The 2023 Honda Civic Type R will start at just under $43,000. That’s a significant jump — about $5,000 — over the last time Honda built a Type R. But it has been two years since the last Type R appeared, and this one is more powerful and significantly more refined.
Honda’s Two High-Performance Civics
The standard Honda Civic is one of the most polished affordable compact cars on the road. Available as a sedan or a hatchback, it won our Best Buy Award among compact cars for its outstanding balance of a reasonable price with refined driving dynamics. The Civic starts at $24,650 (plus a $1,095 delivery fee).
But Honda builds two high-performance versions of the Civic.
The Civic Si is closer to being a typical daily driver but is still capable of stoplight-to-stoplight fun. It makes 200 horsepower (more than the base Civic’s 158) and adds a limited-slip differential to firm things up in the turns. It starts at $28,100 (plus that same delivery fee).
The Civic Type R takes things further.
Specs Released This Week
We’ve known the basics of the Type R since Honda unveiled it mid-summer.
Front-wheel drive (FWD) like every Civic, it uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine. We now know that it produces 315 horsepower. That, Honda says, makes it “the most powerful and highest-performing Honda production vehicle ever sold in America.”
It comes mated to a 6-speed, short-throw manual transmission with a rev-matching system.
It has separate bodywork from other Civics — longer, lower, and wider than the Si, with big fender flares that give it a more muscular look. A large rear spoiler rides on die-cast aluminum stays to provide some added stability.
It’s a more civilized look than past Type R models, which sometimes looked aggressively like tuner projects from a SEMA show. But it can beat them all around a track. The car recently set a new production-car FWD track record at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
Right in the Middle of the Competition
The 2023 Civic Type R carries a sticker price of $42,895 plus a $1,095 destination charge.
That puts it centered between its most natural rivals. The Toyota GR Corolla, all-new for 2023, starts at $35,900. The Volkswagen Golf R starts at $44,290.
