This is your last chance to buy a Honda Civic Type R

► New Ultimate Edition revealed
► Europe’s last shot at Type R ownership
► Just 40 are being made for all of the region

Say goodbye, farewell and toodle-oo to the Civic Type R, as Honda is calling time on its ferocious and fabulous hot hatch in Europe. Just before the truly brilliant Type R departs, though, it’s creating one final version: the Ultimate Edition.

The new Ultimate Edition is ‘designed to embody 28 years of hot hatch performance’, says Honda, with this version of the short-lived FL5-generation Civic Type R being adorned with cosmetic trinketry and a couple of sweet details.

All 40 – yes… just FORTY – of the Ultimate Edition models are finished in Championship White and come with red stripe decals over the bonnet and down the sides. The roof is painted black and carbonfibre trimmings inside that even feature a red weave in it can be found.

As well as Ultimate Edition badging, every one of the 40 owners will receive a gift box that contains a numbered plaque, carbonfibre key ring, bespoke floor mats and a car cover.

The performance specs, meanwhile, remain the same. But that’s not a complaint – the combination of a 2.0-litre turbo making 325bhp and 310lb ft, driving the front wheels via a super sweet-shifting six-speed manual is hard to beat.

That combination made the FL5 one of the best hot hatchbacks of recent times. We’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Want to learn more about what you’ll be missing? Keep reading for our original report on the FL5 Type R.

‘With this generation, we tried to incorporate all the efficient and effective aerodynamic measures and wrapped them in an elegant shell,’ Kotaro Yamamoto, technical advisor of Honda Motor Europe tells CAR while pointing out the FL5’s uncluttered lines.

Gone are the pronounced wheel arches of the previous gen, and with them the fake carbonfibre and cul-de-sac vents. Even the wheels are smaller this time around too (from 20-inches to 19-) though a ‘reverse-rim’ construction means you can hardly tell. The wider, more open, part of the alloy now faces outwards rather than inwards, giving the illusion of a bigger rim.

At the rear, the new car sports a thoroughly re-designed wing. Smaller than the Star-Wars number slung on the back of the old car, it’s an intricate affair with die-cast aluminium supports. Alongside reducing weight, these trick struts take up less of the wing’s surface area – crucially leaving more of it to generate downforce. When combined with a Type R-specific hood, bumper, skirt and diffuser, downforce is up to 900nm at 124mph. 

Look further down and you’ll see a triple-pipe configuration similar to the old car, only here it’s reversed: two smaller pipes sit either side of a larger one, with all three nestled into a new diffuser.

Every aspect has of the car has seen small but noticeable gains: the Brembo brakes return, though everything around them is different. ‘What we’ve changed significantly is the cooling,’ Yamamoto says, while showing us a new duct in the front wheel arch and a set of vents behind it. Both work in tandem to push cool air through the brakes and pull hot air out, improving their endurance in sustained use – and reducing drag.

A reworked version of the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder sits underneath the new Type R’s bonnet and benefits from a more compact turbo with stronger, lighter blades. ‘What has reduced is the inertia of the turbine itself. By reducing that weight, it is reacting much quicker and building up the boost pressure much, much quicker,’ Yamamoto explains.

‘That gives better response but also more airflow to improve the efficiency of the turbo. They can also pump more air into the cylinder. That is the key technology this time for the output increase.’ he adds. 

And what output increase? Yamamoto won’t budge and Honda won’t release the Civic’s new power figures until after homologation – but our passenger lap makes us think the 2023 Type R is knocking on Focus RS power. 

A 340bhp power figure and 5-second 0-62mph sprint aren’t out of the question – but unlike the fast Ford, power is driven entirely through the front axle. Honda’s dedication to two-wheel drive means this Civic Type R still feels particularly agile compared to its four-wheel-drive competition, though no official weight figures have been released. 

The new powertrain is mated to a manual six-speed ‘box, though this hasn’t been immune to tinkering either. Rev matching was a plus on the old car, but it’s again improved here, and is now both quicker and available through all gears. ‘The former Civic Type R wouldn’t do a rev match when shifting from second to first,’ Yamamoto reminds us. ‘But now it does.’ 

Honda has worked hard to improve the perceived quality of the new car, and it starts with the new seating position. ‘You’re sitting slightly lower than the previous generation. I think also the overall height of the car is lower,’ Yamamoto tells us, as we get comfortable behind the wheel. 

Directly ahead in the driver’s line of sight lies an arc of old-school LEDs, replacing the virtual TFT lights from the last Type R. They light up near the upper reaches of the rev range as you hone in on the redline.

Like the previous gen, the new car also features a range of driver modes – but new for the FL5 is an Individual mode. Allowing the driver to swap and choose between suspension, powertrains, engine sound and other settings, it’s yet another step towards a more complete, more mature product.

Featuring serious engineering and more palatable looks, Honda engineers believe this car has everything it needs to retain the hot-hatch crown, while appearing to a larger range of customers. There’s no word on pricing yet, but this feels like a car that costs upwards of the FK8’s £31k price tag. 

It’ll be released in Europe in 2023, though we’ll get firm facts and figures ideally later this year.

Curtis Moldrich is CAR magazine’s Digital Editor and has worked for the brand for the past five years. He’s responsible for online strategy, including CAR’s website, social media channels such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, and helps on wider platform strategy as CAR magazine branches out on to Apple News+ and more.