Next Honda Civic Type R To Have More Power Without Going Hybrid?

Our photographers caught a revised version of the Honda Civic Type R testing on public roads in Europe back in May this year. The spied prototype suggested some notable visual revisions are in the cards and back then it was believed the performance vehicle could get some sort of electrification. It turns out this could be a mistake.

A new report from AutoExpress shines more light on Honda's plans about the hot hatch. According to the British publication, the company would stick to a traditional gasoline combustion engine with no hybrid support. This is contrary to previous rumors, which even hinted at a potential all-electric Type R.

AutoExpress talked to Tom Gardener, senior vice president at Honda Europe, who didn't provide a direct confirmation that the new Civic Type R won't go hybrid, but strongly suggested there will be just the turbocharged engine under the hood.

"We have our main pillars that are going to be electrified," Gardener told our source. "Clearly we have a very famous product, such as the derivative of the Civic, which I guess is what you are referring to in the Type R, but no decisions have been made on that yet. We're very much aware of customers' strong appreciation of the current model, and we'll have to deeply consider the best progress forward."

The current car's 2.0-liter turbocharged engine seems like a good candidate for the overhauled performance hatch. There will be no changes to the powertrain layout too, which means the six-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel-drive configuration will be retained. More importantly, however, power should go up compared to today's 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.

The refreshed Type R should arrive for the 2022 model year. Production is expected to move from Honda's Swindon plant to one of the brand's Japanese factories.