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Honda unveiled the new Civic Type R at a swanky airport event in Hawthorne, California.

After the 10th-generation Civic's aggressive and excessive exterior design split fans into opposing camps, Honda clearly decided to take a step back toward the classic styling and staid personality that made the Civic such a sales stalwart over the past three decades. Now, the official debut of the 11th gen's high-spec Type R package exhibits a continued commitment to that mindset, albeit with a few go-fast goodies bolted on from the front splitter to a sleek rear wing.

Despite the reveal including almost zero reference to any specific performance stats or specs—not to mention a pricing commitment—Honda's high-falutin event in a massive hangar right off the runway of Hawthorne Municipal Airport nonetheless afforded select media and a slew of fanboys the chance to get a better sense of the new Type R inside and out.

Honda chose an incredible setting that provided the perfect opportunity to pull the curtain off an 11th-gen Type R, parked directly next to HondaJets and with factory IndyCar driver Colton Herta on hand to tout the hot hatch's track-focused performance. Despite months (if not years) of teasers, leaks, and renders, the final design still managed to present a few surprises for even the most ardent Civic fans on site.

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Overall, a transition to cleaner principles more in check with the Civic's long history continues on the new Type R, despite a few concessions to the top trim's aggressive spirit. But even the hood heat extractor manages to keep the new generation's straighter lines intact, while an integrated front splitter and vents behind the wheels also fit neatly into an aesthetic that nonetheless hints at the enhancements over even the sportier lower models, like the Civic Si.

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A lineup of every prior Civic generation included the 10th-gen Type R for comparison, highlighting the excessive angularity, unnecessary accoutrements, and borderline Fast and Furious-style rear wing that the new model ditches in favor of a more restrained profile. Iconic hatches from the 1970s, '80s, and '90s revealed the more utilitarian ethos that Honda wanted to imbue into the new generation, as well.

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And yet, the interior of two cars that Honda allowed attendees to climb inside and inspect closely displayed an impressive combination of comfortable and classy design details. A flat, horiztontal dash merges with a center console and a buttery smooth shifter—at least, the action felt smooth when I flicked through the six forward gears while parked—and a simple steering wheel lacking many of the over-thought button layouts popular among today's more performance-focused models from other manufacturers.

New seats for this generation feature bolsters to snug driver and front passenger in place but manual adjustments for both the seats and steering column still allowed me to find a perfect driving position at 6'1" tall with long legs and a short torso. And even with the front seat adjusted to my ideal location, I then hopped in the back and discovered ample legroom with just a bit of a cramped headspace due to the sloping hatchback layout.

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Unfortunately, no matter how much Honda wants to focus on stellar performance in a simple package, the event actually ended up underscoring the new design more than anyhting else—largely because of a puposeful and distinct dearth of any concrete information about the new Type R. Only a new production front-wheel-drive track record at the Suzuka Circuit stands as a testament to the car's potential, while the only stats involve the turbocharged inline-four's expected 2.0 liters of displacement and those six forward gears.

Given that the outgoing VTEC four-banger pumps 306 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels, expect the new generation to achieve slightly higher ratings and, presumably, more area under the dyno curve with further minimized turbo lag. Whether the 11th-gen Type R can equal the Si trim and add only 60-70 pounds of additional mass remains a question for another day to answer.

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I managed to find time for a bit of closer inspection after the big rush of the official reveal passed, checking out the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires wrapped around 19-inch wheels and measuring 265 millimeters wide at all four corners. But I left my tape measure at home, so the official size of those Brembo brakes will need to wait for further information to dribble out from Honda in the coming weeks and months.

Honda plans to sell the Civic Type R for the 2023 model year and promises to release pricing and additional information closer to the official launch in the fall. But with expectations of a price tag just shy of $40,000 or so—up slightly from the outgoing model's $37,895 sticker—the new Type R also serves to make Acura's decision to equip only high-spec Integras with a manual transmission all the more confusing, given the 1.5-liter engine shared with the Type R's little Si sibling.

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To everyone I spoke with on the airport tarmac, the new Type R (and, really, the Si) both looks better and should perform much better than the Integra. The biggest fans spent the rest of the evening sharing their knowledge all around, from pointing out engine block casting numbers (which apparently continue the sequence of the now-obsolete Type R) to gushing over the red footwell carpet (decidedly not my style and perhaps the only truly unnecessary bit of excess present) and even as far as wondering what real-world function the plate on the intake hosing adorned in Type R script might play in terms of potentially improved performance.

With three exhaust tips, a big wing, and an otherwise staid profile, the new Type R appears perfectly positioned to outmaneuver the overwhelming popular 2022 Hyundai Elantra N. The Elantra's slightly more futuristic exterior hints at a peppy 276-horsepower turbo-four under the hood with a potent 289 lb-ft of torque available. I drove home wondering if truly unbiased enthusiasts searching for fun front-wheel-drive sport compacts will deem the Type R worth the higher sticker, which slots in well above a base Elantra N's $32,150 MSRP and will likely escalate with massive dealer markups when sales actually begin. Whether driving impressions of the Type R can match expectations (seems likely) or if Honda can actually deliver vehicles in reasonable quantities (less likely) will help to determine this new top-spec Civic's popularity, at least outside of the not-insignificant diehard fans for whom only this Type R will do the trick.

Sources: hondanews.com, cityofhawthorne.org, indycar.com, and michelinman.com.

Michael Van Runkle grew up surrounded by Los Angeles car culture, going to small enthusiast meets and enormous industry shows. He learned to drive stick shift in a 1948 Chevy pickup with no first gear and currently dailies his 1998 Mitsubishi Montero while daydreaming about one day finishing up that Porsche 914 project. He's written in various media since graduating from UC Berkeley in 2010 and started at HotCars in February 2018.