By David Finlay
Marshals gently manhandle the Civic Type R into position at the start line, then leave me to contemplate the ribbon of road ahead. In the few moments before green light replaces red and I trip the light beam that will pit clock against car, I’m focused completely on how to cover the 1,477 yards of Britain’s most intimidating hill climb course. I select first gear, bring the revs slowly up to 3,000rpm, drop the clutch and the Civic leaps forward to meet the horizon.
Doune is a pretty venue, but one racing drivers struggle to describe without using the word ‘intimidating’. Much of the track is framed with unyielding barriers and a small mistake can easily lead to a very big crash. Power is important here, but so is agility and an ability to flow smoothly from one corner to another. The Type R ticks every box. Though docile enough when you want it to be, it also feels more like a racing car than any of of the previous 10 vehicles I’ve campaigned with Alisdair.
You’re allowed two attempts at each hill climb, and in a flurry of gear changes and wrist flicks, and to the accompaniment of the Type R’s bassy turbocharged growl, my first flashes by. The clock says 52.39 seconds, which I believe is the fastest time ever achieved in a standard road car. A heavily modified Mitsubishi Evo is already in the 49s, and we’re not going to be able to do anything about that. But we’re ahead of an Impreza, which trails at 52.58 seconds, despite the Subaru’s sticky tyres and four-wheel-drive advantage. I think the Civic has more to give though. We’re aiming for the 51s.
I attack harder on run two, trying to ignore the way the barriers seem to come closer together as I accelerate between them, the back end of the Type R dancing through the faster sections, just as it should in a well-set-up front-wheel-drive car. Traction out of the slower corners is phenomenal, the gearbox accepts the fastest changes my hand is capable of, and all too soon we’re at the top of the hill.
I don’t need a clock to tell me it’s a good run. I can feel it. But how good? I catch a glimpse of the timing display as I streak across the finish line and it reads 51.85 seconds. A whoop of delight fills the car, followed by another one when I discover, soon after, that the Impreza hasn’t been able to break out of the 52s.
Spectators tell me how impressed they are at the Type R’s performance, but later that day, as various competitors load their cars onto trailers and we cruise home in ours – the Civic easily adapting to an altogether less frenetic role – only we really know how impressive. Watch our video to experience the excitement of a Type R hillclimb.
