The 2023 Honda Civic Type R Is A Dream Hot Hatch – Full Photo Gallery And Video
July 21 2022, Centennial Honda
Set to launch – and we do mean launch – in the fall of 2022, the all-new 2023 Honda Civic Type R has now been unveiled in coordination with 50 years of Civic and 30 years of Honda Type R heritage.
Based on the 11th-generation Honda Civic's hatchback bodystyle, the 2023 Honda Civic Type R bucks global trends and sticks with a 6-speed manual transmission. Count'em: three pedals. Yes, the last Civic Type R's manual shifter was offered among the best shift experiences of all time, but Honda has improved it. Honda's rev-matching system is still in place.
Horsepower figures haven't been released yet, but following up on the 306-horsepower Civic Type R of 2018-2021, Honda says the new 2.0-liter turbo in the Civic Type R wil make it the most powerful Honda in Canada. Ever.
The last Civic Type R included an enormously aggressive design package. While this new 2023 Civic Type R is easily identifiable as a Civic and easily identifiable as a Type R, it's totally different. The three colour options start with Championship White and include Sonic Gray and Rallye Red.
From the bulging fenders to the triple centre-mounted exhaust, the wild rear wing, the rear diffuser, the hood scoop and the vents behind the front wheels, and the 265/30 tires on 19-inch wheels, you know this isn't a regular Civic. And yet that so-called "regular" Civic is what makes us so excited about this new Type R. From the LX to the Sport to the sedan-range-topping Si, Honda absolutely nailed the 11th-gen Civic's underpinnings. All of these new Civics are a joy to drive, with spot-on steering, grippy handling, and terrific all-around balance.
The Type R just kicks it up a notch. Well, it kicks it up many, many, many notches.
Hang on. You're in for a wild ride.
As for the Civic Type R's heritage, Championship White, together with the red Type R badging, is an iconic colour in Honda's Type R history. The first Type R was the Japanese market's Honda NSX from 1992-1995. It was an Acura to us, but the NSX Type R returned with 140 copies in 2002 and, for only five copies, in 2005 again. The Integra Type R, which as an Acura was the first Type R in North Ameirca, ran from 1995-2001 and then exclusively in Japan from 2002-2006 as what we would have known as an Acura RSX. The Honda Accord Type R was sold in European and Japanese markets from 1998-2001 (Europe), 2000-2002 (Japan), and 2002-2008 (Japan). The Civic Type R, meanwhile, was a Japan-only model from 1997-1999 and then a European/Japanese model from 2001-2005. From 2007-2011, there was a distinct sedan-based Civic Type R for Japan and a hatchback Civic Type R for Europe on two different chassis. Then another hatchback-based Civic Type R ran in Europe and Japan from 2015-2017 before the 10th-gen Civic became a Type R hatchback for a run that ended in 2021.
Type Rs are rare beasts. Only around 200,000 have been sold globally over the last three decades, including 645 NSXs; 34,500 DC2 Integra Type Rs; and 3,400 Accord Type Rs (only 200 from 2002-2008). For example, the 30th Anniversary edition of the 2003 Honda Civic Type R was only available in the United Kingdom: 100 each in three different colours.
