Honda makes enthusiasts drool with the racy 2023 Civic Type R teaser
One of 2022’s most anticipated cars is the Honda Civic’s Type R performance model. Honda whetted enthusiasts’ appetites with camouflaged, teaser photos of the hot hatch undergoing development at the Suzuka Formula One race track in Japan. The striptease doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
The 2023 Type R takes the 11th generation Civic’s conservative styling and adds a big rear wing, swollen rear fenders for fatter tires, center tri-tailpipes, and bigger front grilles to feed the turbocharged beast within. The current-generation Type R makes an impressive 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque from its 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine and the new-gen model is expected to update the formula.
In defiance of the SUV trend, the compact 2022 Civic sedan was the sixth best-selling non-pickup vehicle in America in the first nine months of 2021, according to Car and Driver. The new Type R will likely be built in Indiana alongside the Civic Sport hatchback after Honda discontinued production in Swindon, England, earlier this year. The move would continue to cement Honda as one of the Midwest’s biggest manufacturers. The Japanese company already produces the number 2 best-selling SUV in America, the CR-V, in East Liberty, Ohio, and the Accord sedan in nearby Marysville. Some 95% of Honda’s U.S.-sold vehicles are made in North America.
The 10th-generation car, manufactured from 20172021, was a wild sculpture of wings, splitters and scoops. Car and Driver wrote that the exterior looked like “a disheveled knife drawer,” and the new generation tones down the wardrobe significantly.