Honda Civic Type R touches down in Aus

HONDA has used the upcoming Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix to preview the 10th-generation Civic Type R ahead of its release in the fourth quarter this year, as well as the regular Civic hatch that lands in Australian showrooms in May.

It is the first time the Type R has been seen in Australia after its global reveal at the Geneva motor show, and Belgian McLaren-Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne was the first person to drive it on Australian soil.

“It’s a superb looking car and faithful to the ethos of what makes the Type R great — a superb engine, excellent dynamics and Honda’s proven quality and reliability,” he said.

“As a high-performance hatch showcasing Honda’s technological expertise, it’s also perfectly at home in the world of Formula 1.” Accompanying the Type R were the Civic sedan and soon-to-be-released Civic hatch in RS guise, which is being pitched as the sportiest non-Type R variant thanks to its front and rear under spoiler, side skirts, dark chrome-coloured exterior door handles and Type R-inspired centre-exit twin exhaust with chrome outlets.

The Civic RS hatch will be on display in the foyer of the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf for the duration of the Grand Prix, and Honda Australia director Stephen Collins said that the arrival of the new models meant uniformity for the Civic range.

“We now have a defined Civic family look that unites all three models,” he said.

“The sedan and hatch are bold and distinguished while the Type R justifiably represents the pinnacle of performance in the Honda Civic line-up.” When the Type R arrives in the fourth quarter, it will pack a 2.0-litre VTEC turbo-petrol four-cylinder unit making 235kW/400Nm, teamed exclusively to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Pricing and specification has yet to be revealed for the Type R, but will go head-to-head with the likes of the Volkswagen Golf R, Ford Focus RS and Peugeot 308 GTi, all of which hover around the $50,000-mark.

The hatch range will mirror pricing and specification for the sedan range with the exception of the RS variant, which will carry a $500 premium.

It will continue to use a 104kW/174Nm naturally aspirated 1.8-litre four cylinder unit in the base VTi and VTi-S, while higher-specced versions get a new 127kW/220Nm 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four cylinder.