2 02 1 H O N DA C I V I C T Y P E R L I M I T E D E D I T I O N V S . 2 02 2 VO L K S WAG E N G O L F R ~ BY E L A N A S C H E R R
Hatch Match
Two performance hatchbacks have more in common than the letter R.
The red seats, seatbelts, and steering wheel will have you thinking that the name Type R refers to this Civic’s blood type.
Just in case you couldn’t figure this out on your own, the R in
both the Civic Type R and the Golf R stands for racing. It could also stand for revvy, rapid, and (surprisingly) refined. Oh, we’ve got two more: recurring rivals. The fiercest fish in the hatchback tank, the Type R and the Golf R can’t be in the same place without a fight breaking out. Things were peaceful in 2020, as Volkswagen took a year off from the Golf R. But as soon as the 2022 eighth-gen Golf showed up, it was on like a nitrous bottle in a Fast & Furious movie. (There, got that out of the way. An F&F reference is legally required in any hot-hatch review.) A redesigned Civic Type R will come out in 2022, but since we’ve already waited more than a year to get these cars back in the ring, we didn’t want to delay. Last time we set these two at each other, the conclusion was nebulous, with both getting such high points for performance and driving
70
THE RUNDOWN
PHOTOG RAPHY BY M ICHAEL SIMARI ~ D ECEMBER 2021 ~ CAR AND DRIV ER
