2018 Honda Civic Type R can make more power

Honda’s new Civic Type R has finally hit Aussie soil. And judging by our first taste, it’s a bloody weapon.

But is this it for the next five years like the last models? Well, a couple things suggest not. Not long ago Hideki Matsumoto, the Civic Type R’s lead engineer, told Automotive News Honda will release more variants of the Type R in the future to keep sales healthy.

Chief among them was a more powerful car. Which reminds us of what Honda let slip at the international launch in Dresden, Germany, about the car’s feisty 2.0-litre turbo engine.

During a conversation between MOTOR and Yuji Matsumochi, the assistant lead powertrain engineer, he revealed there’s more power in the Type R’s engine when detailing the decision to use a mono-scroll turbocharger.

“This engine has the Type R. Therefore we choose the mono-scroll, because we can get the big power into the high-speed radius [corners],” he detailed.

“Twin-scroll is better equipment because the low-speed area is very good response. However, if we choose the twin-scroll in this engine, we cannot achieve over 300PS [220kW], because the turbocharger is very small size.”

So when asked if the larger turbo has more in it, he replied, “of course [there’s more power], however, I can’t say [how much exactly]”. “We did many, many tests in R&D. So we have good guarantee into the market.”

Boosting outputs mid-life-cycle is almost unprecedented in Type R history, but so are turbochargers.

It would be welcome Down Under. Aussies pulled the short straw on the 228kW engine-tune, in line with the 2016 model sold overseas, thanks to our dodgy fuel. Other markets score the full 235kW.