When the Honda Civic Type R debuted in 2017, it bested its rivals around the famed Nürburgring in Germany. Since it’s still so new, it enters 2019 mostly unchanged, facing off with competitors like the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Ford Focus RS.

The Civic Type R takes the Civic Hatchback’s aggressive exterior and dials it up to eleven. While the basic body shell of the Type R is the same as the conventional Civic, it has unique front and rear bumpers, taillights, and a rear spoiler. For 2019, Sonic Gray joins the unique color palette. Inside, special red-and-black suede racing seats greet the front occupants, along with carbon fiber trim, plenty of additional red accents, and a special aluminum shifter. Just below the shifter is a plaque with a serial number denoting the car’s sequence in production.

Every Civic Type R houses an exclusive 2.0-liter turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine with Honda’s Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) system, good for 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The only transmission available is a 6-speed manual unit, sending power to just the front wheels. The Civic Type R’s dual-axis strut front suspension is designed to eliminate the torque steer inherent in most front-wheel drive (FWD) cars. The Civic Type R features a unique suspension with stiffened parts along with a trick limited-slip differential to keep the car in line and three different driving modes, +R, Sport, and Comfort. Thanks to all of this, the Civic Type R can hit 60 miles per hour in around 4.9 seconds and still deliver 22 mpg city, 28 highway, and 25 combined on premium fuel.

That’s not to say that the Civic Type R shirks its duties as a daily driver, as there are plenty of standard amenities. The car comes with keyless access and start, 20-inch wheels, a 7-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, navigation, full LED headlights, a 540-watt premium sound system, and dual-zone automatic climate control. There are no options other than accessories like additional door trim or a wireless phone charger.

The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2019 Civic Type R 5-star ratings for rollover and side crash. However, the Civic Type R doesn’t get the Honda Sensing Suite of technologies like the other cars in the Civic line, so there’s no forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure mitigation, or other advanced preventative features. A reversing camera and a set of airbags are the sole safety items.

The Civic Type R demonstrates that the spirit of classic Honda is alive. Each one comes thoroughly engineered, fully styled, and brimming with enough performance and drama to battle with most street-ready performance cars.