We celebrate 25 years of the Honda Type R badge and the Fireblade with a joint birthday party

AS a rule, I don’t like joint birthday parties.

One of the two is usually a t**t, drinks too much and needs a punch.

Plus you’ve got to buy two presents.

But this is one joint bash I’m pleased to be at — 25 years of the Honda Type R badge and 25 years of the Honda Fireblade.

I’ve got no business with bikes, just one teeny error can end up loud and painful, so to read all about the Fireblade, check out my sparring partner Nick Francis’s column in Sunday’s paper.

But for now I’m going to tell you all about the new 169mph Civic Type R. Yes, boys. It follows the usual hot hatch recipe in that it’s lighter, lower and stiffer than the old car — mixed with a blob of more power (+10hp), fatter tyres and even wilder looks. See that whale-tail and count one, two, THREE exhausts. It looks like a teenager’s wet dream.

Now Type R devotees are already buzzing about this car smashing the front-wheel-drive lap record at the Nurburgring. That’s the legendary German race track where manufacturers try to outdo each other.

But for me the biggest win is the rear axle. I know. Yawn. But hear me out. The new multi-link rear suspension makes life so much more stable at high speed, especially under braking. It’s pretty damn perfect. And the new downshift blipping function is cool too.

There’s also a new Comfort mode — in addition to Sport and +R — which turns the car from skin-tight Lycra to a baggy pair of joggers for the school run.

In fact, Swindon, take a bow. This is easily the best all-round red-badged Honda yet. From track god to Tesco and everything in between.

But I’ve got to be honest here, the interior is distinctly average. The wrapping is more exciting than the present. Apart from splashes of red trim, there’s nothing that tells me I’m sat in the world’s fastest front-wheel-drive car.

It’s just a leeetle bit dull. And then there’s the price. The standard Type R is £30,995 and the GT version — which adds creature comforts such as satnav and dual air con but NOT speed — is £32,995.

Really? That’s more than a Ford Focus RS with 4WD and drift mode.

I will finish by sharing one observation about that Fireblade.

On the way to the Lausitzring race track in Germany, I nudged 160mph on the derestricted autobahn. Decent number, that. Or so I thought.

Then Nick pulled the pin and flew past me like a Kim Jong-un test pilot on Skittles. The nutjob.
VERDICT: Swindon’s finest.