Honda Reveals the All-New 2023 Civic Type-R

After riling up Honda fans with teasers and a full view of a camo covered Type-R, Honda has finally revealed the all-new 2023 Honda Civic Type-R. Based on the 11th gen Honda Civic Hatchback, this is only the second Type-R model ever sold in the US and the most powerful Type-R in its 30-year history.

The 2023 Type-R features a new light-weight and rigid body now referred to as the FL5, as opposed to the last generations FK8 chassis code. Powering this track-ready beast is a more powerful version of Honda’s K20C1 turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder V-TEC paired to an improved 6-speed manual. To accompany the changes the the chassis and engine, the exterior and cockpit have also been redesigned. The new Type-R is now longer, wider, and hugs the track closer than ever before. The front bumper features a more aggressive design with a honey comb grille mesh, and muscular fender flares and wider rear doors gives the new Type-R a more aggressive stance. The rear bumper and spoiler are also overhauled to produce better overall aerodynamics, downforce, and drag reduction. It will be available in 5 colors: Historic Championship White, Rallye Red, Boost Blue, Crystal Black Pearl, and Sonic Grey Pearl.

…the most powerful Type-R in its 30-year history...

The Interior features the Type-R’s emblematic red seats with suede-like material to reduce body slippage with Type-R badging throughout the vehicle. On the dash, Honda’s LogR™ data logger lets you keep track of real-time info on all the mechanical movements and vehicle behavior, and a new +R driving mode meter design brings all the driver-necessary info such as RPM, rev indicator lights, and gear position front and center.

Can the all-new Type-R keep up with the competition? We’ll have to find out once it launches later this fall!

What is VTEC?

How Honda Created a Legend With a 10mm Pin

What does it take for one specific bit of simple, yet brilliant technology to achieve meme status? In the case of Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (better known as VTEC), it started out as a way for Honda to offer better performance while still meeting emissions standards and displacement limits at the start of the 90s and arguably gave the company’s automotive division the same kind of high tech street cred their motorcycles already enjoyed. 

The original VTEC led the way for a whole new slate of variable valve actuation systems from practically every major manufacturer, with a wide range of complexity and effectiveness seen today. Back in the day, it would be hard for anyone to imagine that a simple pin moved by a hydraulic actuator could become such a legend, but in retrospect it seems like one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” inventions.

Best of Both Worlds

To understand the impact of VTEC on the automotive world, it’s worthwhile knowing exactly what it is and what it isn’t. Conventional piston engines rely on one or more camshafts, turning at one-half engine speed, to control the motion of the intake and exhaust valves. No other single aspect of engine design has a bigger effect on performance, economy, or emissions than the timing and intensity (for lack of a better word) of valve events, and for engines without some sort of variable valve control, every compromise gets carved in steel at the factory and can’t be changed without getting into the ‘wet’ part of the engine. 

This is important because the physics involved in getting air and fuel into the cylinder and exhaust out mean that a cam lobe design optimized for low-end grunt is going to be unhappy at high RPM and vice versa. At lower speeds, cylinder-filling is improved by having relatively small valves with low lift, trading away some pumping losses in exchange for keeping velocity up in the intake tract, but towards the upper end of the RPM scale, bigger is better and low lift will kill airflow. Similar tradeoffs for valve duration (the part of the 720 degree four-stroke cycle when the valve is open to a meaningful extent) and valve overlap (degrees of crank rotation during which the exhaust valve is still closing while the intake valve starts to open at the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next) also have a big effect on how the engine delivers power. 

With a traditional camshaft, it’s one and done since whatever specifications were ground into the lobes at the factory are all you have to work with short of a swap. Hot rodders came up with some work-arounds, of course – part of the skill set of the traditional pushrod V8 racer was ‘degreeing the cam’ which involves using an adjustable timing gear set to move the cam’s timing earlier or later in the cycle, and dual overhead cam engines can use the same strategy plus change the intake and exhaust timing relative to one another to get some adjustability for overlap, but this was strictly something done in the shop rather than on the fly while the engine was running. More crucially, it didn’t change the cam lobes’ profile or lift.  

A Stroke of Genius

The solution seems obvious now, but at the time it required asking what sounds like a dumb question – “If the engine runs best with one cam design at low speed, and another at high speed, why not give it two cams?” At its core, that is all VTEC is – a way to put two completely different camshaft grinds into the same engine, and switch between them on demand. That’s much easier said than done, though, especially when whatever you come up with has to be simple enough to produce economically, durable enough to last for a hundred thousand miles or more, and designed to fail ‘gracefully’ and not leave you stranded if something goes wrong. 

… that is all VTEC is – a way to put two completely different camshaft grinds into the same engine, and switch between them on demand…

In 1984, Honda launched the New Concept Engine program with goals that included increasing torque and horsepower for their car engines across the RPM range, with an eventual benchmark of achieving 100 horsepower per liter of engine displacement for production engines. Initially, the NCE initiative led to powerplants like the DOHC ZC (forerunner of the D-series engine) as early as 1985, but the real breakthrough came when previous research begun in 1983 into a system intended to improve fuel economy was rolled into the new project. 

One of the main players in the NCE project was Ikuo Kajitani from Honda’s First Design Department in their Tochigi R&D Center. “Characteristically,” Kajitani said, “four-valve engines are known as high-revving, high-output machines. And for that reason we knew it would be quite difficult to achieve low-end performance if the engine’s displacement were too small.” He was certain that a solution to the problem could be found in the work done on the fuel economy project in the form of an engine that could change valve timing and lift dynamically during operation.

This capability took shape as a very simple but elegant system that uses only a few additional parts compared to a conventional valvetrain. At the beginning, the team had considered around thirty different methods of achieving this goal, but to narrow down the field, priority was given to systems that relied on proven technology rather than novel approaches that might have unforeseen show-stopping flaws. With a mixture of caution and optimism, ideas that seemed promising but had a high risk of being developmental dead-ends were set aside. One of the most important goals was to have a mechanism that could handle 400,000 cycles without failing. In the end, the team settled on the system we now know as the original VTEC.

For each cylinder, instead of a single cam lobe to control valve events, there would be three: Two low-speed lobes with a single high-speed lobe between them. With the system deactivated, each valve would be controlled by its own low-speed lobe, while a third cam follower with no direct connection to the valves followed the profile of the single high-speed lobe. On computer command, a hydraulic valve would send oil pressure to move a pin into place to connect the outer followers to the inner one and lock the whole assembly together, causing the valves to follow the more aggressive center cam lobe profile. 

No Magic Involved

Though the concept was simple, there were still significant technological hurdles to overcome. One major example of this was the fact that they needed to squeeze three lobes into the space originally occupied by one, and those lobes would also be operating the valvetrain under higher loads and engine speeds than they’d previously been engineered for. Solving this issue required improvements in both metallurgy and design, but the team achieved their goal (and then some) in time to confidently introduce the new technology for the 1989 model year. 

While VTEC in its original incarnation does allow an engine to operate in ways that a fixed valvetrain simply can’t, there’s a widely-held misconception that it’s some kind of super-science that works like hitting the switch on a nitrous system. In reality, what it did was allow Honda to build engines with the ability to change between a cam designed for efficient, clean, and fuel-sipping performance to one with the grind the engineers wanted to use in the first place. As a matter of fact, it’s not uncommon in race applications to use a single-grind camshaft that actually defeats VTEC in order to increase tolerance for abuse and reduce complexity and weight. When street driving isn’t high on your priority list, the flexibility and broad powerband that VTEC allows isn’t as important, but it makes a huge difference in your daily driver.

…it’s not uncommon in race applications to use a single-grind camshaft that actually defeats VTEC in order to increase tolerance for abuse and reduce complexity and weight…

The Bigger Picture

For all the popularity of “VTEC just kicked in” memes, the system actually does what it was intended to do – Allow small-displacement engines capable of high fuel economy and low emissions during test cycles and normal driving to also provide exceptional horsepower when run hard. In the process, Honda managed to turn cars like the Civic from quirky but reliable transportation devices into ones that were actually fun to drive fast. Whether it was their intention or not, you can argue that the evergreen popularity of all the generations of Civic that followed were a direct result of the NCE project and the development of VTEC. 

Today, every manufacturer has implemented some sort of variable valve timing setup, even for old-school pushrod V8 engine designs. There’s a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms used to describe all the different proprietary ways manufacturers have come up with to adjust valve timing, intake versus exhaust cam phasing, and so on, and Honda has gone on to improve their own engines with VTEC-E, 3-Stage VTEC, i-VTEC, and i-VTEC with Variable Cylinder Management. But the real special sauce – changing to a completely different cam profile on demand – remains at the core of VTEC technology. Until we reach a point where camless valve actuation via pneumatic or electronic direct control finally makes its way from the cost-is-no-concern pressure cooker of Formula One racing to the street, Honda’s approach will likely remain as the best way to change lift and duration on the fly. 

Honda Announces Limited Edition 2021 Phoenix Yellow Honda Civic Type R With Forged BBS Wheels, and Michelin Cup 2 Tires

Sep 3, 2020 – Honda announces all new 2021 Type R Limited Edition Civic Type R. This 2021 Type R Limited Edition embodies multiple engineering and feature changes designed to maximize performance, without sacrificing Type R’s unique combination of razor-sharp performance and civilized daily-driving manners.

2020 Civic Type R Refresh Gets Upgraded Suspension, Brakes, and… Fake Engine Noise?

Feb 6, 2020 – The new 2020 Civic Type R made its US debut at the Chicago Auto Show and brings with it some performance upgrades and a new bright and electrifying color option fittingly called “Boost Blue”. Sorry Honda fanboys and girls; still no Pheonix Yellow. The interior will get a fancy touch with a new Alcantara™ wrapped steering wheel and redesigned shift knob complete with shorter throws. Performance wise, the new Civic has upgraded 2 piece brake rotors that are stated to reduce fade and improved dampers and bushings for ride quality. It’s not like the Civic Type R was ever subpar in terms of performance, so these upgrades are sure to give it even more aggressive cornering capabilities on track days and spirited drives.

The new feature that Honda slipped into the 2020 Civic Type R, and what is sure to get everyones gears grinding is the addition of what they call “Active Sound Control”. The new feature reportedly, “modifies interior sound in concert with the chosen drive mode.” Which basically means you choose fast mode; you get fast sounds.

“[Active Sound Control] modifies interior sound in concert with the chosen drive mode.”

Some would say that this new feature is tacky and diminishes the genuineness of a true performance car. Some would also say that it’s minor and can be overlooked in respect to the car’s actual performance capability. How do you feel about fake engine noise? Let us know!

14th Annual Eibach Honda Meet

Eibach Meet hosted their 14^th annual event for the second year running at Auto Club Speedway located in the heart of Fontana, CA.  It goes without saying, if there’s one passion that can bring people from all around the world together, it’s the undying love of Hondas and Acuras. 

Sweltering triple-digit temperatures didn’t seem to deter many of those who drove from as far as Florida and New Jersey. As the Eibach Meet continues to grow with every passing year, event founders Ryan Hoegner and Matt Rodriguez expected a healthy turnout but didn’t expect EM14 to shattered previous attendance records. We were informed following the event, that there were over 1,200 registered cars and 8,000 spectators continually streamed past the front entrance throughout the day. Can you say world largest Honda and Acura meet in the West Coast?

This year, the event offered with a twist by securing the drag racing facility for some quarter mile action including over 40 vendors displaying and selling newly released products. The ICB Motorsports booth was swarmed with crowds throughout the day as they debuted the new reproduction Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels.  GReddy Performance was also on hand to showcase their newly revised and re-released Honda S2000 street-legal turbo kit.

Titan 7 has been making their presence known in the street performance and motorsports world with their fully forged wheels at reasonable pricing. 

This gold Civic has quite the reputation among the Honda community. Vehicle owner Jorge Hernandez has been known to constantly change the appearance of his EG but at this year’s event, he rolled into the venue sporting a set of 16×7-inch Volk Ce28N Magnesium Blue wheels, Mugen front lip, JDM front and rear lights and an Exceed × Mode Parfume rear wing.  

Ho Dao was on hand to represent with his old school DA Integra that he’s kept in storage for quite some time. Simplicity was the key to his build as his Integra was outfitted with a Kaminari front lip, replica Mugen side skirts, and rear wing and laid out on a set of Blitz Type 01 wheels.   

Nothing spells old school quite like a CRX on a set of O.G. SSR Super Fin wheels and rare Mugen Body Kit. Speaking of O.G, you might have noticed the Cyber Racing Sticker adhered to the front windshield. For those not in the knowing, the Cyber Racing crew terrorized the drag racing circuit in the late 90’s to early 2000’s, setting a number of world record quarter-mile times in the process. 

Honda owners aren’t afraid to push the envelope. This turbocharged Civic is rumored to produce well over 1,100 whp on a K-series hybrid engine. The most intricate portion of this build was the custom EK9 Kinsler intake manifold sporting dual fuel rails.

Sang Pham’s turbocharged AP2 S2000 was in a class of its own. The Honda was kitted with a J’s Racing GT wide body kit before going through a complete color change in Grigio Telesto gray. 

What’s a Honda event without witnessing a few classics like this first generation (’72 to ’79) Civic sitting on a set of CCW wheels? 

As with every passing Eibach Meet, the number of cars attending the celebration continues to grow and by our estimations will outgrow the infield parking lot by next year!  For information on the event or schedules surrounding both East and West Coasts, check out eibachmeet.com. Hope to see you all at next year’s event!

S2KRAZY:
DAAAMNGIINA’S Honda S2000

A great sports car isn’t defined by maximum power. It’s defined by keeping a balance. Tiffany Miller, aka @daaamngiina, and her 2006 Honda S2000 sets the standard of good balance with performance.

If a car puts out too much power, the balance is lost, and control is nothing but a joke. This was the goal Honda set when it first created the S2000 in the AP1 configuration. Unfortunately, the mark was just slightly missed and in 2004, the AP2 configuration was released. With changes to the chassis and the engine, the S2000 became the hallmark of modern sports car performance.

With that in mind, Tiffany Miller and Sportcar Motion knew that it wouldn’t take much to further improve upon the design. The F22C1 in this AP2 is all stock internally but it does feature items to make it breath in and exhaust out better. First was the change to the Password JDM intake, an intake that creates better flow by minimizing restrictions and reducing turbulence before the throttle body.

Once the air and fuel mixture combust, the used-up gasses flow out of the heads and manifold to the J’s Racing Exhaust with the addition of an Invidia Test Pipe. With a Hondata Flash Pro tune on the stock ECU by Dardan, this F22C1 puts out 212 horsepower and 153 torque to the wheels. Now, you probably think that’s rather low as the F22C1 is advertised with 237 horsepower and 162 torque. That’s at the crank and, with losses calculated, Tiffany’s car is making around 244 horsepower and 176 torque at the crank.

Remember what we stated at the beginning: a great sports car isn’t defined by power but by its balance. The chassis balance is enhanced by a Tein Mono Sport Damper, a mono-tube construction rather than the traditional twin-tube damper solutions found in most kits. Doing so allows the oil inside the dampers to remain cooler. This is because the shock oil makes direct contact with the outer body of the damper, which wicks away heat much better than a twin-tube.

These dampers also go further by allowing for ride height and corner balance adjusting as well as tuning the damping forces. This is done by a needle valve in the piston rod the allows a certain amount of oil to bypass the piston valving until it reaches the force required to open the piston’s valve stack. In addition, a set of Milestar Tires MS932 Sports in 245/45R17s on 17×10 949 Racing 6UL wheels provide the grip required to stay on track during time attack and sporty driving sessions. This grip is also required when coming to a stop as the Stop Tech brake pads and rotors provide more braking force than the OE Honda pads once did.

Buddy Club Roll Center Adjusters ensure that the control arms stay in their correct movements after lowering the car beyond stock. Hardrace Spherical Tie Rod Ends prevent bumpsteer on this lowered S2000 by keeping the tie rods in line with the control arms. Without them, the tie rods would be at an upward angle and push the front tires to a toe-in condition on bump and toe-out on rebound.

The body is also just modified to fit the wider wheels and Milestar Tires under the body with a set of Voltex Fender Flares. A custom Sportcar Motion front splitter is made to fit the ASM I.S. Design Aero front bumper. This bumper and splitter combination is designed to allow enough air to flow around the body but also keep it flowing to the Koyo Racing Radiator to keep the engine cool. The Voltex Wing, J’s Racing Rear Diffuser, Password JDM Canards, and Downforce Side Skirt Diffuser all improve the flow of the air around the body, but the Seibon Carbon Hood and Hardtop help reduce its weight.

We look forward to seeing more JDM builds from Tiffany Miller.