2020 Honda Civic Type R TC quick drive review: Fast made easy

Strapping into a race car is not what I'd call an elegant process. Getting inside the Honda Civic Type R TC involves me testing out a few different approach angles for how to slide through the roll cage, followed by shoehorning my thighs into a seat clearly built for someone more svelte, pulling the five-point harness clasp up through my crotch, tightening all the belts and -- in the special hellscape of 2020 -- making sure my cloth mask stays secured over my nose and mouth while also negotiating a head sock and sanitized helmet. The pros make it look so easy.

But when that whole song and dance is over, the first thing I notice about the Civic Type R TC isn't its small steering wheel, digital race gauges, the netting on either side of me or the fact that the cabin has been totally stripped out. It's that my hand falls right to the shifter, and that it's the same metal sphere uses in the production Civic Type R (the pre-2020 version, anyway). Clicking through the gears is a refreshingly familiar experience amidst a motorsports-prepped sensory overload. And as it turns out, driving the Type R TC is a lot like that, too.

Honda Civic Type R TC racer hits the track at The Thermal Club

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The TC (for Touring Car) isn't quite as extreme as the TCR racer that my pal Jon Wong drove in 2019. Where the TCR has a bunch of modifications that prep it for global touring car race series, the TC is a half step down and a bit closer to the road-legal Type R. The Civic's 2.0-liter turbo engine carries over with only minor electronic recalibration, able to produce anywhere from about 270 to 330 horsepower depending on race-series regulations, or just run the stock 306-hp tune. The six-speed manual transmission is borrowed from the standard Type R, too, though the team at Honda Performance Development adds higher-strength third and fourth gears, since those are the ones most often used while racing.

The big-deal changes are all structural. The body is obviously wider than the standard Type R, with added functional aerodynamic bits, including a higher-flow front grille and that big ol' wing out back. Pretty much everything that isn't mission-critical is gone from inside, and Honda says the final TC racer is about 300 pounds lighter than a stock Type R. The chassis gets full racing modifications, with new Bilstein dampers, Eibach race springs, an adjustable stabilizer bar, upgraded control arms, front and rear camber adjustments and some 18-inch wheels, behind which you'll find upgraded Brembo braking hardware as well as improved airflow.

So yeah, it's a race car, alright. Yet the learning curve is surprisingly easy. Push the same engine-start button used in the road-going Type R and the TC starts up with a bark; a Borla downpipe and absolutely no sound-deadening material will do that. Engaging first gear and heading down pit lane at The Thermal Club outside of Palm Springs feels as natural in the TC as it does in a normal Type R, with a nicely weighted clutch and predictable take-up point. Getting in was the hard part. Setting off is a piece of cake.

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Even though the TC doesn't make any more power than the base Type R, with 300 fewer pounds of ballast to cary around, it feels like a goddamn rocket. There's a ton of torque available at all times, and the revised third and fourth gears are long enough that you can really wind them out, only touching fifth toward the tail end of Thermal's long back straight. Once again, the friendly clutch and familiar shifter makes changing gears a breeze, and though the TC doesn't have the automatic rev-matching tech from the civilian Type R, it's easy enough to blip the throttle for a downshift before entering a turn.

The TC has antilock brakes but does without the Type R's traction and stability control systems. That's something an amateur like me will always keep in the back of my mind while zipping around a track, but the massive aero improvements -- not to mention the fat, sticky race tires -- means this car has a huge amount of grip. The TC is super light on its feet but totally stable and planted while cornering. I'm might be tepid at first, but the TC's unflappable nature allows me to quickly build confidence and speed with each passing lap.

Then there's the steering, which is tremendously quick and engaging. Stepping out of a CTR road car and going right into the TC, the steering feels twitchy and darty at first, but as my brain adjusts to this almost effortless nature, I'm in love. Tons of feedback lets me know what's happening at tarmac level, and despite the TC's front-wheel-drive configuration, torque steer is never, ever an issue.

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This all makes the TC far less intimidating than you might otherwise expect a race car to be, especially for an average schlub like me. But I also think that makes it a great entry point for folks new to motorsports. The Type R TC genuinely feels approachable, to the point that driving it is more than a one-off thrill ride. I truly feel compelled to get back in and hone my skills.

The Civic Type R TC is engineered by HPD and final assembly of these cars takes place at Gradient Racing in Austin, Texas. At $89,900, the TC is more than double the price of a standard Civic Type R, but it's roughly half the price of the harder-core TCR (though that doesn't include the tens of thousands of dollars you'll need to actually field a race team). Of course, no class of motorsports is cheap; the old adage that if you want to make a little money in racing, you need to start with a lot of money still rings true. But for folks who have that kind of cash, the Type R TC is a relatively inexpensive and wholly entertaining way to dip their toes into the touring car experience.