Development of the all-new Honda Civic Type R has begun and the Japanese brand has released the first teaser images.

Petrolheads have a love/hate relationship with the Honda Civic Type R. You can’t argue that the last two generations weren’t a huge leap forward. Gone were the fun naturally-aspirated screamers and in their place came hot hatch goodness that took the fight right back to the Germans, although the French would still maintain they had one of the faster and more engaging offerings…

Thanks to a combination of a sweet 6-speed manual gearbox, a punchy turbocharged engine, communicative chassis and a suspension setup that was out of this world, the Honda Civic Type R thrilled many, including us. A few #CarsAwards titles were proof that this was the real deal – a performance gem.

Dislikes? Well, customers only had the manual gearbox to choose from, a crime in an era where a dual-clutch gearbox has become the norm. Then there was that styling, which we quite liked, but was deemed a bit over the top for mainstream adoption.

Now, attention has turned to the all-new model. Here we see some camouflaged prototypes of the all-new Honda Civic Type R. Honda says its new model will be launched in 2022, but first, there’s some serious dynamic testing to be conducted and the best place for this is obviously the Nurburgring track in Germany.

From what we can see in these crisp and clear photos, the newcomer will feature the traditional rear wing, but it remains to be seen how much of it is functional aero or just for show. We can also see the car is riding on special Michelin Pilot Sport track tyres and we can also see the Brembo performance brakes. We’re happy the triple exhaust in the centre of the rear bumper has been retained.

At this stage, there’s no word on what engine will be doing duty under the bonnet. Some Internet pundits have suggested that Honda will be going all-out with an all-wheel-drive setup and a hybrid engine, but realistically, we think Honda will choose to use the current 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with a bit more power/torque and stick to the current front-wheel drive. Why change a winning formula?

We’ll be keeping tabs on the development of the all-new Honda Civic Type R. Given its track record for chasing um track records, we suspect it’ll have a go at trying to snatch the current front-wheel-drive record away from its arch-nemesis, the Renault Megane RS Trophy.

Further Reading

Drag Race! Honda Civic Type R vs Hyundai i30 N

#CarsAwards – Best hot hatches