The likelihood of encountering a moose is slim but the evasive maneuver test is a good method to see how a car reacts to the driver's input to avoid an imaginary obstacle. Originating in Sweden's 1970s, the moose test was made famous in 1997 by car magazine Teknikens Värld when journalist Robert Collin flipped the original A-Class. It was a huge blow for Mercedes, which had to recall all cars sold to date and halt deliveries for three months.
Spanish magazine km77 is keeping the tradition alive by putting the latest cars through the dreaded moose test. After evaluating the regular Honda Civic back in November 2022, they've now tested the high-performance version. However, the Type R failed to impress the reviewer. The highest entrance speed without taking down any cones was only 46 mph (74 km/h), which oddly enough, was lower than the 48 mph (77 km/h) achieved by the standard hatchback.
2023 Honda Civic Type R
That's despite the fact the CTR has chassis and suspension updates over the standard compact hatch, not to mention sticky tires in the form of bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S. The normal Civic also had a higher speed in the middle of the moose test (42 mph or 68 km/h vs 39 mph or 63 km/h) but a lower exit speed (28 mph or 45 km/h vs 30 mph or 48 km/h).
The test driver describes the hot hatch's result as being a "modest figure" given the sporty nature of the CTR. He did repeat the test a few times and the car's performance improved, likely thanks to increased grip after the tires warmed up. Speaking of which, the tire pressure was slightly lowered at the front axle and that too paid dividends in terms of how the car behaved while navigating through the cones. It became more predictable while exhibiting less signs of understeer.
Even with warmer, less inflated tires, km77 wasn't able to successfully complete the moose test at higher speeds. In the preceding slalom test, it needed 23.8 seconds to finish the course, which positioned it near the bottom of the rankings. It was 0.6s slower than an Audi RS3 Sportback and even a tenth of a second behind the much larger and heavier BMW M340d xDrive Touring.
