Honda's latest track version of its hot hatchback was unveiled today at the Geneva Motor Show. Expected to begin production later this year, the 2017 Honda Civic Type R is based on the newly re-engineered standard Civic hatchback, though it's been thoroughly tweaked to make it suitable for the track as well as the road.
The 2017 Honda Civic R certainly maintains much of the styling of this year's standard version as well as many of the cues from the concept previewed at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. It has a distinctly aggressive appearance with massive air scoops and that huge rear spoiler, which almost seems put of proportion with the rest of the car.
Honda says the new Civic R has a stiffer chassis covered by a lighter, more rigid body shell that boasts a wider use of adhesives in key areas, giving it 38 percent better torsional rigidity compared to last year's Civic R. There's also better aerodynamics thanks to a front air curtain, smoother underbody, a lighter rear wing, and the vortex generators on the roof line's trailing edge.
Under the bonnet, there's an upgraded version of the two-liter VTEC TURBO engine used in the previous Type R, though instead of 306 bhp (228 kW), the 2017 Civic R punches 320 bhp (239 kW) with 295 ft lb (400 Nm) of torque and has better throttle response. This is backed up by a six-speed manual gearbox with a rev match control system.
Up front in the Civic R is the Macpherson strut suspension off the standard hatchback with a new geometry to hold down torque steer, and at the rear is a new independent multi-link system with high rigidity suspension arms.
Honda says that the driver assist modes now include a "Comfort" setting as well as the Sport and +R Track modes, which adapt the dampers, steering force, gear lever, and throttle response.
Production of the Civic R is slated to begin in the third quarter of this year at Honda's Swindon plant in the UK and will be exported to world markets, including, for the first time, North America.
Source: Honda
