Honda Civic Type R & Other News

Go to a Honda dealer and there's about a 10-percent chance he'll actually have a Civic Si in stock. There's virtually no chance he'll have one available for you to test-drive. And there's no way at all he'll be knocking bucks off the sticker to get you into one. Yup, the 2K6 Civic Si has been nothing but a sales sensation. Too bad it's so wimpy.

Captured here in all its prismatic egg-shaped glory is a prototype of the three-door Civic Type-R that will soon be available in Europe, Japan, and probably Antarctica, but not here in America. While our Si gets 197 bhp from its 2.0-liter i-VTEC K-Series four, conventional wisdom (and Honda PR) says that the Type-R should have 200 bhp thumping from its otherwise similar powerplant. That's three more horsepower! Hard-core! And there will be a six-speed manual transmission and big wheels and thick tires and oversize brakes and a cool interior... the usual Honda sporty-ish car stuff. In fact, the car looks almost indistinguishable from the Civic Type-R "concept" shown at the Geneva Auto Show back in March.

But maybe those rumors are wrong. So join us as we try desperately to convince ourselves that this car has a turbo engine aboard!

Note in the front view how deeply the front fascia dips toward the pavement. In shape it's similar to the lower bumper on the U.S.-market Si, but with a more aggressive lip at the bottom. Maybe that lip is there to feed an intercooler? Hmmmmm... Okay, so let's take a look at the hind end. Are those two triangular exhaust tips back there? You know the Si only needs one exhaust...while the new Acura RDX mini-ute, which has a turbo K-Series under its hood, uses twin pipes to expel its waste gases. Hmmmm...

Ah, hell, even if it doesn't, this thing should have a turbo motor aboard. If for no other reason than that it needs a turbo in order to effectively compete in Europe, where much of the direct "hot hatch" competition is also turbocharged. The turbocharged 2.3-liter K-motor in the RDX makes 240 bhp and our guess is that a 2.0-liter version in the Civic Type-R would generate at least that many ponies while spinning with dizzying VTEC confidence.

In case Honda hasn't noticed, much of the direct competition here in America also have either turbos or superchargers aboard as well. That includes the MazdaSpeed3, the Dodge Caliber SRT-4, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, the VW GTI, and if you stretch into the AWD realm, the Mitsubishi Evolution and the Subaru WRX. The Type-R is needed over here for those of us who think the Si is just flat-out timid. Come on Honda, PULL THE DAMN TRIGGER!

We'll find out which rumors are true-and how effective we are at guessing, hoping, and praying-when the Civic Type-R enters production next year at the same English plant that produced the unloved '02 Civic Si hatchback.

BrazilianCutHow far has the Tuner movement extended? At least as far as the southern hemisphere, going on the evidence of this Chevrolet Vectra done up all tuner-style by GM down in Brazil.

The problem here is that no one working for SCC speaks Portugese, so we can't read the press release that goes with these photos. All we know is that the Vectra fills a market niche down there somewhere between the U.S.-market Cobalt and Malibu; a mainstream sedan for mainstream people. Power comes from a 2.4-liter, DOHC, Ecotec engine that, like virtually all engines in Brazil, runs on either gasoline or ethanol or a mix between the two fuels. So this may be our future you're looking at-flex-fuelwise at least.

One More Pony for EveryYearThe best thing VW did to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first Golf GTI was to introduce the Mark V version that made it okay to be excited about the GTI again. But that doesn't mean the company is done celebrating three decades of GTI production.

This is the Golf GTI Edition 30 "study," a prototype for a special GTI that VW isn't saying is headed for production, but seems an awfully likely candidate to be.

Obviously this is not a radical reinvention of the GTI; it still looks like GTI and still has a 2.0-liter, turbo FSI four under its hood. However, the engine has been boosted an additional 30 bhp (one more for each year of GTI production) for a total of 230. There's a special flat-black finish on the 18-inch wheels, the taillights have been darkened, the side skirts have been tweaked, and the interior has been refined with leather, red stitching and special Interlagos-pattern cloth center sections in the seats. And the shift knob is the shape of a golf ball-get it? A Golf ball? Ah, VW cracks itself up.

This thing is way too close to production to not be headed there. So we expect it next year. And if it doesn't make it to the United States, well, we'll just have to move to Dusseldorf.