I’m on the record as being a big fan of the current Honda Civic Type R, as well as its prior generation. I’m also a big fan of taking vehicles into the dirt, and sliding cars around in low-grip situations. So when I saw that Honda is bringing a rally-prepped Civic Type R to SEMA, called the Civic Type R HRC Rally XP, it felt like the stars aligning. Honda built this car for me, me specifically, and I am desperate to hoon it around a muddy rally course in the woods somewhere.
The Civic Type R HRC Rally XP is, as you might expect, a full Honda Racing Corporation build. It starts life as a standard Civic Type R — already a fast, fun car — and adds a level of rally capability above and beyond what the stock car offers. It gets camber and caster plates, an oil cooler and intercooler, a radiator, a clutch plate differential, hood vents off the TCR car, and other suspension components plucked from the HRC catalog — all that in addition to the rally-specific skidplate, underbody protection, and dampers. Honda even says the car is still street legal, despite all the mods, and is built to meet the specs of ARA rally.
Lemme at it
Of course, not everything in the still-technically-a-prototype Civic Type R HRC Rally XP is so production-ready. The car’s brakes, shifter, hydraulic handbrake, and exhaust are all prototype parts. Honda says it’s evaluating the car for customer use, to ship off to rally teams in full working order, but I posit there’s another place the car should be sent first: My apartment. I want to drive this thing so bad, I don’t even car that I live in a city devoid of any kind of dirt. I’ll road trip it to Vermont.
The Civic Type R HRC Rally XP is headed to SEMA, so you can ooh and ahh over it in person if you’ll be present for the show — and you should, to show Honda that there are buyers out here who want this car. More prospective buyers means a better chance it sees a market release, and a market release increases the chances that I’ll someday get to play Liam Lawson (who’s been testing the car) and whip this hatchback around a dirt course. You can help make my dreams come true here.
