The name Honda Type R will survive the era of electrification

Latest CHEAP Honda Civic arrived, and we love it (just read our review). Like other performance sub-brands, however, its future looks bleak in an era of electric and electric vehicles.

However, Hideki Kakinuma, chief engineer of the Honda Civic Type R, had some reassurances for Type R fans. Speaking with car“Without the Type R, there is no Honda,” he declared.

Indeed, the name Type R has been used almost continuously since 1992, first on NSXIntegra and Europe Fit. Today it honors citizen hatchback car.

With Honda’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 and selling only fully electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells by 2040As well as increasingly tight emissions regulations in Europe and some US states, Kakinuma admits “it’s hard to think of such a sports car in these boundaries”.

However, he remains optimistic, believing that “they are just new barriers, new challenges to giving our customers the joy of driving” and that Honda “certainly… would love to deliver.” more Type Rs.”

Hinting at the possibility of the next Type R running on synthetic fuels, Kakinuma said he “wouldn’t rule out the possibility” of a new Type R model using an internal combustion engine (ICE), but “given the current circumstances”. Now, this is very unlikely.” unlikely”.

Indeed, Honda’s European arm is limiting the number of Civic Type Rs it brings into the region so the company can comfortably meet the EU’s 95g/km CO2 average target.

Kakinuma argues: “The Type R itself is not dependent on the powertrain. It’s a certain philosophy, a principle that makes driving fun and that involves so many aspects… If this excitement could be provided by a certain carbon neutral powertrain or electrochemical vapor – or a completely different technology – this would also make sense an R.

Earlier Type R models were built around a high-frequency VTEC engine that liked to rev all the way to the stratospheric red line, but this changed in 2015 when the Civic Type R dropped the 2.0 engine. 148kW/193Nm naturally aspirated liter of the previous model for a factory turbocharged 2.0 liter producing 228kW and 400Nm more power.

Since then, the engine has been improved and now produces 235kW and 420Nm in the latest Civic Type R.

THAN: Honda Civic