With some copies of the existing Civic Type R trading for exorbitant sums, it should come as no surprise that the Big H has been working on a new iteration based on the latest-gen Civic introduced earlier this year. While there are still plenty of details up in the air – powertrain and price to name just two – these official images give us a great indication of what the thing will look like.
Spoiler alert: It won’t be as startling as the last one.
Actually, we could have used ‘spoiler alert’ for the pithy headline of this post since the next Type R will continue to wear an enormous one, despite its seemingly toned-down exterior style. The present model has been accused of dipping too much into the so-called Boy Racer school of thought, appended with all manner of fins and wings and angry headlights. Your author will freely admit he enjoys such visual excess, a damning indictment on his level of vehicular taste or eyesight acuity (Ed. note — or level of maturity. I kid, I kid). Perhaps a bit of both.
Nevertheless, the development mule shown here tones down the volume, adopting a smoother look to its front and rear fascias. It’s as if the teenager who favored wild apparel grew up and traded their wardrobe for something fit to wear on an office Zoom call. It’s not all sober, of course, with a giant wing sprouting from the hatchback area like an overgrown basket handle. Some signatures don’t vanish, no matter now much we mature.
These phots were apparently taken at the Suzuka Circuit, a logical place for development of Honda’s hottest hatch. High-speed validation tests are underway, fine-tuning the car’s package for its debut sometime in the 2022 calendar year. Peep the trio of exhaust outlets in the second photo, indicating not everyone at Honda has lost their sense of humor. While the overall look has been dialed back, those large front intakes should shovel plenty of cool atmosphere into the Civic’s lungs.
Lungs which have yet to be described, we hasten to add, since Honda is mum on what will power the next Type R. Expect an evolution of the current 2.0L turbo, a mill which makes 306 horsepower in its present form. A leap to 310 would not be surprising, and we will note the new Golf R makes a hearty 315 ponies. Perhaps this car will be rated at 316hp just to put a thumb in the eye of Ze Germans.
[Images: Honda]
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the Japanese are formidable and admirable in their focus.
Edward Demmings sure helped.
Buickman
Founder
GeneralWatch.com
DollingerDiffrence.com
Given current Civic pricing the Type R is going to be at least $40k which is a hard pill to swallow when you can get a Veloster/Elantra N for $32k
If Honda wants to impress us with racing things around a track how about a modern S2000?
DSG or GTFO.
If dealers were charging $10,000 over MSRP before the chip shortage and supply chain issues and shipping delays (and whatever 2021 threw their way), I can only imagine what the markups are going to be for this model. If it stickers for $40,000, I’ll guess that it will be listed for a minimum of $55,000 to be one of the first to own.
I really want this to replace the possessed GLI given I like that it’s toned down a little bit, but still accomplishes its mission to give you the most thrills for your buck.
And I swear to all things holy, PLEASE rip this Toyota Tundra ad and stick it somewhere sideways. 7 minute ad taking up all of this real estate??? REALLY??? I can’t look at the front of that truck any longer.
It really should be titled 5 Reasons to not buy a Turdra and to not visit TTAC.
I’d really like a tweener, somewhere between the crazy bewigged R and the just-slightly-too-tame Si. If I could get one that looked just like the Si but had the Accord variant of the 2.0T, that would be perfect.
The Japanese took Deming seriously but GM, Ford, and Chrysler thought he was a kook. It took the import invasion of Japanese vehicles with their better quality to get the Big 3s attention and obviously they still haven’t learned. MBAs and accountants have destroyed quality by constant cost cutting and cheapening products.