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Honda Civic Type R (2009)

With styling from outer space and a red-line of 8000rpm, the Civic Type R hatch leaves you in no doubt that it's a hot hatch. And despite its imminent death in Europe, it's staying on sale in Australia.

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung

Outlook

In Europe, the Civic Type R is being killed off because of new emissions regulations. Despite that, Honda Australia has confirmed that the model will live on in Australia. For how much longer, though, is anyone's guess.

In brief

The last major upgrade of the UK-built Type R first landed in Australia in early 2009. It brought white paint, long associated with Type Rs, to the menu.

Featuring a highly strung 2-litre engine that produces maximum power at 7800rpm and is red-lined at 8000rpm, the Type R has 148kW of power and 192Nm of torque on tap. Power is delivered to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gear and a limited-slip differential, with the zero to 100km/h is dispatched in 6.6 seconds. In official testing, fuel consumption is rated at 9.3L/100km.

Equipment-wise the Type R has rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlights, dual-zone climate control air-con, cruise control, Alcantara (fake suede) seats, rear-parking sensors and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Like the Jazz, the Type R is equipped with a "magic" seats system that folds completely flat. The sound system features six speakers, a CD slot, auxiliary jack and an iPod-compatible USB port.