The latest Honda Civic Type R only launched internationally and hit our shores late last year — which we thrash tested back in NZ Performance Car issue 249 — so it’s surprising that new car spies over in Europe have spotted what appears to be an FK8 testing on public roads wearing panel camouflage.
What’s even odder is that the camouflage only covers a small portion of the cars exterior, blocking out the front bumper and grill, rear bumped, and a couple of lights under wraps. It’s too early in the models life to receive a face lift traditionally, meanwhile the base models, that have been available since late 2015, have gone untouched. Surely the Type R wouldn’t be treated to a change up this quickly, and manufacturers are known to stir the pot when it comes to new car testing, so perhaps it’s all a ruse?
Or, as reports around the time of it’s initial release suggested, could this be an even hotter version to compete with the Focus RS, which offers 30 more ponies and four-wheel drive? Don’t get your hopes up too high that this could be an all-wheel drive fire-breather, but we can all dream.
Whatever this latest development might mean, we only have handful of images to base thoughts off and not much else. There’s been no word on power train changes as of yet and we’re unlikely to hear much until you can actually put cash down to own it. In the meantime, take solace knowing that some manufacturers are still building future bases for modification.
