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Honda Technical Advisor Says That Plug-In Hybrid Civic Type R Is Possible

Who could have guessed that Honda is capable of electrifying the Civic Type R? A gentleman employed by Honda Motor Europe has revived pretty old hearsay from the rumor mill, giving it official status although the Japanese automaker hasn’t committed to electrifying the CTR.
2023 Honda Civic Type R 18 photos
Photo: Honda
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Five years ago, Civic model line chief engineer Hideki Matsumoto let it slip that all-wheel drive was under consideration. Three years later, Japanese publications were reporting on a hybrid all-wheel-drive setup with 400 ponies on deck. These high expectations came down rather abruptly once Honda started testing the FL5, which premiered on July 20th in the U.S.

Ko Yamamoto, technical advisor for Honda Motor Europe, is adding fuel to the fire by talking about electrification. As per Autocar.co.uk, he said that “we can’t do a purely electric powertrain on this platform, but I can imagine it can take up to a certain level of plug-in hybrid. We can do all-wheel drive, of course. However, I think AWD doesn’t really cope with the Civic Type R’s principles. It’s not even necessarily quicker, but it is heavier.”

Truth be told, all-wheel drive makes plenty of sense. Remember the fourth-generation Focus RS? The Ford Motor Company axed the plug-in hatchback because of increased emission taxation in the European Union and the high costs of developing an electric drive unit for the rear axle.

Honda may pick up where Ford left off, although it’s hard to envision a plug-in system during the lifecycle of the FL5. The next generation Civic Type R seems prime for this upgrade, which is necessary for two distinct reasons. In addition to increasingly stringent emission regulations, it’s hard to push a front-driven hatchback beyond what the FL5 has to offer.

As a brief refresher, the Japanese domestic market is getting 330 ps at 6,500 revolutions per minute and 420 Nm between 2,600 and 4,000 revolutions per minute. Converted to imperial, make that 325 ponies and 310 lb-ft.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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