Red hot Honda a bit of all white

Dec 1 2008 John Connor

Red hot Honda a bit of all white

DESPITE closing its Swindon production lines for a couple of months to combat the effects of the credit crunch, Honda has its eyes firmly fixed on a bright future.

Not only is it proposing to produce 500 models a year of its limited edition white wonder - the new Civic Type R in Championship White - the Japanese car maker has confirmed its intention to pursue fuel cell technology as its major research programme into new ways of attaining a greener means of automotive power.

Greener it may be but Honda has no intention of letting performance slip.

Although it's not promising a hydrogen powered Type R, the new Championship White special feels as if it is rocket fuel in the tank.

Personally, I am not a fan of white cars and don't subscribe to the theory that it is the new silver. That said, this particular model is a bit of a dream car.

Its handling on the roads and the racetrack is superb. It instantly reacts to gearing, steering, braking and acceleration in the manner that only a race bred car can.

I have driven a number of versions of the Type R over the years but only managed to get into its soul when I drove it around the Isle of Man TT course during a special time trial.

The course had been closed for this event and I discovered exactly what the Honda engineers had achieved. They had seamlessly transferred their cutting edge race technology to a road car that was still a safe family runabout when asked to play that role.

This latest version has pushed the boundaries back further and is light years ahead of the model I drove around the TT course.

It is first and foremost an official version of the FN2 racing car and because of this relationship it has been specially granted the wearing of Honda's traditional white competition colour.

Sat low on 18-inch white alloys it boasts smoked chrome finish on the badges and door handles. It gains a slip differential that helps the car reach it's redline speed of 146mph and it carries a price tag of £20,140 or £21,154 with satellite navigation fitted.

This car will be available as a limited edition to enhance its appeal but those of other hues are still on sale with a starting price of £18,040.