The New Honda Civic Type R Needs A CVT

Could you possibly come up with a headline that would cause more controversy amongst petrolheads? Doubtful.

But my job here isn’t to cause an angry mob to come after me with keyboard torches and keyboard pitchforks. In fact, I am pretty confident that I have a sensible argument, at least in part. Part one of my argument is probably not all that controversial: Honda dropped the ball by making their new Civic Type R with only a 6-speed manual transmission.

Don’t get me wrong—I love manuals just as much as anyone on this website. In fact, I bought my NA Miata largely because of its manual gearbox. After many gear changes in that thing, I am willing to say that cog-swapping the little 5-speed shifter is one of the great experiences a petrolhead could ever hope to have. But, I do have to admit, it’s not perfect 100% of the time. This is particularly true in the city, where even the most forgiving clutch will take a beating during normal day-to-day usage.

Although I can’t say that I’ve driven the new Type R myself, I’m willing to bet that I’d rather have the super-easy clutch from my Miata in town. Trust me, getting through major road congestion with a racing clutch is not fun at all. In fact, you might even grow tired of it in light city traffic. I get that this is the price of admission for buying a sportscar, but most people who buy a Type R (or any other hot hatch, for that matter) are actually going to use it primarily in the real world.

It’s at this point where a few of you might be thinking “okay, fair enough, maybe Kyle’s got a point.” There’s still a high probability that even the vast majority of people in this camp think that I am either stupid, intoxicated, or both; for suggesting that Honda should spec the Type R with potentially the most unloved transaxle in the history of motoring. Certainly, if I were to make this statement ten years ago, everyone in the car community would have blown a snot bubble. Quite a few petrolheads will still call it blasphemous. Yet, I call it the logical thing to do.

Yes, I am well aware that the continuously-variable transmission is the same gearbox that Toyota uses for the Prius. In fact, I have driven a Prius; as well as a couple of other vehicles with CVTs equipped. I get where all the hate comes from: they’re strangely noisy, uninvolving, and just plain vanilla. The cars I drove were older and, to the amusement of CVT-haters, pretty slow and unresponsive. But if you think that everything equipped with a CVT must be painfully boring, you should go and drive a snowmobile. I promise you, those are pretty far from boring.

But even if all you cared about was performance, could you justify buying a CVT Type R over the fabulous 6-speed manual version? We won’t know that for sure until Honda builds a prototype, but there’s evidence to suggest that you might want to have the slushbox on the track. A recent Motor Trend test of the manual-equipped 2017 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback yielded a 0-60mph time of 7.5 seconds. Incredibly, a similar Civic Hatchback equipped with a CVT will get the job done in only 6.8 seconds. At this point, you might begin to suspect that there must be a difference in the powertrains of these two cars. In fact, there is. They both come equipped with a 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder, but the slower Sport model produces six more horsepower. Go figure.

Of course, stick-shifters will be quick to point out that, because you can’t hit 60mph in 2nd gear, you lose some time by changing gears in the manual version. Even so, I think that the CVT could, in theory, still be quicker. In a straight line, the CVT has the advantage of smoothly and constantly adjusting through seemingly infinite “gears”. This means that you should be able to put your foot to the floor and let the CVT work to keep the engine at its peak power band. In a car with a turbocharged engine, this means that you can hit boost and stay there. Once again, you can experience this phenomenon on a snowmobile.

On a race track with actual corners, that advantage starts to disappear. But all hope is not lost. Since most CVT-equipped cars are programmed to operate at several preset gear ratios (to simulate a traditional automatic gearbox), flappy paddles can still give you some manual control of the gearbox. I had a chance to try this out in my buddy’s Mitsubishi non-Evolution Lancer. I was able to give a willing challenger in a Ford Focus ST a run for the money at the lights. Despite a handicap of 100 horsepower, I was able to keep pace because I could hit 70 km/h in “1st gear”. Shifting into “2nd” didn’t really feel all that different from a conventional automatic; and although the ST would have wiped the floor with me if we started exceeding the speed limit, it quickly became clear to me that CVTs have turned a corner.

Ironically, the manufacturer that seems to be leading the continuously-variable revolution is Honda. Enthusiasts were caught off-guard when they put their chips on the controversial CVT, but many will admit that the gamble paid off for the legendary Japanese carmaker. Because of them, the CVT is as good as it’s ever been; and I’m willing to bet that it’s only going to get better. The way I see it, the potential almost makes me foam at the mouth.

But for those that just want to feel the mechanical stimulation of Honda’s legendary manual gearbox, nothing else will do. And I get that. But it’s clear that Honda missed an opportunity to silence the CVT-haters of the world; and even more clear that they missed an easy chance to capture some more of the hot-hatch market share. Make no mistake, the latest Civic Type R is mind-bogglingly amazing. But I’m left to wonder if our nostalgia-driven obsession for manual gearboxes is keeping us from seeing the hot Honda’s full potential.

Do you think I’m on to something here? Or am I just on something? Let’s hear your opinions in the comments below!