2023 Honda Civic Type R is Bigger, Quicker, and Better Looking

Honda calls this the most powerful production model it’s sold in North America—but won’t specify by how much quite yet.

Here it is. After months of teasing— almost a year, really— Honda has finally revealed the next-generation, 2023 Honda Civic Type R. While we now know what the performance icon will look like when it launches later this year, Honda is keeping mum on most of the performance details.

As you can see, the new CTR uses the latest Civic Hatchback as its base. The overall styling is much cleaner than before, even with the extra slashes and vents that come with that vaunted red emblem. Many of the enhancements are similar to the last car—functional vents aft of the front wheels, a hood scoop, the unique triple-tip exhaust—though the big rear wing now sits on dainty lattice-type mounts. It’s also no longer body-colored, though that could be an option.

The wheel design looks similar, too, but these are 19-inch items this time, not 20s. Nonetheless, they’re now wrapped in wide 265/30-series Michelin Pilot 4S tires, which is wild for a front-drive car.

Yes, the Type R will be sticking to one powered axle. Honda confirmed as much last year, and that the car would use an improved version of the slick-shifting six-speed manual, complete with rev matching. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder is present again too, and Honda says it’s the most powerful Type R ever. The Japanese company stopped shy of giving any specific figures to reinforce that claim, however. We know the 2021 model threw down 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, so it sounds as though this one will at least plus-one those figures. It won’t be another Civic Si situation, basically.

Inside, the Type R benefits from the same excellent interior as the regular Civic Hatchback. This includes the 9.0-inch central touchscreen (with wireless phone mirroring), 10.2-inch digital instrument panel, and clean dashboard design. Honda drops in some super-bolstered sports seats for Type R duty, and the crimson color bleeds into the footwells, too. The fully metal shift knob is back at center stage as well.

One of the Type R’s greatest strengths is its blend of manic performance and everyday practicality. The hatchback opening should swallow large items with ease, and those thicker sidewalls should give it even more grace around town. Not that Honda’s performance icon has gone soft: it’s already smashed the front-drive production lap record at Japan’s Suzuka circuit.