Lottery draw for $70K Honda Civic Type R LE

Just 20 examples of the 2021 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition will be imported to Australia, and even if you stump up the $70,000 asking price you’re still not guaranteed to get one.

That’s because Honda Australia will use a randomised lottery system to pick the 19 successful buyers for the lighter and faster track-oriented Civic hot hatch. (It’s keeping the other one for promotional purposes.)

The Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition lottery opens at 9.00am on Thursday, October 1 and runs until 8.00pm on Saturday, October 31, 2020 (AEST).

Only one entry is allowed per person.

Honda says demand for the harder-core version of Honda’s 228kW turbo Type R has been significant, with more than 700 people registering their interest for the track-attack weapon.

With demand overwhelmingly outstripping supply, the importer says the lottery system is the “fairest” way forward.

A total of 1020 of Civic Type R Limited Edition vehicles will be produced worldwide, and Honda Australia says it doesn’t want a repeat of the Canadian situation, where 100 vehicles were snapped up via an online reservation process in just four minutes.

“With an extremely small number of Civic Type R Limited Editions available for our market, we wanted to present an equal opportunity for all customers keen to purchase one of these cars, irrespective of their location, dealership access or internet connection,” said Honda Australia director Stephen Collins.

The Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition runs the same ballistic 2.0-litre turbo-petrol as the regular Civic Type R (228kW/400Nm) hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox, but adds 20-inch forged aluminium BBS alloy wheels that shave 10kg from its overall mass while reducing unsprung weight.

The new rims are wrapped with track-ready Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres.

Honda’s engineers have also modified the dampers and tweaked the adaptive damper software that controls them to cater for the new wheel-and-tyre package.

The electric power steering system has also been tweaked to deliver “maximum control and feedback”, says Honda, all of which results in a “lighter” and “faster” vehicle.

Honda has not said how much faster the CTR Limited Edition is compared to the regular version, but the new wheels, an interior stripped of sound-insulating materials and several items deleted (rear heater ducts and rear wiper mechanism) result in a 20kg lower mass.

Priced at $70,000 drive-away, at least $10,000 more than the regular $54,990 Civic Type R once on-road costs are added, the Limited Edition will stand out from the crowd with its exclusive ‘Sunlight Yellow II’ paint job and contrasting black roof, bonnet scoop and mirror caps, and dark chrome Civic badge glued to its rump.

The lottery will be conducted by CIE Legal for Honda Australia and requires participants to register at a Honda dealership, in person or via phone.

For those who live in metropolitan Melbourne, which is currently under strict lockdown due to COVID-19, customers can lodge an entry via the Honda Australia Contact Centre (1800 806 317).

“We believe the lottery competition will give all Type R fans in Australia an equal chance to purchase one of these special models, while building the suspense in the way only a lottery draw can,” Collins said.

Deliveries are expected to commence in April 2021.