There are too many vents, too much wing, too much red, too much theartre. Park a Type R FK8 next to a Toyota Supra MK8 and the Supra looks like the grown up in the room low, sleek and beautifully proportioned, with the sort of silhouette that makes you stop and look twice. 

The Civic, meanwhile, looks as though somebody at Honda accedentally left the race car department in charge of the styling brieft.

And yet, after a proper drive, you begin to understand the joke.

The FK8 isn't trying to be the prittier sports car. It's trying to be a driver's car.

And that distinction is precisely why it remains so difficult to ignore. 

When Honda launched the FK8 in 2017, it could have taken the easy route. More power bigger tyres. Fou wheel drive. An automatic gearbox.

Instead, Honda gave us a 2.0 litre turbocharged VTEC four cylinder producing 320PS and 400 NM, driving the front wheels through a six speed manual gearbox. It was an almost stubborn commitment to the idea that a person behind the wheel should remain involved.

And that is where the FK8 begins to separate itself from the Supra. 

The Toyota Supra undeniably quick, it has the rear wheel drive balance, the long bonnet, the straight six soundtrack and the sort of effortless pace that makes overtaking feels almost indecently easy.

But the FK8 ask something different of you. It asks you to drive it.  Not simply point it down the road and enjoy the scenery going fast. "DRIVE IT"

Heel and toe. Brake late. Find the apex. Feed n the throttle. Feel the front tyres work. Work the gearbox. Get the nose exactly where you want it.

Suddenly, the rediculous looking Civic makes perfect sense. 

The great trick of the Honda Civic FK8 is its abillity to make front wheel drive feel almost irrelevant.

Honda engineered a sophisticated dual axis front suspension arrangement specifically to ruduce torque steer and improve steering response, while the multi link rear suspension gave the car far more composure than its hot hatch shape might suggest. And you feel it.

Find a decent stretch of B road preferably one with more corners than straight bits and the FK8 comes alive. The steering feels immedate. the front axle bites. The limited slip differential pulls the car towards the apex rather than simply washing wide.

There is that glorious moment when you realise you're carrying far more speed than you possible thought. This is where the FK8 becomes addictive. It doesn't merely make you fast. It makes you feel fast. And there is an enormous difference between the two.

On paper, the comparison almost seems unfair. 

The Supra belongs to the traditional sports car formula engine up front, driven rear wheels, low seating position and beautifully compact body. 

TheFK8 is a five door Civic with a huge rear wing. But numbers don't tell the whole story. 

Honda's FK8 managed 0-60 mph in roughly 5.8 seconds and could reach 169 mph, while producing 316 bhpin UK specification. Those figures are hardly embarressing. More importantly the Honda performance is accessible. Ypu don't need to be doing triple digit speeds to enjoy it. 

You can have an absolute roit at speeds that won't immediately result in a conversation with the local officers. 

This is one of th FK8 greatest strengths. It gives you somewhere to enjoy the car before you reach illegal speeds.

| Modern performance cars have become astonishingly capable.

They have computers managing torque, launch control managing starts and dual clutch gearbox firing through ratios faster than most human beings can think. 

The FK8 takes the old fashioned route.

Six Gears.

Three Pedals.

Your Left Foot.

Your Right Hand.

And a beautifully satisfying mechanical relationship between the two.

Honda even fitted a rev matching technology to make downshift smoother and more engaging. You can leave the electronic to do some of the work. Or you can switch them off and pretend you're much better at heel and toe than you actually are. The car gives you option without taking the experience away. 

Let’s be honest.

If you arrive at a pub in an A90 Supra, people understand immediately.

It’s a sports car.

The FK8 requires explanation.

Someone will inevitably say.

“It’s only a Civic.”

And that is when you smile.

Because underneath the outrageous bodywork sits one of the most accomplished front wheel drive chassis of its generation.

The FK8 wasn’t merely a Civic with more horsepower. Honda stiffened the body, developed bespoke suspension components, introduced aggressive aerodynamic treatment and engineered the car to work properly on circuit as well as road. Honda claimed a 7:43.8 Nürburgring Nordschleife lap for the FK8, underlining just how serious the engineering was.

That huge rear wing isn’t there simply to frighten small children.

There is genuine aerodynamic intent behind the madness.

And somehow, that makes the ridiculousness even better.