The new Honda Civic Type R ditches crazy VTEC revs for 280 turbocharged horsepower, a redline at 7,000 rpm and enough torque to keep you ahead on the track. It's a pretty wild kit.
Honda says their 2.0-liter i-VTEC engine produces "more than 280PS", which is about 276 horsepower, if not more when it goes to production. (We all know it will be more like 505 horsepower when you factor in VTEC.)
They also claim that this turbo four exceeds all previous Type R cars including the Civic, Integra, Accord and NSX in terms of torque and response. I don't see how the latter is possible with a turbo going against rev-happy naturally aspirated engines, but we'll know next year when the Civic hits the European showrooms (and tracks).
To justify the red "H" badge, a new '+R' button will debut in the Civic. Located on the steering wheel, it changes the torque-mapping, steering response and the new four-point adaptive dampers.
Of course it comes with a six-speed manual! Suehiro Hasshi, Large Project Leader for the Civic Type R at Honda R&D had this to say about that:
The manual transmission allows the driver to select their chosen gear, for example, down from fifth to third when approaching a corner. The concept of the new Civic Type R is to be the complete driver's car so this was the best option.
Damn right it was. Let's just hope that those taillights make it into production too!