Skip to main content

Honda officially announces 2015 Civic Type R production model will premiere at Geneva

Up until now, Honda’s only shown off its newest Civic Type R as a concept vehicle, teasing us since the last Geneva Auto Show. A year later, Honda returns to Geneva with a production version finally in tow.

Honda’s “race car for the road” will debut alongside the Honda-badged NSX supercar for its European debut. Under the hood, the Type R will have a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder VTEC turbo engine that will allegedly get 276 horsepower to the front wheels by way of a six-speed manual.

Recommended Videos

It will also sport “aggressive, function-led styling” to make it look as sporty as we expect it to be, as the chassis is said to packed with new tech to give the car some very rewarding driving dynamics. A very brief frame of the teaser video for the Type R gives us a peek of the “+R” button, which is supposed un-civilize the Civic, unleashing all the performance the car has been holding back with different engine power-mapping settings and tighter steering.

Honda Civic Type R
Image used with permission by copyright holder

That’s the good news. The bummer part is that there are no plans to bring it over to the U.S. You may be saying “boo” (I was saying “boo-urns”), but if rumors are to believed, a U.S.-spec version should be coming at some point, based around the same 2.0-liter engine.

Based on the previous concept, the Civic Type R production model should look appropriately sporty and youthful. Hopefully it retains much of these cues, and even further, we hope that the rumored U.S. spec doesn’t differ too much from what we’ve seen.

Those who can’t wait may be able to catch preview snapshots over at www.redline.global, the microsite Honda has set up in anticipation of the reveal. The site encourages visitors to sign up and share photos of their Civic Type R’s, with points each registrant can earn by participating. Points unlock some promotional material, maybe even other teasers, but you won’t know unless you play.

Alexander Kalogianni
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex K is an automotive writer based in New York. When not at his keyboard or behind the wheel of a car, Alex spends a lot of…
Mini’s infotainment system is very charming, but still needs work
Main screen of the Mini infotainment system

When you think Mini, you probably don’t think of infotainment. Personally, I think of the British flag taillights, the distinct exterior, and the surprising room on the inside. But after driving the Mini John Cooper Works Countryman over the past week, infotainment might well be something I think of more often when it comes to Mini. It’s charming.

It also, however, suffers from all the traps that other legacy automakers fall into when it comes to software design. Mini has something on its hands here — but it still needs some work.
Bringing the charm
The first thing that stood out to me about the system when I got in the car was how fun it was. That all starts with the display. It’s round! No, it’s not curved — the screen is a big, round display sits in at 9.4 inches, and I found it plenty large enough for day-to-day use.

Read more
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Read more