Geneva show: Honda Civic Type R set for reveal

HONDA has confirmed it will wheel out the production version of its new-generation Civic Type R at this year’s Geneva motor show.

The production reveal of the go-fast variant will cap off the tenth-generation Civic line-up following the launch last year of the sedan body style and the arrival in the coming months of the hatchback.

Honda ripped the covers off the concept version of the Type R hatchback at last year’s Paris motor show, and while it was dubbed a concept, the road-going version of the performance hero is unlikely to change dramatically.

While the sedan and forthcoming hatch will be sourced from Honda’s Thai factory for the Australian market, all Type Rs will be produced at the company’s Swindon, UK plant for export to a number of markets including, for the first time in the variant’s history, the United States.

The Type R is set to sprint into Australian showrooms late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Its launch will follow the less frenetic versions of the new-gen hatch that goes on sale in May this year.

As reported, the Type R will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged VTEC petrol engine.

This is a tweaked version of the unit that was developed for the now superseded ninth-generation Type R that never made it Down Under. That engine produced 224kW and 400Nm, but it is unclear whether the new version will be more or less powerful.

Sharing the Honda stand at Geneva will be the car-maker’s Clarity Fuell Cell car as well as the futuristic NeuV concept that was revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Ahead of the regular hatch launch, Honda Australia has created a page on its consumer website for potential buyers to register their interest in the Mazda3-fighter.

The line-up will likely mimic that of the sedan that lobbed in May last year, starting with the base VTi and VTi-S powered by the carry-over 1.8-litre naturally aspirated engine, followed by the VTi-L, RS and VTi-LX that use Honda’s new 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol unit.

More information will be released when the covers come off the Type R at the Geneva show in early March.