Honda Cars PH Now Accepting Orders for Honda Civic Type R

In what may be the worst-kept secret of all, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI), Honda’s automobile unit in the Philippines, has announced that it is finally accepting reservations for the Honda Civic Type R starting today, July 11, 2017, and that it will only  bring in 100 units of the high-performance hatchback. Furthermore, HCPI revealed that the Civic Type R will only be available in two colors--Championship White or Rallye Red--and that it will be priced at P2.98 million, with the first deliveries starting in September 2017. HCPI also shared that it will stage a special turn-over ceremony "to the first owners of the all-new Civic Type R in the Philippines...once deliveries are completed." "2017 marks the 25th year since the introduction of the very first Honda Type R vehicle globally," HCPI said in a statement. "For more than two decades, the Type R badge has denoted the highest performance version of its respective model, derived from philosophy of crafting racing-inspired road cars. Honda’s Type R models have always represented the purity of the original concept of minimizing weight while maximizing power, responsiveness, dynamic stability and braking performance, which aims to deliver the most rewarding driving experience, both on the road and on the race track."

HCPI's announcement basically confirmed what Carmudi.com.ph reported in March 15, 2017, a couple of weeks ahead of the Honda Civic Type R's debut at the 2017 Manila International Auto Show; that the Honda Civic Type R will officially be sold in limited numbers--100 units, specifically--at an estimated price of P2.7 million. HCPI's pricing for the Civic Type R is not far from the United States', that is if you factor in the additional taxes and duties imposed on vehicles imported from America. So, for a track-ready five-door hatchback that has a turbocharged 2.0-liter, inline-four DOHC i-VTEC engine that puts out 316 hp and 400 Nm of torque through a short-throw six-speed manual transmission and holds the record as the fastest production front-wheel-drive car on the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit with a time of seven minutes, 48.30 seconds, is P2.98 million a worthy price of admission to officially own one of the first Honda Civic Type R units to be sold in the Philippines?