If you’re forced to have two cars to do everything you could ever want to do as a car enthusiast, the current Honda Civic Type R and Ariel Atom 4R might be the best choice out there. There’s no denying that the CTR is one of our favorite cars for street or track. And equally I’m not sure I could find a single bad thing to say about the uncompromising Ariel Atom. They’re both about as close to driving perfection as you can get, and they’re both powered by that glorious K20C1 turbocharged 2-liter. So why choose between them?
Henry Catchpole, one of the automotive media industry’s most effervescent and lanky chaps, recently determined that the CTR and Atom 4R are the greatest pairing, maybe in automotive history. Look, if you need a car for the track or a twisty back road, you can’t get much more bang for your buck than the lightweight apex-seeking missile made by Ariel. And if you need a daily driver that is bubbly and exciting to drive, you can’t find much out there that will beat the Civic Type R. Combine the two, and you can do it all.
It’s tough to call the current Civic Type R a ‘hot hatch’ these days because it’s evolved into something that would have been an Accord twenty years ago, but no matter what the name, it’s an incredible machine. It’ll haul most of your stuff, plus four adults, and it has 315 horsepower in a lightweight-by-today’s-standards 3,183 pounds. If you want to go a lot faster than that, stick the same engine in a 1,250 pound body, and shift it behind the driver.
I’ve been wracking my brain for hours now, and I don’t think I can come up with anything to beat this combo. It’s the perfect two-car garage.