Reviewer Consensus · Head to Head
Comparisons
Every matchup is built from real reviewers driving both cars — their head-to-head verdicts, aggregated.
comparison videos analyzed · hours watched
matchups written up so far
compare › Civic Type R FK8 vs Civic Type R FL5
Honda Civic Type R FK8 vs Honda Civic Type R FL5
33 reviewers · 49 videos · updated TheTopher · 5·Tedward · 4·Zygrene · 3·Car Confections · 2
// the short answer
We watched 49 videos from 33 reviewers. The FL5 is the better car, and it isn't close: more grip, more composure, easier to live with. The FK8's edge is the price. Find a clean one for a lot less and you're getting most of the experience.
Counts are head-to-head calls: each time a reviewer picked one car over the other. “On ratings” means nobody made that call directly; the car named rates higher in its own reviews.
// who each one is for
// category by category
№ 01
Performance
FL5 wins16–4clear
New Type R has more power.
“With my car, there's much better throttle response below like 4,000.”
“that's up nine horsepower from the previous generation Type R and up 15 pound-feet of torque
№ 02
Handling
FL5 wins17–6leans
FL5 has a wider track for improved cornering.
Where reviewers split. Steering and outright pace are the real splits. Throttle House, carwow and JayEmm prefer the FK8's steering — more linear, more 'hooked into the road' — while NoEqual found the FK8 numb and rolly next to the FL5. On pace, Throttle House calls the old car quicker in a straight line and Kyle Liong notices more turbo lag in the FL5, yet carwow says the new one puts its power down better and feels more responsive.
“I think I prefer the steering in the old one”
the FK when I when I was driving it it felt pretty numb in that sense and I feel like you have a lot more role in the FK as compared to the FL
№ 03
Fun to drive
FL5 wins2–1thin
Type R provides more confidence and raw feedback than the FK8.
№ 04
Daily drivability
FL5 wins8–1clear
FL5 is less floaty and more composed than the FK8.
“The old car, the FK8, had 20s and that was actually pretty problematic. People were busting tires and bending wheels left and right.”
in the fk8 comfort was a little bit floaty and the car was a little bit too dull at the limit
№ 05
Value
No direct calls; the FK8 rates higher on its own
№ 06// the footage
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
carwow
Posted Feb 8, 2023Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
Throttle House
Posted Nov 15, 2022Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
Zygrene
Posted Oct 5, 2025Open on YouTube
Moments worth your time
// the long version
“Same K20C1 turbo four, same six-speed, same front-drive recipe — the FK8 is the fake-vented, 20-inch firebrand, the FL5 the grown-up who quietly does everything a bit better.
The FL5 takes the chassis: reviewers feel a stiffer, roughly 15% more rigid shell, a wider track, a front diff that no longer plows on throttle, and corner-exit traction Zygrene calls outrageous. Its shifter linkage is better again, the NVH lower, Comfort mode genuinely comfortable on 19s instead of tire-busting 20s, and the overheating the FK8 was known for is engineered out.
The FK8 keeps a few cards: sharper throttle response below about 4,000 rpm where the FL5 shows more turbo lag, straight-line pace Throttle House rates quicker, and steering that several drivers — Throttle House, carwow, JayEmm — still prefer for its linearity and connection.
One is the rawer, sweeter-steering original you can now buy used; the other is the better car on almost every axis that isn't nostalgia.