW (325hp). It competes with the Volkswagen Golf R, Hyundai i30 N and hatches like the AMG A35 and A45 plus Audi S3 and RS3. The Civic is only available with a manual transmission and LSD.

Time codes:
0:00 - What Is The Civic Type R?
0:15 - Price
0:28 - Value for Money
0:50 - Two Year Wait List
1:00 - Styling & Design
1:11 - Switch to Bonnet Vent
1:25 - 19-inch Wheels
1:49 - Pilot Sport 4S Tyres
1:57 - Brembo Brakes
2:05 - Rear Wing/Spoiler
2:25 - Triple Exhaust
2:45 - New Design Language
2:55 - 410L Boot Space
3:12 - Red Suede Style Seats
3:30 - Back Seats
3:45 - Steering Wheel & Shifter
4:05 - 10.2-inch Touchscreen
4:19 - Type R vs Regular Civic
4:53 - Not Overrated
5:04 - Revised Suspension
5:24 - Steering Feel
5:37 - FWD and Helical LSD
6:20 - 2.0L Turbo Engine
6:40 - Fake Sound?
7:00 - Not Tail Happy
7:24 - Engine Changes
7:42 - 6 Speed Manual
8:15 - 7000rpm Rev Limit
8:30 - Log-R Application
8:48 - High Grip Levels
9:28 - Brake Feel
9:45 - Civic Type R vs Rivals
10:15 - The Point of the Type R

As always, we don’t accept advertising from car manufacturers, and we’re powered by Budget Direct.

Chasing Cars is Australia's most independent source of new car reviews, car industry news, comparisons and car guides. We give you a critical look at every new car you should consider!

[OzSaints]

Have my sonic grey on order, eta May/June 2024 🙂

[DukeBen]

No “thanks for watching…Chasing Cars” at the end - a new era is born.

[beaugus]

Picked up mine this past easter weekend and absolutely love the updates over the FK8. Looking forward to many smiles per gallon!

[justwingingit]

As the previous owner of 2 FK8S(one stock and one modified)…anything above sticker is not worth it! It’s reliable yes BUT you’ll be spending thousands in parts and labor to give it some kick. Stock and even modified…still hard to launch off the line. New one although cleaner visually is slower and heavier than FK8. I already planned on waiting 2 years at least IF I decide to buy another and the market cools. Even if I were lucky enough to buy an FL5 for 5k US over MSRP(45-50k) I’d still have mods, wheels, labor adding approx. 12-15k. For that kind of money it has me leaning in the direction of other factory engineered performance cars that are turn key right off the show room floor, much faster and can be financed. Just my 2 cents…

[Eccentricplum]

Everything seems to be overhyped nowadays

[DynamiteDB]

We are lucky here in Australia. Honda has 1 price promise for all their cars so dealers cannot mark them up and consumers can’t haggle for less than MSRP. In the US, Honda dealers are allowed to mark these cars up and people are paying up to $60k - $70k USD. In the UK these are going for £47 thousand pounds at MSRP which converts to $87, 400 AUD. We are definitely luckier than others who wants this car.

[eljames]

I got one, i think it is definately worth it. ❤

[PINKiller]

Hotly anticipated, but it seems like Honda doesn't want to sell these.
So if 'enjoyment' is the goal, then I won't worry about constantly calling dealers and be told that it's "sold out" when I know for a fact that not a single one has been sold where I live.
I'll just upgrade my FK8, it's faster anyway.

[bjwal]

Great video, keep up the excellent local content

[Outrage]

But does it come with a MoTeC system exhaust?

[Zoranurai]

The hybrid is absolutely fantastic though

[one-rvbx]

Asian import university students are going to LOVE this

[davidfi]

Every single car review on the Type R has been going on about the price, but they always forget to mention that a 2023 Megane RS is $75k, GTI is $65k + options, Golf R is $85-90k, S3 is $85-90k, A35 $95-100k.
Type R in comparison is similarly priced to its key rivals if not cheaper. Everything has gotten more expensive - not just the Civic. By every media outlet going on about the price while giving absolutely no context to the current market, all they’re doing is distancing the market from true enthusiast products like the Type R. We’re all going to be driving around in Camrys soon smh.

[torokun]

Greedy dealers, complacent Honda, and people paying the markups are the ones killing the market. 😢😢😢

[stevewallace]

Here in the uk I had the FK8 I decided to pre order this model before the dealership knew what the price was they had 12 other pre orders a month later the salesman who sold me the previous car told me the price and I cancelled my order the salesman told me 11 of the pre order's had also cancelled so in my opinion it is not worth the price

[sikcivic]

2 things.
Previous generation was not a 5 seater as mentioned.
Wireless Android Auto is available.

[warwid]

The only time in my life im happy to live in Canada :)

[Mexxx]

80K plus (MSRP au mark-up) not worth it. It's only a poofteenth marginally better than other FWD high performance cars, at considerably less cost.

Yeah, yeah, the Honda JDM aficionados in au will be lining up for it, at any cost. Even exclusivity.

[thomjanson]

It’s a bloody good looking car and the performance will speak for itself.
Could I afford one? Yer probably but I just can’t justify paying that for a Honda hatch. I’d prefer to spend and extra 10k and buy a 25 year old GT-R tbh…

[proxactual]

The only people who buy a Type R for 73k are the sorts of people you'd never want to buy the same car from used down the road