1997 Honda Civic Type R

The “championship white” paint. The five-lug wheels. The red Honda badges. The stance and the sound. The Type R theme is often imitated, but the original limited-production Type R can’t be duplicated. Few similarly-sized hatchbacks can keep up with the Type R’s B16B motor, carrying on a Honda tradition by making an astonishing 182 horsepower naturally, through careful hand-porting of the head and increased compression. The interior is stripped of unnecessary material to bring the EK hatch down to fighting trim, and the chassis is specially seam-welded for greater rigidity. Honda specialists also threw every trick in the book at the EK9’s already phenomenal full-double-wishbone suspension, nearly eliminating understeer for perfect balance, making it nearly as fast as an Integra Type R on most road courses. The only way to truly appreciate the transformation the simple Civic went through to gain the coveted Type R badge is to hop behind the wheel and unleash it in any of Forza 4’s tracks—but the twistier, the better. Whether you appreciate the EK9 Type R in its original factory-modified form, or unleash all of your tuning and painting skills on it to transform it into the ultimate expression of your Honda fantasy, is completely up to you.