Honda revealed that it will no longer sell its formidable Civic Type-R in Europe at the end of this year, bringing a 30-year legacy to a close and causing many fans of the multiple award-winning hot hatch to shed a tear or two.
In fact, Honda doesn’t really offer anything in the way of a sports car at the moment, but that hasn’t prevented it from investing cash in the development of an interactive ‘Dream Drives’ map[1].
Curated by “motoring experts, driving enthusiasts, as well as Civic Type R owners,” the bespoke website features the best driving roads across Europe, covering everything from short blasts in Denmark, to more meandering mountain passes in Switzerland.
The slick digital interface features some fairly obvious candidates, such as the Passe dello Stelvio in Italy, but it also features lesser-known road trips that traverse Estonia and into Lithuania.
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Some of the other highlights include The Blue Road (which takes you across Sweden and Finland through fjords and lakes), the Col de Turini in France (which stars in the Monte Carlo Rally), and the 1500km Wild Atlantic Way that takes you across the west coast of Ireland.
All of the featured routes neatly boast a ‘Drive Now’ button that clicks through to a complete route-planner on Google Maps[2], inclusive of any traffic notifications or road works limitations.
Honda says that this specially commissioned and unprecedented collection of roads is the “perfect way to sign-off the Civic Type R in Europe” and that it allows owners to go out and actually enjoy their cars.
What’s more, the dedicated microsite is accessible on both mobile and desktop, letting you search for a specific road or find inspiration by country, route type, drive distance or duration.
Driving: enjoy it while you can
If you own a Honda Civic Type-R – or any Type-R badged models from Honda’s back catalogue – lucky you. The Japanese marque’s current line-up consists of relatively uninspiring SUVs and the Jazz, which doesn’t show any signs of expiring.
Personally, I’m not too sure tackling Scotland’s North Coast 500 in a hybrid ZR-V would hit quite the same as experiencing it in an NSX, but fair play to the marque for admitting that some customers still enjoy the thrill of driving – and recognizing its diehard Type-R following.
Let’s hope this means Honda has some exciting cars in the pipeline, because whatever replaces the Civic Type-R has some big boots to fill.
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References
- ^ interactive ‘Dream Drives’ map (hondadreamdrives.com)
- ^ Google Maps (www.techradar.com)