New Honda Civic Type R details

How to take the 'ring record from the Megane 265? More power of course!

Forget the McLaren P1, the latest Honda Civic Type R may soon be the car with the longest pre-production PR hype in all history. Still two years from production, Honda has chosen Frankfurt to tease us with a couple more tidbits of info.

You want subtle? Go buy a Golf GTI

What’s new? Well, the 2015 Type R has been confirmed with a 2.0-litre direct-injection turbo and 280hp but there's no confirmation of the gearbox yet. Furthermore, the recent Nurburgring testing produced a time ‘approaching the [FWD] lap record’, held of course currently by the Megane 265 at 8min 8sec.

The announcement of a power figures puts the Civic dead level with the Astra VXR and 15hp ahead of said Megane. But let’s not forget the 308 R in all this too, another five-door like the Civic with a 270hp 1.6 turbo and a proper LSD. Firm details on a potential Focus RS Mk 3 are still scarce, so it could become a three-way battle for the ‘ring record between the Honda, Peugeot and Renault. Don’t be surprised if the latter gets a mild mechanical upgrade in the near future...

As for the Honda, we’ll just have to keep hanging on for that next little drip from a very long and slow information stream.