Civic Type R bound for NZ shores

The New Zealand launch of the Honda Civic Type R is fast approaching, with preorders now available from Honda dealers. "We're happy to announce to our NZ enthusiasts that the long wait for the Type R attitude and performance is nearly over," says Nadine Bell, general manager marketing for Honda NZ. A 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine features under the hood, producing 230kW of power and 400Nm of torque, and is matched to a six-speed manual transmission. The body and chassis has also be upgraded for the latest model. The Type R is the world’s fastest production front-wheel-drive production car, setting a record time of 7 minutes 43:80 seconds at the Nürburgring earlier this month. This is three seconds faster than the previous front-wheel drive record and seven seconds ahead of the previous generation. Driving modes have been enhanced, with a new ‘Comfort’ setting included alongside ‘Sport’ and ‘+R’ modes. Drivers can modify the dampers, steering force, gear shift feeling and throttle response of the vehicle on demand. Safety assistance features have also been expanded, and include collision mitigation braking with forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation and adaptive cruise control, lanewatch camera and auto high-beam.  While the Type R is unrated by ANCAP, as it is yet unavailable on Australasian shores, it contains the same safety features which ensured the Honda Civic sedan and hatch’s five-star ratings. Honda NZ say pricing will be confirmed closer to the Type R’s launch date.