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The new Honda Civic Type-R promises to carry forward the legacy of the previous model with a sleeker design and a more modern interior.

Honda might not be as aggressive as the other carmakers in the game of SUVs, but it certainly has raised the bars and temperature with the all-new sixth-generation Civic Type-R. While Honda has only released a few pictures of the exterior and interior, with the technical details yet to come, these pictures are enough to say that Honda has upped its game with the new model. That’s a solid first impression to begin with!

Based on the eleventh-generation Civic liftback, the new Honda Civic Type-R looks like a different beast altogether compared to the model it replaces. While the mechanical details are still under wraps, Honda claims that this new iteration of the Civic Type-R is the most hyper version of the car in its history. Proof of this fact is that the pre-production model became the fastest front-wheel-drive car to lap the Suzuki Circuit after recording a laptime of 2:23.120.

Now that we know how the new Honda Civic Type-R looks, the visual appearances of the new model are naturally up for comparison against the previous-generation Civic Type-R. Here, we have compiled the details about how the new Honda Civic Type-R has evolved as a car and what changes it packs in compared to the model it replaces.

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When the eleventh-generation Honda Civic broke cover last year, it came out as a more mature car, which shed the edginess of the front profile of its predecessor. However, for a sporty car like the Civic Type-R, the aspect of edginess always edges ahead over a cleaner look. While the new Civic Type-R looks sporty, it is not that sort of attention-screamer as the previous-gen model, thus making the new one look less aggressive.

In the transformation process, the new Honda Civic Type-R receives a leaner and wider-looking face. The headlamps and front grille have become slimmer. And while the air dam in the middle of the front bumper is wider-looking than before, the rest of the bumper has a cleaner look with no sporty-looking fog lamp housings this time. The vertical inlets on the bumper corners also look less pronounced than before. Also, compared to the larger hood scoop near the windshield in the previous model, the new model has a sleeker and smaller hood scoop repositioned closer to the front end.

The rear profile of the previous-generation Honda Civic Type-R looked menacing with those boomerang-shaped LED tail lamps, large mesh sections with black trims on the sides of the rear bumper, twin wing setup, and tiny spoilers on either side of the roof. All-in-all, the previous-generation Honda Civic Type-R gave all the good reasons to other by-passers to pay keener attention ahead after overtaking them.

Does the new Honda Civic Type-R have the same extrovert appeal at the back? Not really, but it doesn’t mean it is not a sporty-looking car. While the tiny dual roof spoilers and fake vents on the rear bumper have become things of the past, the new versions still get a massive wing attached to the tips of the C-pillar. Also, the tail lamps add a different character to the rear with their new sleeker design and LED inserts. Lastly, the new Civic Type-R also has a delicious-looking black diffuser with a centrally-mounted triple-port exhaust setup on the rear bumper. Though the former misses out on big-sized inlets on the sides, like in the previous model.

Related: The New Honda Civic Type R Gets Transformed Into A JDM-Inspired Coupe

When you compare the layouts of the interior of both versions of the Civic Type-R, you will instantly feel how minimalist and cleaner the interior of the new version looks in comparison to the visual bulk of the previous model. Here, the sportiness is somehow balanced in both the iterations of the Civic Type-R, as the newer model also has plenty of redness in its seat, door pad inserts, and floor.

Compared to the wide-looking and driver-focused center console in the previous model, the new Civic Type-R gets a flat layout for the dashboard. The new free-standing touchscreen infotainment system is not only bigger and sleeker in appearance, but also easier to use, looks and feels more modern in its layouts and graphics. The same goes for the new full-TFT instrument console, which has more attention-arresting graphics and a crisper display.

All-in-all, the sportiness in the new Honda Civic Type-R looks a bit toned down compared to the previous-gen model, especially on the outside. However, the cabin in the new model certainly looks flashier and more modern without compromising on the sportiness. Now, all the world’s attention has come to Honda’s claim that the new model is faster than before. It’s only a matter of time till we know how much additional power and goosebumps the 2.0-liter turbo engine packs in the new-gen iteration of the Honda Civic Type-R.

Hailing from India, Jeo has grown up dreaming about a red-colored Porsche 911. This fascination led him to study more about cars and their functionality in his automotive engineering days from the past. His passion for writing about cars directed him towards blogging, which he has been doing for almost a decade.