Honda has released a fresh batch of teasers of the most coveted Civic, this time testing at the Suzuka circuit.

HALF a world away from Yas Marina and Max Verstappen’s driver’s championship title win, another Honda engine has been running hard on a famous circuit where past F1 combatant titles have been settled.

Suzuki circuit in Japan, still home to the nation’s F1 round and where the famous crucial showdowns between then McLaren team-mates A Senna and A Prost were twice settled in wheel-locking style, is truly Honda’s home circuit – they own the place.

It’s where the brand is spending a lot of time at the moment, fine-tuning the next generation of another kind of world champ, the Civic Type R.

 Hours after Verstappen’s controversial F1 title wrap in Abu Dhabi, the make was sending out images of the prototype of its hot hatch, testing at Suzuka as part of the development process leading to its eventual on-sale, picked to be … well late next year, or in early 2023.

This is the second look at the car – Honda first shared images in October – and nothing much has changed. 

Despite the camouflage it’s still obviously delivering a more aggressive take on the current Civic five-door hatch, that’s just come one sale here with a 131kW/240Nm 1.5-litre petrol and constantly variable transmission, in $47,000 (plus $800 on roads) trim.

Shared body aside, the R will be far more enlivening.

It is, course, decked out with additional aerodynamic features, not least the trademark rear wing, though it’s less overt now. Another hallmark feature are the triple exhausts, big wheels with sticky rubber, slammed stance, performance brakes and race-style front chairs.

A previous announcement indicated that the car will be manual-only and, despite previous talk about Honda thinking about using a hybrid powertrain and all-wheel-drive, is now expected to remain with front-drive and continue to use, though in an upgraded form,  the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that rocketed the previous, now discontinued, 228-236kW (depending on the market)/400Nm FK8 generation from 0-100kmh in 5.8 seconds and up to an outrageous 272kmh.