After telling us about the development Civic Type R's 7min 54sec second lap time of the Nürburgring earlier today, Honda now wants us to see its feat through an on-board camera.

The Japanese hatch set a new world record for a front-wheel drive car on the Nordschleife beating the Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy-R’s 7:54.36 lap time by nearly four seconds.

Honda said that the lap time was "achieved in development car with technical specifications representative of the final production car" in May of 2014 "by a contracted pro test driver".

Because these details count, we'll let Honda elaborate further:

"The development car was in a standard state of engine tune, with suspension, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes and the aerodynamic package identical to those of the production Civic Type R. The removal of equipment such as air conditioning, the front passenger seat and audio equipment offset the additional weight of a full roll cage (installed specifically for safety reasons and not to add rigidity)".

And because the Japanese carmaker is well aware of what the internet might say about the run with a development model, it said that it plans to return to the Nordschleife later this year with a final production Civic Type R to set a new lap record for a front-wheel drive production car.

Revealed today at the Geneva Motor Show, the Civic Type R sports a newly developed 2.0-liter turbocharged VTEC petrol engine, producing 306hp (310PS) and 400Nm of torque. Did we mention that it's capable of revving up to 7,000 rpm, which ain't half bad for a turbo unit...

Goes on sale this summer

After a long teasing campaign, Honda has finally unveiled the production-ready Civic Type R this week in Geneva.

Honda has been obsessed lately with the Nürburgring so it shouldn't come as a surprise their latest hot hatchback has managed to take down the front-wheel drive record by lapping the Nordschleife in 7 minutes and 50.63 seconds, thus beating the previous record established by the Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy-R (7 minutes and 54.36 seconds).

Labeled as being a "race car for the road", the Honda Civic Type R is motivated by a four-cylinder 2.0-liter turbo engine unleashing no less than 310 HP (228 kW) and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) channeled to the front wheels through a 6-speed manual gearbox. This hardware arrangement grants the hot hatch with a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) sprint in 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 167 mph (270 km/h).

It rides on 19-inch alloys wrapped around in 235/35 R19 tires specifically developed for this model while at the back it boasts a quad exhaust system hosted within a massive diffuser. The more aggressive body comes with larger air intakes and a fixed rear wing which unfortunately isn't as spectacular as the one fitted to the concepts.

The front axle hosts Brembo brakes with four-piston calipers matched with 350mm drilled discs and there is also a dual axis strut suspension which Honda says will diminish torque steer by 50 percent compared to the regular Civic.

The rear end benefits from a H-shaped torsion beam suspension with a "crushed pipe" assembly which boosts roll rigidity by 180 percent while a four-point adaptive damper system should enable the Civic Type R to be a great track car.

Honda has announced the Civic Type R will hit dealerships this summer at a starting price in UK of £29,995. The more expensive GT version adds £2,300 to the final price tag and brings a plethora of extra kit such as Honda CONNECT infotainment system (with GARMIN navigation), red ambient lighting, front & rear parking sensors, automatic wipers & headlights, dual-zone climate control and others as well.

We now have all the information on the new Honda Civic Type-R. We know how much power it makes, we know what its interior looks like and we even know its shockingly fast Nurburgring lap time, but at the same time we also know we miss the concept’s mad lights.

Per request, from you, the readers, we put together a little photo comparison of the production car and concept, to see just how much it’s changed visually over time. We’ll be using photos of the blue concept, in its later state.

So aside from the lights, what has changed? Well, the production car loses the concept’s cool blade-like LED daytime-running lights and the headlight cluster is also a lot more conventional looking; the LED blades are replaced with old-school projector lamps.

The design of the front diffuser is a little bit more toned down too, along with the front and rear wheelarches which have a different shape and are less flared. If you look at the side skirts, they too look less extreme.

We did spot the gills now present above the front wheel (not there in the concept). The air outlets behind the rear wheels are gone, and the design of the rear bumper is quite different too – we must admit that these too add to the generally more retrained looking rump.

And the general shape seems off too; some panels seem to match, but others look completely different. The production car sits higher and on smaller rims which also seem noticeably more inset too.

Scroll through the gallery below and tell us if we’ve missed anything (we probably have), but it turns out this was really more of an actual concept in the traditional sense more so than a pre-production model.

Honda’s new Civic Type-R, with its 310PS (306hp) turbocharged engine is a very cool new hatch, but it won’t be for everybody. It actually doesn’t address the same public as previous Type-R Civics, so for that reason Honda needs to make a Type-S variant which would be more like past models.

The task would not be hard: they’d take the refreshed Civic with the sportier body kit (pictured here), make it 25 percent more extreme-looking, give it bigger rims and brakes and a smaller spoiler than that of the Type-R and that’s pretty much it.

It would be a stepping stone car by definition, slotting perfectly between regular Civics and the range-topping monster.

As for engines, well, the EP3 fanboy in me would just love to see the 2.0-liter atmospheric used in one last car before emissions regulations make it unusable. Around 210 hp would be adequate along with a series of chassis tweaks aimed at making it sportier than the base car but less so than the Type-R.

However, the actual engine it’d use would be a smaller-capacity turbo unit, as is customary nowadays, a 1.6-liter unit with a twin-scroll that pumps out around the same power as the 2.0-liter mentioned above. It’d be more efficient and probably faster in gear, but there’s really genuinely no substitute in the world for a Honda Vtec being revved out.

We're sure Honda's decision makers have though of this too, and we hope it materializes into a car soon; it would be a (power/price) niche that they'd be unwise not to enter, even if it's hotly contested by so many 200-ish hp hatches these days. I mean if Peugeot is going to have both a hyper-hatch and a hot hatch (which it is), then there's no reason Honda shouldn't have the same so as to be more competitive.

Unlikely to happen

The recently unveiled Honda Civic Type R has been digitally imagined as a three-door model by X-Tomi Design.

Currently on display at the Geneva Motor Show, Honda's much awaited Civic Type R has arrived exclusively in a five-door hatchback layout, just like arch rival Ford Focus RS. Previous generations of the Civic Type R were available with a three-door body style but it is highly unlikely Honda will slash the rear doors of this generation.

Nevertheless, X-Tomi Design decided to imagine how a three-door Civic Type R would look like for those who wouldn't mind losing the practicality granted by the rear doors in favor of a sleeker design suitable for a high-powered hatch that unlike the aforementioned all-wheel drive Focus RS keeps a FWD layout. Speaking of which, the Civic Type R is now the quickest front-wheel drive car around the Nürburgring with a 7m 50.63s time.

Honda's "race car for the road" will go on sale this summer at a starting price in UK of £29,995.

The all-new Honda Civic Type R will have its racing debut this year in the 2015 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season. The car is currently undergoing testing, but it will be officially unveiled at the BTCC media day at Donington on March 24.

Designed and built from the ground up in the Team Dynamics workshops in Pershore, Worcestershire, the Honda Civic Type R BTCC is based on the production version which will arrive in UK showrooms in July.

The race version will produce 350hp and 400Nm (295lb-ft) of torque and will have increased down force, less drag and a more effective air flow management compared to last season’s Civic Tourer.

Honda Yuasa Racing worked closely with Honda UK manufacturing in Swindon to design the car, for which the build process began in November last year.

“We cannot wait for the new season to start. Our car for 2015 is going to win races. The shape of the new road going Civic Type R has allowed the team to build on the design and take it forward to be a championship winning car,” said Barry Plowman, technical director at Honda Yuasa Racing.

The team will tackle the 2015 season with an unchanged driver line-up consisting of Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal. “This is a car that not just us, but the entire automotive industry has been waiting for. We are as excited as anybody to start running the Civic Type R, which is a massive step forward from last year’s Tourer – from the engine to the handling and aerodynamics,” said Matt Neal.

The Honda Civic Hatchback is returning to North American after being gone for nearly a decade.

According to a report from the Nikkei, Honda will build its next-generation Civic five door at its plant in Swindon, U.K., which will begin sending cars across the pond in summer of 2016. Swindon is able to build 250,000 cars annually when running at full capacity, but currently, one of its production lines is sitting idle.

The report says that about 40,000 to 50,000 Civic hatchbacks will be allotted for North America. The driving factor behind the move is to fully utilize the production facility in the UK, although even these extra cars won’t have Swindon operating at capacity.

Selling the Civic Hatchback in North America will allow Honda to directly compete with the with other available five-door offerings like the Mazda3, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and VW Golf. Closely related to the current Fit, the Civic Hatchback has a slightly smaller footprint than the North American Civic Sedan.

American Honda dealers may get a version of the Civic that's very different from the model they're selling now in a way to help out the carmaker's struggling British factory, according to a new report.

Nikkei says Honda's U.K. facility in Swindon will start exporting the European-market Civic hatchback built there starting as early as summer 2016. The publication claims between 30,000 and 40,000 British-built Civics could head for North America.

It's an effort to cut costs as Honda's European operations continue to struggle in that depressed market. Honda's market share has dropped to just 1 percent following the global economic downturn and the culling of several models such as the Accord. The Swindon factory is apparently running at about half capacity. Previously, it's given the U.S. market some second-generation CR-Vs and the seventh-generation Civic Si hatchback.

A new Civic is due for a release early in 2016 as a 2017 model. As reported by Automotive News earlier this month, the 10th generation Civic will get a 1.5-liter turbo four on at least some versions. The European Civic hatchback built in Swindon went on sale in early 2012, the Tourer wagon variant released a year later. The Civic Type-R was just unveiled this month at the Geneva Motor Show. That generation of Civic shouldn't be around too much longer before a redesign then.

However, it's likely the North American Civic and European Civic will have much more in common than the two models do now. That would allow the underused U.K. factory to supply cars for North America and relieve some of Honda's overworked factories on that continent.

I've maintained the Civic hatch and Tourer would make a great future Acura ILX, but it's frankly welcome in any way in the U.S. And here's to hoping it teaches the North American Civic some things before its debut.

After launching their all-new Civic Type R at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Honda is now inviting Type R fans and owners to a special event held at Germany's famous Nurburgring.

Of course they chose the Nurburgring, after all the Type R did just set a lap record for a front-wheel drive hot hatch, lapping the track in an awe-inspiring 7:50.63 sec. That's nearly 4 seconds quicker than what Renault's amazing Megane RS 275 Trophy-R managed.

The new Type R does have plenty of power though, rated at 310 PS (306 HP) and 400Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque. That's good enough to get it from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.7 seconds and on to a best-in-class top speed of 270 km/h (167 mph).

With this in mind, Type R fans and owners will have the opportunity to purchase a 3-day package for €175 per person (15-17 May weekend), which includes a VIP entrance ticket to a FIA WTCC race with paddock access, camping accommodation, food & drinks throughout the weekend and of course a speed date with the new Honda Civic Type R.

For those of you interested in going, Honda put together a designated website where all you have to do is follow the registration process - which closes on April 17 2015.

This is a really nice gesture from Honda, and a great way to promote the all-new Type R. It's even better than when they had Jenson Button show up at the car's Geneva unveiling - which must have been a new low for him, considering he's gone from attending Mercedes SLS and McLaren MP4-12C events, to having to warm up to a Honda Civic.

Honda has released more details and new photos of the Civic Type R, which it calls “the most extreme and high-performing Type R ever built.”

Available only as a five-door, with two trim grades, the new Civic Type R goes on sale across Europe from July 2015.

At the heart of the car is the new direct-injected turbocharged 2.0-liter VTEC Turbo petrol engine which produces 310PS (306hp) at 6,500 rpm and 400Nm (295lb-ft) of torque between 2,500 and 4,500 rpm.

The engine revs all the way up to 7,000 rpm thanks to an advanced new turbocharging system which incorporates Honda’s Variable Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) and Dual-Variable Timing Control (VTC) technologies to boost low-end response while delivering sustained acceleration.

Mated to a six-speed manual transmission, the Civic Type R sprints from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 270 km/h (167 mph). Still, it manages to return 7.3 l/100 km (38.7 mpg UK or 32.2 mpg US) on the combined cycle, with corresponding CO2 emissions of 170 g/km.

The new Civic Type R is available in five distinctive colors: Championship White, Crystal Black (pearlescent), Polished Metal (metallic), Brilliant Sporty Blue (metallic) and Milano Red.