Wait Over! The 2023 Honda Civic Type R Makes 315 Horsepower

• The 2023 Honda Civic Type R makes 315 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.
• The suspension has been retuned, the wheelbase is longer, and there's more downforce.
• But we still don't have a price for Honda's hottest hatch.

Those numbers represent increases of 9 horsepower and 15 lb-ft of torque over the previous FK8 Civic Type R. The improvements come courtesy of a reworked intake that increases airflow to the engine, a redesigned turbocharger, and a new active exhaust that reduces back pressure. The 2023 Type R also happens to be the most powerful production Honda that has ever been sold in the U.S. That's mostly because the NSX is badged as an Acura here and not a Honda like it is everywhere else in the world, but we'll let this technicality slide.

The bodywork up front reveals a wider grille and more aggressive intakes than the previous car. The new Type R also features a functional hood vent (not a hood scoop, as in the last Type R), and that vent together with the wider grille opening should ensure the engine stays cool as a cucumber during heavy usage. Keen Type R followers might remember reports of the previous-generation car overheating during autocross events and track days. Hopefully Honda has dialed that out of the new car with a more effective cooling package. 

Connected to that engine is what Honda says is an improved six-speed manual transmission. There's a new lightweight flywheel, a revised rev-matching system and a standard helical-style limited-slip differential. Honda also says the gear lever is new and even more rigid than the stick that came before it. Hopefully that means the nasty gear grind that owners experienced on a first-to-second shift has been eradicated too.

As you probably expected, there have been some mechanical revisions to the rest of the car, too. The front suspension design is still the same dual-axis front strut design from the previous Type R. For the uninitiated, Honda's dual-axis front strut setup is essentially a clever front strut design that does its best to mimic the benefits of a double-wishbone setup while working around the tight packaging constraints of a front-wheel-drive car. The rear suspension is still a multilink arrangement, and Honda says the work it's done to both the front and rear ends combined with a 1.4-inch-longer wheelbase (compared to the previous Type R) will result in greater high-speed stability.

The body structure itself is more rigid than the previous Type R, and Honda says there is more downforce thanks to co-development with Honda's Sakura Super GT team. But how much downforce the car makes, it isn't saying. Just know that, at high enough speeds, the big wing on the previous car made a noticeable difference in the way the rear stuck to the pavement, and we assume that sensation will only be more pronounced in the new car. More aerodynamically efficient bodywork should also mean less drag, too. Wider front and rear track widths (that is, the distance between the center point of the wheels on either side of the car) should also help make the FL5 Type R an even grippier machine.

Lastly, if you're going to haul yourself down from high speed, you need a brake package that's capable of doing it. The two-piece front brake rotors are carried over from the previous Type R, but Honda says a retuned brake booster enhances brake feel while the new front end has helped improve brake cooling. Those brakes are covered by 19-inch wheels with a new "reverse rim" design that Honda says improves the stability of the contact patch of the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.

The new FL5 Type R will be built in Japan and not in Surrey, England, where the previous two Type Rs were manufactured. There is one key piece of info that Honda has still left out, though, and that's the price. We assume the 2023 Type R will be pricier than the old model, and that it will start somewhere around the $40,000 mark, but we won't know for sure until closer to the car's launch this fall.

Edmunds says

We're glad we finally have the specs and all the technical details for the new Civic Type R. Now we just want to get out there and drive it.