Over the past two decades, Honda solidified its reputation for building the ultimate hot hatchback with its Civic Type-R. Dating back to its humble origins in 1997, the iconic Japanese performance model is now in its sixth generation and still going strong. Throughout the years, the Civic Type-R remained, more or less, faithful to the original philosophy of lightweight and balance. While later generations have changed dramatically, the Japanese hot hatch is still capable of setting the pace for front-wheel-drive performance cars.
With that said, the fourth-generation Civic Type-R, internally dubbed the FK2, seems to have slipped through the cracks. Somehow, the model produced between 2015 and 2017 never got the attention it deserved and was quickly replaced by the FK8, after just two years. There is much that makes the FK2 a capable hot hatch, and we are here to tell you why it is the best Honda Civic Type-R made so far.
The FK2 Greatly Improved Upon The FN2
Those outside of the U.S. will be quite familiar with the FN2. It’s the one that looked like a spaceship and somehow managed to be both ugly and charming at the same time. It was also built in Honda’s plant in Swindon, U.K. Meanwhile, in the United States, customers got the FA1 (sedan) and FG1 (coupe). The FK2 Civic Type-R was introduced at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and was largely based on the FN2 chassis. Honda proudly states that the FK2 is much stiffer than the FN2 that came before it, despite riding on a similar chassis and still featuring a solid beam axle at the rear.
The First Turbocharged Civic Type-R
Honda’s naturally-aspirated, high-revving, inline-four engines are legendary for their responsiveness, character, reliability, and performance potential. It’s no wonder the Japanese brand’s K-series (among others) is one of the most popular choices for four-cylinder engine swaps. With the right parts, reliable 700 horsepower is easy to achieve. It just so happens that most generations of the Civic Type-R come with some version of the K20 engine.
The FK2 is no exception, but while its predecessors came in naturally-aspirated guise, 2015 was the first year when the Japanese hot hatch got turbocharged. The K20C1 engine in the 2015 Civic Type-R is the first Honda K-series unit to feature turbocharging and direct injection. It was the first performance-oriented engine from Honda’s Earth Dreams technology, aimed to maximize performance and optimize efficiency. In true Honda tradition, V-Tec is a standard feature on the engine, but in this case, only on the exhaust side, prompting some to refer to it as “reverse V-Tec”.
Depending on the market it was sold for, the FK2 Civic Type-R engine developed 306 or 316 horsepower (228 to 236 kilowatts) at 6,500 RPM and 295 pound-feet (400 Nm) at 2,500 to 4,500 RPM. The redline is at 7,000 RPM, which compared to previous Civic Type-R models is unusually low, but that’s the price you pay for turbocharging and lots of mid-range torque.
The Civic Type-R always came exclusively with a six-speed manual, except for the original EK9 model, which had a five-speed transmission. Despite the “wrong-wheel drive”, the FK2 Type-R manages a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of as little as 5.4 seconds, which makes it the first Civic Type-R to drop into the five-second range. No speed limiter means that the FK2 Civic Type-R can reach speeds of up to 168 mph (271 km/h).
The Last Lightweight Civic
Lightness was always a key element of Honda’s performance vehicles. The original Honda Civic Type-R from 1997 boasted a curb weight of just 2,315 pounds (1,050 kg). As with most vehicles, each newer generation becomes bigger and heavier due to added safety and tech on board. Honda claims that the 2023 Civic Type-R tips the scales at 3,188 pounds (1,446 kg), which means that in 26 years, the JDM hot hatch has gained 40 percent of its original weight. Talk about obesity!
The FK2 Civic Type-R is the last generation where we can talk about lightness, albeit its curb weight of 3,047 pounds (1,382 kg), it is a bit on the border. Still, when you compare it to its naturally-aspirated predecessor, which if generously spec'd, can weigh as much as 2,910 pounds (1,320 kg), the FK2’s power-to-weight ratio is vastly superior. Because of its weight advantage and the fact it has, virtually, the same engine, as the newer models, the FK2 can easily keep up with its bigger and heavier successors, the FK8 and FL5.
It Looks Like A Gundam Robot
The looks of later Civic Type-R generations remains one of the most divisive topics. The FN2 was a sharp deviation from the subtle design of EK9 and EP3 models, and the 2015 FK2 turned the madness to 11. The FN2 silhouette was very much recognizable in the FK2, but here, the whole body was drizzled with ground effects. Starting from the deep chin spoiler, gloss-black finish on the front, and functional air extractors, and moving to the flared fenders, exaggerated side skirts, rear diffuser, and of course, the tall, integrated rear wing.
The later, FK8 model features similarly aggressive ground effects, but laid over a bigger surface, while the recently debuted, 2023 Civic Type-R (FL5) is a lot more restrained by comparison. Although the looks of the FK2 might be deemed very childish, this is proper JDM over-the-top, functional styling. The interior is equally mad, being an improvement of the FN2’s double-deck, futuristic, dashboard layout. It may sound hyperbolic, but this is also where you will find some of the most heavily-bolstered sports seats of any performance vehicle.
You Have To Wait For It
Sadly for anyone in the U.S., the FK2 Civic Type-R was never sold there. The FK8 was the first generation of the hot hatchback that was made available to American buyers. You know what this means – if you want an FK2 Type-R, you have to wait for it to become 25 years old. Whether you should wait for one, considering the FK8 and now the FL5 are around, is a different story, but if you want the first turbocharged Civic Type-R, which also happens to be the last (relatively) lightweight hot hatchback, it’s definitely worth the investment.