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Written by Ollie Kew
"But you wouldn"t actually have one, would you?" "I really might, actually." "But look at it." That"s what every exchange over 10,523 miles and seven months with Top Gear"s 2017 Car of the Year has boiled down to. Folks will accept the 316bhp, N rburgring-bred, multi-lap-record-breaking, 300/month Type R is an enormous amount of performance for not a massive amount of money. That it"s a honed driving tool, yet more liveable everyday than its predecessor. But people just can"t get beyond the Sonic/Lego/Halfords/Transformer/Elephant Man looks. Pick your metaphor. I"ve heard "em all. And nope, I don"t like how it looks either. That smaller rear wing across the back window? A pain. The fake carbon-fibre skirts? Naff. Fake vents in both bumpers? Yuck. What they hide is a vastly improved car. The new Type R"s concessions to everyday life go beyond its much-used Comfort mode, which is a real boon in tight car parks and slow-moving traffic, to lighten the steering and soften the ride. After 10k miles, this example has way fewer squeaks and rattles than the last version we ran suffered, because it"s been built properly this time. Built to cope with the punishment. The carpets haven"t disintegrated like the last Type R"s did in wet weather. The dash is solid. The only loose trim? The boot handles curiously flimsy. And the paint is softer than a marshmallow on a campfire, so stone chips became craters.
Date written: 19 Oct 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13747
"But you wouldn"t actually have one, would you?" "I really might, actually." "But look at it." That"s what every exchange over 10,523 miles and seven months with Top Gear"s 2017 Car of the Year has boiled down to. Folks will accept the 316bhp, N rburgring-bred, multi-lap-record-breaking, 300/month Type R is an enormous amount of performance for not a massive amount of money. That it"s a honed driving tool, yet more liveable everyday than its predecessor. But people just can"t get beyond the Sonic/Lego/Halfords/Transformer/Elephant Man looks. Pick your metaphor. I"ve heard "em all. And nope, I don"t like how it looks either. That smaller rear wing across the back window? A pain. The fake carbon-fibre skirts? Naff. Fake vents in both bumpers? Yuck. What they hide is a vastly improved car. The new Type R"s concessions to everyday life go beyond its much-used Comfort mode, which is a real boon in tight car parks and slow-moving traffic, to lighten the steering and soften the ride. After 10k miles, this example has way fewer squeaks and rattles than the last version we ran suffered, because it"s been built properly this time. Built to cope with the punishment. The carpets haven"t disintegrated like the last Type R"s did in wet weather. The dash is solid. The only loose trim? The boot handles curiously flimsy. And the paint is softer than a marshmallow on a campfire, so stone chips became craters.
Date written: 19 Oct 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13747
