The 2020 Honda Civic Type R facelift first made its debut at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show and has since made its way to other markets globally. Now, Honda Europe has announced the debut of refreshed hot hatch in the region, and it will be offered in new variants to meet the different needs of car enthusiasts and buyers.
Headlining the expanded line-up is the rather exciting Civic Type R Limited Edition, which will be sold in limited numbers depending on the market it is sold in. For Europe, just 100 units of the Limited Edition will be offered, while a much larger allocation of 600 units is destined for the United States for the 2021 model year.
So, what makes the Limited Edition special? Well, Honda says the model is the “purest Type R to date,” and was “developed with track performance as its core focus.” However, peek under the bonnet and you’ll find the familiar 2.0 litre VTEC Turbo four-cylinder petrol engine that continues to churn out 320 PS at 6,500 rpm and 400 Nm of torque from 2,500 to 4,500 rpm. You also still get a six-speed manual transmission to play with, which sends drive to the front wheels.
Is there anything new then? Yes, the vehicle’s weight. According to Honda, the Limited Edition is 47 kg lighter compared to the normal CTR in GT spec sold in Europe, which will certainly have an impact on its performance.
The weight-saving initiatives are rather extensive, and they start with lightweight 20-inch BBS forged alloy wheels that help shave 8 kg from the unsprung weight. The new alloys are paired with Michelin Cup 2 tyres, and to ensure the chassis is in sync, it gets modified dampers and a recalibration of the steering for maximum control and feedback.
Honda didn’t stop there, as the rear wiper has also been chucked away, while on the inside, the tonneau cover as well as the infotainment head unit and air-conditioning systems (including the rear heater ducts) have been omitted. If that isn’t enough, additional weight was saved by reducing the amount of sound-deadening materials in the roof, rear hatch panel, front bumper and dashboard.
The carmaker did point out that “unlike other brands’ track-focused performance hatchbacks, the Limited Edition retains its rear seats and the everyday usability for which the Civic is renowned.” A dig at the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R, perhaps?
Like the standard CTR, the Limited Edition also gets the Honda Sensing suite of safety and driver-assistive systems, including Collision Mitigation Braking System with Forward Collision Warning, Road Depature Mitigation with Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, and Adaptive Cruise Control.
Styling-wise, all Limited Edition units will come in yellow, which is called Sunlight Yellow in Europe and Phoenix Yellow in the US. The flashy paint scheme is complemented with contrasting gloss black paint on the roof, mirror caps and intake vent on the hood, along with a dark chrome Civic badge on the rear tailgate.
To continue the theme, the cabin of the Limited Edition sports red bucket seats, an Alcantara steering wheel with red accents, and a new teardrop-style gear knob. Each unit also comes fitted with a plaque to indicate the build number of the car.
If the Limited Edition is a little too extreme for your liking, enter the Civic Type R Sport Line. Aimed at those who prefer something a little more understated, the new variant features more discreet aerodynamic styling and a more refined ride.
Distinguishing cues from the Limited Edition and regular CTR include low-deck rear spoiler instead of the high-level wing, plus a grey accent line that runs along the lower edge of the car. It also comes with smaller, dark grey 19-inch wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sports 4S tyres.
Other revisions include additional soundproofing materials in the boot and tailgate, while the interior gets black bucket seats with red stitching, the same teardrop-style gear knob, an Alcantara steering wheel, and the the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment and air-conditioning systems are retained.
For those that are happy with the regular CTR, the list of exterior updates is as what we’ve seen already, including revised front and rear bumpers. The former has a larger air intake thanks to a thinner grille beam for improved engine cooling, which is flanked by tweaked LED headlamp clusters.
To counter the reduction in front downforce resulting from the larger grille opening, there’s a redesigned front under-bumper air dam that is slightly deeper and modified to include new ribbed sections on each end to deflect air back onto the spoiler. Other exterior changes include a new Racing Blue (or Boost Blue in the US) finish for the standard CTR and Sport Line.
On the chassis front, the hot hatch’s Adaptive Damper System’s control software now evaluates road conditions faster and the rear bushings for the lower B-arms have been stiffened for an 8% improvement in lateral loads for better toe-in characteristics when cornering. At the front, updated compliance bushings and new lower-friction ball joints result in sharper steering feel for better control.
Meanwhile, an upgraded braking system with two-piece floating front brake discs and new brake pads allows for better thermal efficiency to reduce brake fade. The new setup also reduces total unsprung weight by approximately 2.5 kg, and the brake pedal provides a more immediate feel with roughly 15 mm less space before the brakes engage.
The aforementioned Alcantara steering and teardrop-style gear knob also make their way into the rest of the CTR range, the latter of which includes a 90 gram internal counterweight to help improve shift feel and accuracy. A previously mentioned system – Active Sound Control (ASC) – also joins the kit list, and uses the audio system’s speakers to enhance the engine sound during aggressive driving in Sport and +R modes.
A new debuting system in the hot hatch is the Honda LogR performance datalogger, allowing drivers to monitor and record a variety of performance parameters via a mobile app and the car’s onboard computer and sensors.
The system offers three modes, with Performance Monitor displaying real-time info like a G-meter, gear position, coolant and oil temperatures, oil and atmospheric pressures and engine intake air temperatures.
Log Mode uses GPS to monitor and map the vehicle’s location and the car’s internal sensors to gather data on acceleration, braking, cornering G and other parameters while on track. The last mode is Auto Score, which monitors the driver’s behaviour over time by tracking inputs for acceleration, deceleration, turning and straight-line driving.
A combination score is then generated from these parameters, and drivers can then compare their results against the same expert driver baseline that is built into the app. The Auto Score mode is meant to encourage smoothness of inputs to help improve routine daily driving, rather than seeking faster lap times.
The Civic Type R Sport Line and GT spec will go on sale in Germany from spring this year, with prices starting from 41,990 euros and 41,490 euros, respectively. As for the Limited Edition, sales will only start in the summer of 2020, with pricing yet to be revealed for now.
2020 Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition
2020 Honda Civic Type R Sport Line
2020 Honda Civic Type R GT (Europe-spec)
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Borrrinnnng!!!
Absolutely! Enjoy honda cvt gearbox. But will be short term, because there are too many problems of using cvt gearbox, feels jerking. And ask you to pay more costlier
Habislah honda cvt gearbox cepat kong very soon.
People will no rather buy Honda because of quality and aftersales is very cheapskate. This City Turbo definitely no AEB, no land departure warning, no blind spot monitor and etc. Rather buy other b segment car that has more safety features and more reliable
Honda always copying from other car design. Sack honda designer
Finish Honda Malaysia and their arrogant attitude that gives a car with many issues on quality and aftersales services. Even upcoming City Turbo and other Honda models doesn’t have AEB, land departure warning and blind spot monitor. Nobody will touch this brand. Salesman will start crying. So called as “Power of Nightmare Cars”
As majority in Malaysia fed up of driving honda cars because too many quality issues on newer Honda models after bought for less than 1 year. When go to aftersales service, people also complaining most of the aftersales service dealer. Cannot solve. Shows that technicians are having half past six, lying, didn’t repair at all, never repair other peoples car at all.
Yet, some of them are still buying Honda cars with brainless. Also, come here hating kimchi cars with low resale value and hating mazda. Just look at safety specs, most of Honda models are really kosong spec. Compare to Mazda, Toyota and Hyundai Ioniq comes with blind spot monitor, AEB, land departure warning and others. No wonder, many mazda CX-5 and Proton X70 everywhere than looking Honda CRV is now rare.
Malaysians rather buy mazda. This comes with 5 years warranty as Honda. Bermaz service is better and they already improved their service than honda. Even CKD Mazda CX-5 looks so so but better than most Honda models. So Honda Malaysia is dead.
Yes, like your comment bro. Honda is unreliable nowadays.
I guess that this is the outcome from the “Honda Civic Type R update – two wing designs” spy shots from a couple of years ago.
This civic new facelift looks same as pre civic facelift
Why Honda got no resale value compare to p1. Proton X70 has reliable engine is better than Honda HRV
At least Proton X70 got RV. Honda HRV got no RV. Honda car even got no RV
The more you pay, the lighter the car gets.
in this case, the more you pay the lesser parts you get.
This is like buying the Type-J version of the Type R with a premium lol
The ultimate reason why people buys Lotus Elise
Suprima is better than Civic Type R
Ahh.. Honda never give up hope to regain title of fastest hot hatch around nurburgring against Renault Megane RS Trophy. But what Renault can achieve would be a big handicapped for Honda. 1.8 turbo versus 2.0T. And double wishbone against torsion beam rear axle.
Mana ada double wishbone. Hahahahahaha
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Well all those talking nonsense about proton, hyundai, toyota, kia, mazda and etc are absolutely from honda fanbois. Ask them, why everyone boycott honda malaysia when aftersales service and quality is bad. As well as mostly honda models have lacking of safety features.
Time to change your car model name bro.
Based on OVERALL Comments Above :
PERODUA Bezza better than PROTON Suprima better than PROTON X70 better than TOYOTA CORROLA better than MAZDA CX5 better than HONDA CIVIC TYPE R.
LIKE if you AGREE (Brainless) or DISLIKE (If your brain still work normal)
Overall, everyone will be buying other brands instead honda
CIVIC TYPE R is from HONDA.
If someone 47kg heavier than you sits in the car, the it will be about the same as the normal type R :D
honda designer are getting more lazier.
New Accord copying from Civic Tailight and Headlights
New Civic FL looks the same and no difference with pre facelift
New City Turbo copying from G20 3 Series Tailights and very boring look