01
Why tell us now?
This model-year Civic originally had no Type R planned. In environmentally minded Japan hybrids were the stars, and development was far removed from sports models. Once the production car's specifications had been finalized, domestic sales asked for a Type R for this Civic too, and Kariya, frankly, was at a loss, wondering why they were telling him now.
02
There was no definition of a Type R
When they discussed it, there turned out to be no definition of a Type R. Kariya proposed a "grown-up Type R" for discerning people in their 40s and 50s, but was turned down and told not to build a half-hearted product. What he arrived at from there was "circuit best": he decided to cut one second off the Tsukuba lap time of the DC5 Integra Type R, and put everything else aside. It is still said to be the most Spartan of all generations.
