THE WAIT IS OVER, THE TYPE-R IS HERE

It’s been kept under wraps for years, but Honda has finally let fans in on the details of the brand new Civic Type R.

The car was finally revealed at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, showing off the new look of the four-door, front-wheel drive hatchback.

Giving the car its power is a two-litre turbocharged VTEC engine, which red-lines at 7,000 rpm. It is the first time Honda has applied such a machine. The engine’s turbocharger with VTEC technology can deliver sustained acceleration and low-end torque. The car can get up to 310 PS at 6,500 rpm and 400 Nm of torque at 2,500 rpm.

As for the car’s speed, it can go from 0 to 62 mph in only 5.7 seconds, which makes it the fastest accelerating performance front-wheel drive hatchback. It can reach a top speed of 167 mph.

Attached to the engine is a six-speed manual transmission, that offer slick gear changes and ensures that the connection with the drivetrain works well for the driver.

If there was any doubt about the car’s capabilities, Honda sent it for a spin around the legendary Nurburgring. Here it got a lap time of seven minutes and 50.63 seconds, which is unmatched by any other car in the front-wheel drive hot hatch class.

While the style is aggressive looking and aesthetically pleasing, all of its stylings have a functional purpose. It looks aerodynamically efficient and sleek because it is intended to perform well at speed. The focus on aerodynamics ensures the car is stable when being driven at high speeds and can get high levels of downforce.

It has a new underside that is almost completely flat and allows for airflow under the vehicle, while combining with a rear diffuser to ensure downforce is optimised and all four wheels stay on the road.

The car’s rear wing has been reimagined from the Type R Concept. The angle, height and shape of the airfoil, including its vertical end plates, have been engineered to optimise downforce so that there is no significant increase in drag at high speeds and downforce is increased.

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