This Is The New Honda Civic Type-R: 306bhp, 167mph And A Massive Rear Wing

After all the concepts, teasers and clever adverts, it’s at last here: the brand spanking new Honda Civic Type-R.

The latest Honda to wear the famous Type-R badge is a powerful one: it’s packing an all-new turbocharged 2.0-litre VTEC engine which kicks out a meaty 306bhp and 295lb ft of torque to the front boots. It’s not quite the high-revving screamer we’re used to from Type-R Hondas, with peak power coming in at 6500rpm and a 7000rpm redline, but with a third more power and over twice the torque of the last Civic Type-R, the new one represents a massive step forward.

As you’d expect, that poke allows for some impressive performance figures. 0-62mph is doable in just 5.7 seconds, while the top speed is 167mph. Both figures better any of the Civic’s main rivals.

Make no mistake, this is hugely powerful for a front-wheel drive car, but the Civic has a couple of tricks up its sleeve to keep the madness in check. The first is the obvious mechanical limited-slip differential, but the second is a little more interesting. It’s a ‘Dual Axis Strut’ front suspension system, which operates in a similar manner to Ford’s RevoKnuckle, reducing torque steer by up to 50 per cent.

While we’re talking suspension, the Civic gets a set of adaptive four-stage dampers. While the front receives the posh ‘Dual Axis’ setup, the rear is an H-shaped torsion beam affair.

The Type-R’s driving experience can be sportified with the touch of a button. Specifically, the ‘+R’ button. Do that, and the aforementioned dampers firm up by 30 per cent, steering power assistance decreases, while the engine’s responsiveness and torque mapping become a little angrier.

As divulged by Honda recently, the new Type-R has been given an extensive aero package. There’s a wide front splitter and chunky side skirts which manage airflow and reduce lift, plus a new front bumper which is shaped to quell turbulence around the wheels.

The underside is completely flat, aiding airflow to the butch rear diffuser, and of course, there’s a jolly great rear wing. Sadly the rear wing sported by the concept - which had the rear light clusters integrated - has been dropped, but the production version is still suitably nuts.

Fancy seeing the new Civic Type-R in the metal? It’s on display now at the Geneva motor show. It’ll go on sale across Europe this summer.