Honda Civic Type R takes aim at Megane RS

The Honda Civic Type R is not currently in production, but is predicted to make a big impact on its reintroduction in Europe in 2015, says Honda. And it is virtually guaranteed to be offered in Australia.

Talking to motoring.com.au at the Paris motor show, Honda Motor Europe President Manabu Nishimae said the next Civic Type R will be the fastest and lightest version yet and testing on the new chassis will begin shortly.

"Within a couple of years [Civic Type R will be] in the market, in 2015, but we will have to start testing on the Nurburgring and that won't be far away."

Nishimae reiterated Honda's previous commitment that the new Civic hot hatch will be the fastest front-wheel drive car around the Nurburgring, and will topple the current king of the 'Ring, the Renault Megane RS265, whose time of 8: 08 is yet to be beaten.

Honda's World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) tilt will be via a race-prepped Civic Type R. Mr. Nishimae said the new generation model will take cues from the Honda Civic WTCC race car.

While it's unclear if Honda will use an engine similar to the WTCC race car's 1.6-litre turbo, Mr. Nishimae confirmed the new car will be lighter and more fuel efficient than its predecessor.

"It will be much better than previous one. It will have environmental technology and high performance."

A hybrid powertrain car has been ruled out - Mr. Nishimae said "no electric motor" - but when quizzed over the car's power output, or potential lack thereof, he implied the Nurburgring record will be broken via cornering rather than straight-line speed.

"Straight line acceleration hasn't ever been the main focus of the Type R. The Type R focus has always been the pleasure of the driving."

Mr. Nishimae also highlighted the expansion of the Civic range in another direction, verifying the existence of a wagon version. Only a vague sketch of the new wagon has been released thus far, but it appears it will employ a “sporty” tailgate.

Honda will introduce a new 88kW/300Nm 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine for the Civic hatch as well.

Honda also showed off its facelifted CR-Z hybrid sports car in Paris. It gets a few visual tweaks and a performance boost thanks to changes to the petrol engine's ECU and a switch to Lithium-ion battery power. The end result is a slashing of almost a second from the 0-100km/h sprint which drops from 9.7 to 9.0 seconds flat.

Power from the 1.5-litre petrol engine has risen from 91 to 100kW, and torque from 174Nm to 190Nm. Honda has also added a 'Plus Sport' button, which engages a more aggressive driving mode that results in around 10 seconds of electrically boosted engine performance that can only be accessed when the battery has more than 50 per cent charge.

The new Civic Type R could be expected to land in Australia not too far behind its 2015 European launch.

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