Coming Soon.... 2015 Honda Type R

Sonny

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Honda_Civic_TypeR_01.jpg


Forget the McLaren P1, the latest Honda Civic Type R may soon be the car with the longest pre-production PR hype in all history. Still two years from production, Honda has chosen Frankfurt to tease us with a couple more tidbits of info.


You want subtle? Go buy a Golf GTI

What’s new? Well, the 2015 Type R has been confirmed with a 2.0-litre direct-injection turbo and 280hp but there's no confirmation of the gearbox yet. Furthermore, the recent Nurburgring testing produced a time ‘approaching the [FWD] lap record’, held of course currently by the Megane 265 at 8min 8sec.
The announcement of a power figures puts the Civic dead level with the Astra VXR and 15hp ahead of said Megane. But let’s not forget the 308 R in all this too, another five-door like the Civic with a 270hp 1.6 turbo and a proper LSD. With another Focus RS likely to be 4WD, it’s likely to be a three-way battle for the ‘ring record between the Honda, Peugeot and Renault. Don’t be surprised if the latter gets a mild mechanical upgrade in the near future...
As for the Honda, we’ll just have to keep hanging on for that next little drip from a very long and slow information stream.


 

hutchy_belfast

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2.0T FWD 280bhp...welcome to 2006 Honda....in 2015.
The type R brand is dying/dead wtih no current official imports Honda is a currently a pensioner's brand in the UK, can't really see how this car would change that, it offers nothing new.
 

ChrisL

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2.0T FWD 280bhp...welcome to 2006 Honda....in 2015.
The type R brand is dying/dead wtih no current official imports Honda is a currently a pensioner's brand in the UK, can't really see how this car would change that, it offers nothing new.

Ahhh just spotted this - the 2015 Type R has been confirmed with a 2.0-litre direct-injection turbo and 280hp but there's no confirmation of the gearbox yet. Hopefully they dont try and make it an Auto, simple 6 speed manual is perfect.
 

Gaz

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Not dying about this new shape. I quite liked the look of the last Type R (the FN2) especially the interior, but they kinda butchered that shape for this latest model. Still ...................... 280bhp sounds interesting, and it will be a very different experience to be in a petrol performance Honda with a turbo. I wonder if they'll still try and retain the high-revving nature associated with the Type R brand and just use a low-pressure turbo to boost low-down torque?

2.0T FWD 280bhp...welcome to 2006 Honda....in 2015.
The type R brand is dying/dead wtih no current official imports Honda is a currently a pensioner's brand in the UK, can't really see how this car would change that, it offers nothing new.

Which, ironically, is how they were perceived a couple of decades ago before vtec-yo and Type R came into favour. I'm old enough to remember when I first got into cars (via a Civic) that 'vtec' and 'vti' were still relatively unknown amongst UK car fans, there certainly wasn't any diehard following like they have now compared to the likes of the 205 GTi, Fiesta RS turbo, etc. I distinctly remember trying to convince some guy that a Civic 1.6 VTi had 160bhp, and he wouldn't believe me - because his 2.0 SRi 16v Cav only put out 150bhp. "A 1.6 can't make that kind of power, and if it did then it would blow up!"
 

mcmurray

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Big thing for me is the turbo and 7k redline. Not what the Type-R is about at all. (n)

Edit: and the way it looks obviously.
 

hutchy_belfast

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Which, ironically, is how they were perceived a couple of decades ago before vtec-yo and Type R came into favour. I'm old enough to remember when I first got into cars (via a Civic) that 'vtec' and 'vti' were still relatively unknown amongst UK car fans, there certainly wasn't any diehard following like they have now compared to the likes of the 205 GTi, Fiesta RS turbo, etc. I distinctly remember trying to convince some guy that a Civic 1.6 VTi had 160bhp, and he wouldn't believe me - because his 2.0 SRi 16v Cav only put out 150bhp. "A 1.6 can't make that kind of power, and if it did then it would blow up!"
That's what I was kind of getting at, I just about remember them being thought of like that, the first time around too, they obviously worked hard at changing that perception then either totally dropped the ball or just felt the Type R brand/ sporty car mentality wasn't going to be profitable for them and gave up on it.
Now they are going to have to win folk back again when the only Hondas on the roads are 1.0 Jazzs driven by pensioners, CRVs driven by soccer moms and Accords driven by middle aged sales reps.
I'm not sure it's a convincing attempt and announcing it two years before it's going to come out is laughable, it's slinging a 2.0T into an existing chassis, not building a new model from scratch! (despite what the marketing men will no doubt claim)
 

Gaz

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I just don't think there's a market any more for high revving engines in daily drivers, certainly not for selling them in high numbers anyway. If you live in a built up area, or anywhere with speed cameras or a high police presence, etc .................... then having to drive at 8000rpm everywhere to make decent progress just doesn't work. It's my belief that is the reason why the last Type R simply didn't strike a chord like competitors such as the Focus ST, Astra VXR, etc. They're all turbo'd and all have enough low down torque to give good performance without thrashing the engine.

I love Type Rs and have had plenty of vtecs in my time, but I think Honda should retain that high-revving nature for their specials (e.g. something similar to what Mugen puts out, limited run / lightweight / track-focused) ........ and stick with a more friendly-natured daily driver which is less frantic.
 

Reno_LV

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I'd still have this over any Audi/BMW/VW stuff! Can't wait for them to release this thing, however I can't imagine a honda without Vtec :worried:
 

DC.

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this will tie-in nicely with Honda's return to F1 as an engine manufacturer.

F1 engine will be a 1.6L V6 Turbo though.
 

Stu Beck

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Ive had many cars over the years including turbos but never had as much fun as i did in my civic type r or integra type r!
 

Andymh

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Its not as bad looking as I expected but hopefully there will be some decent pics released without the dodgy paint job.
 

Nigelo

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I think if they manage to combine the advantages of turbocharging and a reasonably high rev limit (around 8k+) then it might offer enough of a unique drive to carve it's own niche out.
 

nobby

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The car is not due till 2015. It's no different to all the speculation surrounding the NSX concept also due 2015. New F1 car 2015. Honda is putting their sports heritage neck on the line in 2015; I'm hoping they pull it off as they seriously need to get back into the sports market and building on their brand again

I doubt Honda engineers will release a car that is supposedly out of date to other marques releasing models...
 

dufunk

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The only time im really in the mood for the high revs now is on the whindy b roads but on carriageways and round towns it does my head especally coming from a mr2 turbo were you didnt have to be on the limit for power, but they are the only car ive every been in were you can be totally flat on a corner yes they are extremely gd handling cars but i think the lack of torques helps it from oversteering or doing funny things but add a turbo to fwd no matter how gd the chassis is will not be the same.
 
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