Automotive

Honda goes all-out boy racer with Type-R Prototype

Honda goes all-out boy racer with Type-R Prototype
The Type-R Prototype is a strong indication of where the next-gen Civic hot hatch is headed
The Type-R Prototype is a strong indication of where the next-gen Civic hot hatch is headed
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The Honda Civic Type-R Prototype is seriously menacing
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The Honda Civic Type-R Prototype is seriously menacing 
The Type-R Prototype is a strong indication of where the next-gen Civic hot hatch is headed
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The Type-R Prototype is a strong indication of where the next-gen Civic hot hatch is headed
20-inch wheels and sticky tires serve to set the Type-R apart from the more practical standard Civic
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20-inch wheels and sticky tires serve to set the Type-R apart from the more practical standard Civic
The Type-R's side skirts are carbon fiber
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The Type-R's side skirts are carbon fiber
All three exhaust pipes are functional according to Honda - but that's easy to say when the engine doesn't run
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All three exhaust pipes are functional according to Honda - but that's easy to say when the engine doesn't run
That wing would look at home on a BTCC racer
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That wing would look at home on a BTCC racer
The Type-R's paintwork has been finished to look like brushed aluminum
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The Type-R's paintwork has been finished to look like brushed aluminum
The big vents in the hood and bumper feed the car's engine with cooling air
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The big vents in the hood and bumper feed the car's engine with cooling air
All three exhaust pipes on the Type-R are functional according to Honda
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All three exhaust pipes on the Type-R are functional according to Honda
Red and black has been chosen as the theme for the Type-R Prototype
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Red and black has been chosen as the theme for the Type-R Prototype
Wider wheel arches house broad, 245-section tires
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Wider wheel arches house broad, 245-section tires
That hood scoop is purely stylistic at the moment, but we're hoping it makes it to production
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That hood scoop is purely stylistic at the moment, but we're hoping it makes it to production
The Type-R carries on the aggressive, overdone looks of the last hot Civic
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The Type-R carries on the aggressive, overdone looks of the last hot Civic
The Civic Type-R Prototype launched at the 2016 Paris Motor Show
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The Civic Type-R Prototype launched at the 2016 Paris Motor Show
View gallery - 14 images

Honda has used the Paris Motor Show to throw off its beige cardigan, taking the perfectly practical, sensible Civic Hatch and turning it into the winged creation you see here. Designed to preview the next generation of Civic hot-hatches, the Type-R Prototype appeals to the boy racer living in every petrolhead.

From a distance, you could be forgiven for thinking a teenager had driven their grandmother's Civic through the local aftermarket automotive parts and accessories retailer. There's a wider, more aggressive bumper and hood scoop, and the headlamps are finished with darker glass to match the paintwork.

Carbon fiber side skirts flow into a menacing carbon diffuser down back, and there are three (functional, according to Honda) exhaust pipes to help the engine breathe. As if that wasn't lairy enough, the roof also flows into a massive rear wing that would look right at home on the back of a BTCC car.

All three exhaust pipes are functional according to Honda - but that's easy to say when the engine doesn't run
All three exhaust pipes are functional according to Honda - but that's easy to say when the engine doesn't run

The whole package sits on black 20-inch wheels, which hide red brake callipers and dinner-plate sized discs up front. They sit under pumped up wheelarches, which have been widened to house the 245-section tires and more aggressive suspension tune.

Although it's just a design study at the moment, we'd be banking on an almost unchanged version of the Type-R Prototype making it to production next year.

Take a look at the Type-R in Honda's short promo video below:

Honda Civic Type R Prototype: The Prototype breaks cover in Paris.

Source: Honda

View gallery - 14 images
5 comments
5 comments
Fairly Reasoner
Get out! That's not a Subaru?
Rick Tabar
Now I know where the designer of the Aztek works. Hideous with a capital H.
AZMatthew
Nice lines and paint. Front end and exhaust is a great change up.
Michael Wilson
Looks a lot like the 2014 Subaru WRX Sti
Rocky Stefano
@Rick, LMFAO, you hit the nail right on the head