![]() ![]() Clamber in and you’re immediately engulfed by the best seats of any car in this era. ![]() The front end was re-sculpted, the rear lights had been changed with Lexus-style units and it looked menacing in a way even the original would tip its hat to. Unlike the competitors, however, this car had one kick-ass party trick - VTEC.Īpproaching 'refreshed' 2005 model, I notice some subtle changes from the first generation car. Car of the Year and Hot Hatch of the Year trophies were added to the cabinet over night, and I’m here to tell you why, but also to dispel some myths.Ī K20A2 engine was slotted under the hood developing 197 horsepower, a figure that the Golf would only match four years later. The almost MPV style Civic found its naughty side, and it brought journalists around the world to unanimous silence. They worked tirelessly on seam welding the Civic shell, adding flashy suspension, beefier brakes and an engine that was simply demonic. Civic’s were the cars of old people who wanted something that wasn’t a Suzuki Wagon R+, and Honda was fed up having to mollycoddle their smallest child. They stuck on The Eye Of The Tiger for three years on consecutive loop until they were built like Chuck Norris, then sucker punched the class bully square in the face in front of the headmaster to prove a point. The EP3 Type-R is the kid at school who got fed up with being bullied. Some of the spiciest embellishments seen on any hatchback this side of Need For Speed: Underground, and that’s before you jump inside the spicy red suede interior. Side skirts, twin tipped exhausts, a rear spoiler and suggestive gunmetal grey wheels. They introduced the rest of the world to the joys of the Type-R sub brand. Whilst the Golf made literally no changes to its exterior whatsoever for the Mk4 GTi, Honda pushed the boat out in the best way possible. Qualities that aren't part of the original hot hatch recipe so people who liked ‘tradition’ could whine endlessly about change and why it should be killed with fire. It was dull, it was tall, it was spacious. The EP3 Civic in standard guise had about as much charisma as a dying verruca. ![]() Seeing the Mk4 Golf GTi and other attempts, Honda seized its opportunity and had a mic drop moment. The EK9 Civic Type-R never came to Europe or America, but it was a true freak in the sheets bucket seats, menacing red Honda emblems, and a 9,000 RPM red line sent a lot of men into a serious pocket billiards competition. In 2001, however, one particular company that escaped the European siesta of flamboyance and hilarity decided to bring their own stellar hot hatch overseas. The Mk3 Golf GTi had the poise of a soggy sponge finger whilst the 206 GTi looked like the Joker but drove like one too. The flair, performance and sheer enjoyment of driving was quashed with new regulations that they simply couldn’t be bothered to work around to keep the magic alive. Yet somehow, in the mid nineties and beyond, manufacturers got bored. Peugeot followed suit with the 205 GTi, a car that many consider to be the finest hot hatch ever designed. VW gave us the Golf GTi, which they expected to dive in the most cynical way possible, yet we bought tens of thousands. Manufacturers all began this foray into the unknown based on a whim, possibly induced by too much synth and cocaine, but somehow their recipes smashed it out of the park. Hot hatches saw their honeymoon period in the eighties. Sure, some of them had qualities that have since seen them stagger into ‘classic’ territory, but for one particular segment it was rather dire. Yes, there might have been the odd diamond in the rough during the nineties, but on the lower end of the budget, cars were generally associated with some rather strong expletives. ![]()
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