2022 Honda Civic Type R will be a 300kW hybrid
Fresh reports suggest Honda will turn to electrification for its next-generation hot fourThe wick is reportedly being turned up on the Honda Civic Type R – in a big way.
Fresh reports out of Japan claim the 2022 Honda Civic Type R will adopt hybrid power in its next generation, in a move that will also turn Honda’s current front-drive hot-four to an all-wheel drive rocket.
Japan’s Best Car Web reports the next-generation Civic Type R due in 2022 will pair the current car’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol with a brace of electric motors over the rear axle.
The website claims that, combined, the hybridised Honda Civic Type R will dish out 400 horsepower, or nearly 300kW in our money.
The rumours correlate with recent spy photos of a Civic Type R development mule, which was also believed to be running an electrified drivetrain.
Developed concurrently alongside the regular Civic hatch, the Type R’s all-wheel drive layout is expected to include torque vectoring, taking in some of the lessons of the Honda NSX.
The electrified drivetrain would bring a huge leap in performance for Honda’s hot-four, which currently displaces 228kW and 400Nm along with one of the most polished front-drive layouts in the business. It’s not known whether the replacement would carry-over the current model’s slick six-speed manual transmission.
In any case, the power fillip theoretically would allow Honda to move closer again to the 310kW Mercedes-AMG A45 S, and put it in good stead against the forthcoming Subaru WRX STI, which is also in for a circa 300kW tune-up in the coming 18 months.
Speaking to Pistonheads in late 2019, Honda’s project lead for the all-electric Honda e (an EV that won’t be sold in Australia due to its high cost) said the Civic Type R could easily go electric.
“We think it’d be quite easy to achieve Type R performance with a full EV right now, but Type R isn’t just about performance. It’s also about handling, operation, and driveability. We don’t think it’s as simple as replacing that [turbo engine] with electric power,” he said.
SPY PICS: Honda Civic Type R facelift
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