Between the two rival Japanese hot hatches, the Honda Civic Type R was our VOTY 2024 pick.
This was the category that excited our judges the most, especially this year. We had TWO competing C-segment hot hatches from rival Japanese brands. One of us even got to drive both models back-to-back. Picking between the Toyota GR Corolla and the Honda Civic Type R was not easy. The Toyota was a unique, first-ever for the company and had that special sauce about it. However, our pick was the Honda Civic Type R and here’s why.
Honda has perfected the formula of the FWD hot hatch and every element of the Type R was done in an exceedingly impressive way. Yes, the Type R is more expensive but we also feel that Honda managed to elevate the vehicle to feel like much more than just a performance Civic. The interior featured red upholstery and carpeting, the steering was wrapped in suede-like material, the shift knob was fully aluminium, and the clutch feel was light enough to use in traffic.
When pushed, the Civic Type R behaved extremely predictably and with the kind of finesse one might expect from an all-out performance car brand. And despite its creature comforts, the Civic Type R still felt very involving and satisfying to drive no matter the speed.
About VOTY 2024
The Allianz DSF.my Vehicle Of The Year (VOTY) Award ceremony is the first and only vehicle award event in Malaysia that does not hand out paid awards, nor does it charge winners or participating brands any fee whatsoever. Winners are allowed to use the VOTY event logo free of charge in all marketing materials. Event attendees are not even charged for their seat at the award presentation. All car manufacturers that operate in Malaysia are invited to participate free of charge. All they have to do is let our judges test drive their nominated vehicles.
The nominated vehicles must have been launched in Malaysia in the last 12 months and cannot be a localised minor facelift (body-kits, stickers, wheel upgrades, etc). All judging is independent and is put down to a vote before the winners are selected. Car manufacturers are not informed if they are winning or not before the event.
The judges for VOTY 2024 are Daniel Sherman Fernandez and Subhash Nair of dsf.my, Ross Hadi of gohedgostan.com and Joshua Chin of automacha.com.
