(Images from Honda PH)

With its safety features and spatial practicality, the Civic Type R can pass as a daily, if you'd think about it (and force it a little). Is it easy to maintain a modern hot hatch like the Civic Type R? According to a report in November last year made by Martin Pretorious of AutoTrader, a car website in South Africa, the Civic Type R is actually a bespoke car, and despite the geography, his findings are very much applicable in the Philippine setting.

Being in the same category with the Mercedes AMG A35, the Audi S3, the Renault Megane RS300 Trophy called the "Sport Executive" category, the Civic Type R was judged along with its contemporaries mentioned in terms of longer-term running costs. Pretorious tabulated the data gathered and analyzed them and figured out that unlike the Audi S3 and the Mercedes AMG A35 which derive their mechanical hardware from other models in their manufacturer's ranges, the Type R does not. Its parts are largely different from its mass-produced siblings. It has unique body panels, control electronics, brakes, cabin trim, seats and suspension system that are different from the regular Civics. Being bespoke, the Civic Type R, is more expensive to maintain, and much more repair especially when parts are to be out of production in the future.

One takeaway we can get from this all is that despite this fact, the more Honda lovers will elevate the status of the current Civic Type R, the factory-made performance car which has broken several lap time records, as its parts get rarer and rarer through time. Another one is that Filipinos will always think of solutions to keep the car running even thirty years in the future.