2022 Honda Civic Type R 2.0L Petrol · SM17 CAP

JXL Performance's FK8 buying guide singles out the clutch and gearbox, especially on earlier cars: owners report a heavy pedal that is tiring in traffic and, at higher mileages, a clutch that starts to slip under load. Carwow makes the same commercial point, warning that the Type R burns through clutches as well as brakes and tyres faster than you might like. A slipping clutch with a high bite point on a car said to have been driven gently is the classic sign of either hard use or a remap, and the repair means a clutch, release bearing and flywheel skim in one job.

The FK8's Brembo four-piston brakes are strong but not cheap. JXL's guide warns that the performance pads and discs wear far quicker than normal if the car has done track days or aggressive A-road driving, with squealing under braking and pedal vibration as the tell-tale symptoms, and it cautions that replacing them is an expensive repair to have to make straight after purchase. Carwow repeats the consumables warning for brakes, tyres and clutches and advises checking the suspension for alignment damage on a regular basis. On UK roads that means budgeting for a pad set every couple of years on an enthusiastically driven car.