Is the Honda Civic Type R too extreme for your taste, and the base versions not that exciting to make it to your new car shopping list? Look no further than the new Civic RS.
Unfortunately, there are a few catches here. First and foremost, this is a prototype, or that's what Honda calls it, which was just unveiled at the 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon. Second, it will indeed hit the market in production form, albeit in Japan only, where it will bridge the gap between the Type R and the lesser variants.
Images of it were released on Honda's social media channels, revealing a satin black look and privacy windows all around. The former does justice to the design, and the latter might suggest that the interior was not quite ready to meet the camera lens yet. It features a new front bumper with a less aggressive design than the one of the Type R and rides on what appear to be standard alloys.
Moreover, you won't need to be a connoisseur to tell it apart from the rest of the series, given that the automaker based in the Land of the Rising Sun gave it red RS logos on the grille and trunk lid. We reckon at least one automaker won't be happy about the suffix of Honda's latest model (ahem, Audi). Still, it should be an interesting proposal in the segment that won't step on the toes of the brand's existing Civic models.
Photo: Honda
Our Japanese is a little rusty, though we found out that the Honda Civic RS features a six-speed manual transmission. Additional details about it are unknown, so we cannot tell you what the stick shift is hooked up to, yet we can highlight the fact that it is a front-wheel drive model, just like its more aggressive sibling, which is deemed as one of the best FWD compact hot hatches money can buy.
If we were to speculate, we'd say that the Civic RS might pack the same powertrain as the Civic Si. This model also packs a six-speed manual transmission and uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged lump that produces 200 hp (203 ps/149 kW) at 6,000 rpm and has 192 lb-ft (260 Nm) of torque available from 1,800 to 5,000 rpm. The Civic Si returns 31 mpg (7.6 l/100 km) combined and would certainly be a good candidate to lend its engine to the upcoming hot hatch.
Honda's Civic RS will hit the market in its homeland later this year, and if anything, it might be reserved for Japan. That said, we wouldn't hold our breath for a potential launch in the United States, but then again, we wouldn't completely rule it out, at least for the time being.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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