Dial R for Racing: Honda Teases Next Hot Civic

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]