Honda Civic Type R Rally Car On The Way In The US

The Honda Civic Type R is soon to disappear from European showrooms, and this makes us very, very sad. It doesn’t face such a fate in the US, though, where the emissions regulations that are spelling its end here are far less strict (or, under the current administration, basically non-existent).

As a result, the Type R looks like it has plenty of life left in it Stateside, as evidenced by the fact that Honda appears to be prepping a rally-ready version of it for competition over there.

The car’s being teased on social media by the Honda Racing Corporation, the newly-formed division that consolidates all of Honda’s global motorsport activities under one umbrella. The teaser video doesn’t give a whole lot away, but the car doesn’t look too removed from a roadgoing Type R, so don’t expect anything hugely radical mechanically – it’ll likely retain its 2.0-litre turbo four-pot and continue to send its power through the front wheels.

We do, however, get a look (and a listen) at some of the tweaks carried out to prepare the car for the stages. There’s an appropriately raspy, rally-ish soundtrack, as well as a set of white Speedline Corse wheels wrapped in knobblier rubber, uprated brakes, a new intercooler, a vented bonnet and a stripped and caged interior complete with a sequential shifter. Elsewhere, we imagine it’ll get the usual rally car bits – beefed up suspension, all the usual safety gear and someone installed in the passenger seat putting on a brave face as they bark out pacenotes.

That’s about all we know about the project for now. As well as the Honda Racing Corporation, Texas-based rally school Rally Ready is involved in the collaborative Instagram post, hinting that it’s possibly being developed as a new driver training platform for them. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it run competitively as well, though, potentially in the American Rally Association’s national championship, where Subaru USA already runs a factory team.

The only other bit of info we have is that Honda is teasing the reveal of more info at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, so watch this space.