_Klay_ Posted August 11, 2020 Posted August 11, 2020 Ninety percent of the enhancements make the 2020 Type R a better street and track car. They’re meaningful updates that take an already track-happy car and give it more directness and capability. Up front, the bumpers are redesigned and there’s a larger grille opening for additional cooling that Honda says reduced coolant temperatures 18 degrees in its testing. To my eyes, the smoothed texture of the lower bumper trim versus the previous honeycomb inserts is far less busy and cheap looking. honda-civic-type-r-2020-23-exterior--grey--wheel.jpg 2020 Honda Civic Type R Cars.com photo by Joe Bruzek The new two-piece brake rotors from Brembo replace the single-piece design. This floating design improves heat dissipation and braking performance during high-stress driving by making the center hat out of aluminum instead of using one iron piece. The brake pedal stroke has been reduced by 17%, which means it takes less push to engage the brakes. 2020 Honda Civic Type R Specs & Reviews Find a 2020 Honda Civic Type R Near You The front suspension has a new lower ball to reduce friction and updated front compliance bushings. In the rear, the lower B-arms have new bushings that stiffen lateral loads by 8% for improved toe-in when cornering. Rounding out the suspension changes are updated adaptive shock absorbers now able to sample road conditions 10 times faster than before for more accurate reactions. The claimed results are improved steering accuracy at turn-in, more mid-corner stability and increased traction powering out of corners. What’s interesting is that the Type R wasn’t lacking those characteristics in our previous track testing, especially when compared with the Volkswagen Golf R. Could I tell the difference? I can’t honestly say I did during my time, which was limited to street driving. With these tweaks being incremental, I believe I’d have to be on a track to tell the differences, and perhaps driving the older Type R back to back. None of these changes affect acceleration. We measured the previous Type R’s 0-60 mph at 5.6 seconds (during the same test, a manual-transmission Golf R went 5.8 seconds to 60 mph). What’s instantly more noticeable, however, are the improvements to the Type R’s interior — for better or worse. Honda Came to Its Senses Finally, Honda Sensing safety technology, which the Civic Type R previously excluded, is standard. It provides adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and a few other safety systems. This always felt like a large omission because it’s been available on lesser Civics, and these are features that make everyday driving more comfortable and safer. It was easy to look away for the Type R, though, because it was so specialized as a track car. Having these systems, even for my short loan, made the 2020 Type R an easier car to live with in areas with high-speed interstate driving. And like other Hondas, the features work well — lane keep assist works more like lane-centering to keep the car centered rather than ping-ponging off lane markings like some other systems. New Steering Wheel and Shift Knob honda-civic-type-r-2020-25-interior--steering-wheel.jpg 2020 Honda Civic Type R Cars.com photo by Joe Bruzek The steering wheel is now covered in Alcantara synthetic suede versus leather, as is the shift boot, while the shift knob itself has a different shape and is weighted for a more direct feel. I liked both, though the Alcantara steering wheel seemed a little less grippy than the leather, and I’d imagine you’d get the most benefits from this wheel while wearing a pair of driving gloves. And good luck getting the smell of french fries out of the cloth wheel after stopping at the drive-through.
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