Curb Zone - View Single Post

martinbo · 06-11-2007, 12:46 PM

Right, so the weekend was busier than I expected!

For all of the CTR's space-age interior and radical looks, mechanically it's not as cutting edge as Honda themselves may suggest.

Rear Suspension
The new CTR ditches the more sophisticated double wishbone of its predecessor in favour of the rather old hat torsion beam rear axle with trailing arms in order to achieve more space in the trunk. Torsion beam rear axles are semi-independant suspension layouts which means that the forces acting on one side of the axle will have an effect on the other. A double wishbone layout and a multi-link layout (a la GTI) are more sophisticated and endow the car with a rear-end that's more responsive to throttle inputs. These are fully independant configurations. This is good as in a hot hatch you want to be able to tailor your cornering line using the throttle given the inherent tendency to understeer. Sure, the French have made some fabulous hot hatches using torsion beam suspensions but the key consideration in using this setup is weight. The torsion beam rear axle is most effective when employed in a small, lightweight hot hatch such as the Clio II Trophy, 306 GTI-6 and Citroen Saxo VTS.

Engine
The engine, whilst being a four-pot screamer isn't nearly as potent as it ought to be given Honda's engine making credentials. 147 kW and a lowly peak torque of 198 Nm is a tad on the weedy side for a hot hatch in this class. Comparatively, a Clio 197 makes more torque and almost as much power (145 kW) in a car one class down. Measured against the truly sophisticated 2.0T engines in the Golf with their (E46) BMW 328i-matching peak torque of 280 Nm, the CTR looks decidedly asthmatic. The CTR's engine is a high-strung, high revver and really that's about all there is to it.

But in any event - don't take my word for it because it's all subjective and based on my personal experience with hot hatches (I've got the hot hatch T-shirt and the blue-rinse granny middle finger to prove it!).

Check this fab article out by the brilliant Steve Sutcliff:
PistonHeads Headlines

06-11-2007, 12:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
martinbo Fanatic Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Johannesburg Posts: 1,250 Thanks: 136 Thanked 202 Times in 114 Posts	Re: Honda Civic Type R: Raw, yet refined Right, so the weekend was busier than I expected! For all of the CTR's space-age interior and radical looks, mechanically it's not as cutting edge as Honda themselves may suggest. Rear Suspension The new CTR ditches the more sophisticated double wishbone of its predecessor in favour of the rather old hat torsion beam rear axle with trailing arms in order to achieve more space in the trunk. Torsion beam rear axles are semi-independant suspension layouts which means that the forces acting on one side of the axle will have an effect on the other. A double wishbone layout and a multi-link layout (a la GTI) are more sophisticated and endow the car with a rear-end that's more responsive to throttle inputs. These are fully independant configurations. This is good as in a hot hatch you want to be able to tailor your cornering line using the throttle given the inherent tendency to understeer. Sure, the French have made some fabulous hot hatches using torsion beam suspensions but the key consideration in using this setup is weight. The torsion beam rear axle is most effective when employed in a small, lightweight hot hatch such as the Clio II Trophy, 306 GTI-6 and Citroen Saxo VTS. Engine The engine, whilst being a four-pot screamer isn't nearly as potent as it ought to be given Honda's engine making credentials. 147 kW and a lowly peak torque of 198 Nm is a tad on the weedy side for a hot hatch in this class. Comparatively, a Clio 197 makes more torque and almost as much power (145 kW) in a car one class down. Measured against the truly sophisticated 2.0T engines in the Golf with their (E46) BMW 328i-matching peak torque of 280 Nm, the CTR looks decidedly asthmatic. The CTR's engine is a high-strung, high revver and really that's about all there is to it. But in any event - don't take my word for it because it's all subjective and based on my personal experience with hot hatches (I've got the hot hatch T-shirt and the blue-rinse granny middle finger to prove it!). Check this fab article out by the brilliant Steve Sutcliff: PistonHeads Headlines