Spied: Tamer Honda Civic Type R In The Works?

Photos of several mildly camouflaged Honda Civic Type R models recently surfaced, fueling rumours that Honda could be working on a slightly tamer variant of its mighty hot hatch.

From the photos provided by our European spy photographer, these prototypes were lightly camouflaged, covering only the front and rear bumpers.

Upon closer inspection of the red prototype, we can see that it wears a front bumper that is slightly redesigned with a new surround for the front fog lights.

As for the white prototype seen here, the redesigned front fog light surrounds are more visible here. We noticed what appears to be an inverted L-shaped piece on each side, right above the front fog lights.

Moving towards the rear end, the white prototype dons a rear wing that is noticeably smaller and less fancy than the regular Type R. This rear wing sits on the rear bootlid itself, similar to the one found on the US market-only Civic Si Sedan.

The rear bumper of the white prototype also appears different from the Type R we’re accustomed to. We noticed that the bumper garnish on each edge of the rear bumper appears to feature similar garnish as the front bumper.

Additionally, the front brakes of these prototypes do not receive the same cross drilled treatment as the regular Type R.

Production of the new generation Civic Type R began in 2017 in Swindon, so a facelift is unlikely at this point of time. 

Current Civic Type R

Plans for more variants of the Civic Type R have been in the works, according to Hideki Matsumoto, Chief Engineer for the Civic. “We’re hoping that by gradually putting out more [variants] that we’ll be able to maintain a more stable sales volume,” he told Autonews. He added that Honda is considering a tamer version of the Type R that has a more grand touring character. 

Photo via SBMedian