Mark your calendars: 2017 is when the production Honda Civic Type R is coming to showrooms around the world. Before then though, Honda is whetting our appetite with the unveil of the Civic Type R Prototype, photos of which just came out ahead of the 2016 Mondial de L’Automobile (Paris International Motor Show).

Based on the low and wide proportions of the new Civic hatchback, the Type R Prototype is enhanced by muscular body styling and modifications to aid aerodynamic performance. The exterior is clothed in a highly reflective, finely-grained brushed aluminum-effect finish unique to the show car.


At the front, the aggressive bumper is accentuated with a winged carbon fiber splitter and sporty red accent line. Additional slatted ducts add width to the bumper, and diamond-mesh inserts fill the sculpted air intakes.

Honda’s famous red ‘H’ badge, which adorns all Type R models, sits above a new air vent at the nose of the car. There is also a new intake on the bonnet, with an air scoop sited centrally in a trapezoidal recess. Smoked lenses for the LED headlights, indicators and side repeaters reflect the Type R Prototype’s more aggressive character.


Carbon fiber side skirts run the length of the wheelbase, between 20-inch piano black alloy wheels with red accents and 245-section high-performance tires. Enlarged arches accommodate the new wheels.

A substantial carbon fiber diffuser runs below the wider rear bumper, which frames three fully-functional tailpipes with a pair of directional strakes at each side. The central tailpipe is of a smaller diameter and is highlighted in bright metallic red. Unique peaks at the roof flanks point backwards towards a dramatic, visually striking rear wing.


No performance figures have been released, but if the reports are to be believed, expect the Civic Type R to produce north of 340 horsepower routed through a clever front-wheel drive system. The next-generation Civic Type R was engineered within the same development program as the other members of the Civic family, and will be officially unveiled in production form next year.


It will be produced at Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) in Swindon, the global manufacturing hub for the five-door hatchback, with sales expected to begin in Europe during the second half of 2017. After that, the Type R will be exported to markets around the world including, fingers crossed, the Philippines.