AutoExpress: Euro New Honda Civic Type-R will arrive in 2015

Honda CEO confirms that the new Civic Type-R is on track for a 2015 debut

Honda CEO Takanobu Ito has confirmed that a new Civic Type-R will be unveiled in 2015, alongside a new fuel-cell electric vehicle. A compact SUV is also set to join the range in the near future.

The new Civic Type-R will be developed specifically for Europe and will incorporate developments learned from Honda’s experience in the World Touring Car Championship. Ito wants it to be the fastest front-wheel-drive car around the Nurburgring, which means it’ll have to beat the Megane 265 Trophy’s time of 8 min 7.9 seconds. Honda's UK MD Dave Hodgetts went on to tell Auto Express that the new Type R "will have at least 265bhp... the engineers' target is 300bhp though."

Hodgetts told us that the Civic Type-R will begin testing at the Nurburgring in the autumn of 2013, with production set to begin in Swindon ready for an on-sale date some time in 2015. He explained that the handling and throttle response were being developed using lessons learned from Honda's WTCC entry. Hodgetts wouldn't draw on whether the production Type-R would get the same 1.6-litre turbo as the WTCC car but said: "it's possible, but then anything up to a 2.0-litre turbo is possible."

The new Civic Type-R will be one of the first of a number of performance models that Honda is looking to produce as a backbone to its whole range. "We want a range that is genuinely perceived to be sporty, but with a range of practical models sitting underneath,” said Hodgetts.

One of these more practical cars is a compact SUV, expected to be a Nissan Juke rival based on the next-generation Jazz platform. Hodgetts and Ito both confirmed that a Civic-based SUV-MPV crossover with similar styling to the 2009 Skydeck concept was also under consideration.

As well as confirming a new hydrogen-powered vehicle will be on the roads during 2015 (possibly a successor to the FCX Clarity) Honda revealed it is working on hybrid systems with one, two or three electric motors. The technology will be used throughout Honda's future range, allowing for everything from a 100mpg-plus Jazz to a plug-in hybrid four-wheel-drive NSX supercar. These use the one and the three motor systems respectively, and we were told that the two-motor system is reserved for mid-sized vehicles.

All of the developments mentioned are part of Honda’s push to increase its market by 60 per cent worldwide from 23.9 million customers to 39 million by 2017.

Source;
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/civic/60362/new-honda-civic-type-r-will-arrive-2015

Honda confirms Civic engine upgrade

by Hans Greimel of www.autonews.com

TOKYO -- Honda Motor Co.'s top executive for North America says Americans still favor small cars and good fuel economy, despite a recent boom in pickups that has fueled Detroit 3 market share gains.

To match that demand, Honda will deploy one of its Earth Dreams direct-injection gasoline engines in its Civic small car, confirmed Tetsuo Iwamura, executive vice president and regional director for the company's biggest market.

"Gasoline prices are stabilizing in the mid-$3-a-gallon range, and Detroit is selling quite a few pickups," Iwamura said. "Yet while the average person sees those numbers, their income hasn't risen that much. It's wrong to say Americans don't care about fuel economy. They care."

Honda, bringing out a redesigned Fit small car in Japan this fall, eventually will upgrade its Civic compact sedan with Earth Dreams technology to deliver better fuel economy, Iwamura said.

The Earth Dreams suite of technologies, unveiled in November 2011, encompasses four new gasoline engines with direct injection and double-overhead cams, a turbocharged diesel engine, three redesigned continuously variable transmissions and three new gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains. 

But an Earth Dreams engine has yet to be installed in the bread-and-butter Civic. That car was freshened in a rush for the 2013 model year after its 2012 redesign was panned. It faces steeper competition this year from an overhauled and sportier Toyota Corolla.

Iwamura said the Earth Dreams upgrade for the Civic would come when the car is re-engineered or redesigned, not when it gets just a freshening. 

He declined to say when it will come. But Iwamura said cars are re-engineered typically every two years or so. That could put an engine swap on schedule for the 2015 model year.

"We'll be doing it for the Civic. The Civic has to evolve," Iwamura said. "But we have to consider what timing works best."


Source;
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130624/OEM05/306249967/honda-confirms-civic-engine-upgrade#axzz2X8r8CsUT