From the December 2021 issue of Car and Driver.
A redesigned Civic Type R will come out in 2022, but since we’ve already waited more than a year to get these cars back in the ring, we didn’t want to delay. Last time we set these two at each other, the conclusion was nebulous, with both getting such high points for performance and driving characteristics that choosing between them became all about their divergent exteriors—the Civic’s origami aggression versus the Golf’s more subtle angry-eyed egg. The buying decision basically came down to: How old are you, or how old do you want people to think you are? Coming into the rematch, we expected a similar result. When two competitors are this closely aligned, a few small user-experience details can result in a victory.
Michael SimariCar and Driver
In their base forms, the Civic Type R has the edge in value: $37,950 compared with the Golf R’s $44,640. We narrowed that gap considerably by choosing the track-focused Type R Limited Edition, which should be called the Type RR, for racy race, or maybe richy rich since it comes at a $45,010 price. Still, our Volkswagen went higher since it came with the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission—the only option available—bringing its price to $45,440.
Other than the transmissions—the Type R remains six-speed manual only—the Volkswagen and Honda are similar under the hood. Both employ a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with a 7000-rpm redline and similar horsepower and torque output. The Golf has a slight advantage, with 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque to the Civic’s 306 ponies and 295 pound-feet. But the all-wheel-drive Volkswagen is also heavier, weighing in at 3360 pounds, 276 more than the front-drive Honda. To be fair, the Limited Edition is Honda’s lightest Type R, having dumped such frivolous items as some of the sound-deadening material, the cargo cover, and the rear windshield wiper in a quest to shave a claimed 46 pounds off the standard Type R.
Like the GTI, the Golf R comes with an infotainment system that makes even simple tasks difficult. The tiny shifter nub didn’t make many friends either.
Michael SimariCar and Driver
Keyword: 2021 Honda Civic Type R vs. 2022 VW Golf R