Honda’s Civic Type R wins design excellence award

The Civic Type R has just been announced as the winner of the Best Interior category in the 2008 Wheels Automotive Design Awards. The distinctive exterior of the current model Honda Civic Type R attracts plenty of attention, but if you’ve never seen inside the futuristic looking Honda then you’ve only really seen half the story. The car’s interior takes the drama and electronic trickery to a whole new level.

Sally Dominguez, from ABC TV’s New Inventors, was one of the judges and she said the Civic was a “brilliant and thorough realisation of original concept car. No compromise in execution. Fine, jewel-like detailing.”

Wheels Editor, Ged Bulmer added; “The Civic Type R made a strong impression on our judges at Wheels car of the Year in 2007, so it’s no surprise to see it again prominent in the Wheels Automotive Design Awards. What’s impressive about the Type R from a design perspective is the manner in which the cars overtly sporty and somewhat futuristic design cues are carried over from interior to exterior. All too often we see cars dripping in exterior aggression via wings, body kits and the like, but inside they betray their humble sedan or hatch origins. The Type R is an exception in that from every angle, inside and out, its design clearly signals its intent as a high performance machine. It has a purity of design and a single-mindedness of purpose that is extremely admirable.”

The Honda also nudged out some very highly regarded competition, including Audi’s stunning R8, S5 and TT model. Also in contention for the category were the Volkswagen Eos, the Holden VE ute, the Renault Scenic, the Saab 9-3 Cabrio and the Volvo C30.

In conjunction with the Australian International Design Awards (AIDA), this award recognises interior and exterior excellence as well as the overall design of the vehicle. The awards are open to all cars on the Australian market. There are sixteen different assessment criteria, including innovation, visual impact and form as well as detail design.

Honda have done a great job in delivering a car that offers consumers a real difference, and a difference, that while some may consider gimmicky, has genuine merit behind it.