Honda’s new Civic Type R touches down

HONDA’S new-generation Civic Type R has touched down on Australian soil with the first production vehicles making landfall in Melbourne over the weekend ahead of the hot hatch’s launch and on-sale date next month.

Included in the shipment is about 60 high-performing Civics with Honda planning to bring over 400 additional examples by the end of the year to satiate customer demand, which has reached more than 350 dealer orders and 6500 pre-registrations.

Although the first Civic Type R off the boat – a Rally Red example set aside as a media evaluation vehicle – is the first production version of the hot hatch to make landfall, evaluation prototype vehicles have been spotted around Australia since as early as March this year.

Honda Australia director Stephen Collins said the new Civic Type R is a culmination of the brand’s hot hatch experience, which first started with the original red-badged small car 20 years ago in 1997.

“The ultimate in Civic performance and a direct manifestation of Honda’s racing spirit, experience and heritage, the Type R stands as a banner of Honda’s commitment to creating products that put customers – and enthusiasts – at the centre of everything it does,” he said.

“Since the Civic Type R prototype was unveiled at the Paris motor show last year, anticipation surrounding Honda’s next-generation high-performance hot hatch has continued to build, so it’s incredibly exciting to have the first cars here now and it won’t be long until we’ll start to see them out on the road.”

Honda’s new Civic Type R will compete in price and performance directly against other flagship hatchbacks including the Volkswagen Golf R and Ford Focus RS, as well as the Subaru WRX STI sedan.

With a $50,990 before on-roads cost asking price, the Civic Type R matches the all-paw Ford Focus RS in expense, while coming in $2000 cheaper than the entry VW Golf R and $1250 more than the Subaru WRX STI.

Powering Honda’s new flagship hatchback is a turbocharged 2.0-litre VTEC four-cylinder engine producing 228kW of power at 6500rpm and peak 400Nm of torque from 2500-4500rpm with performance pushed to the front axle via a six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox.

With only 1393kg to move, the Civic Type R will accelerate from zero to 100km/h in less than six seconds and also holds the distinction of being the fastest front-wheel-drive vehicle to lap the Nurburgring circuit.

Mr Collins said the impending launch of the new Civic Type R will cap off 18 months of Honda launches which included the CR-V SUV in July and Civic hatch in May this year, and the Civic sedan in May, 2016.

“The arrival of the all-new Civic Type R is the culmination of 18 months of intense new product activity for Honda Australia that has seen our entire line-up of vehicles either refreshed, updated or all-new models introduced to market.”