2019 Honda Civic Type R is entering its third year of production.
When Honda first unveiled the Civic Type R as we know it today, rumors were abound that Honda was going to make this Civic halo car in limited quantities. That’s pretty much not true anymore. Adding to that, as per a post in CivicX earlier yesterday (Sept. 21,2018) along with the bevy of spyshots that hit the internet earlier this year, it looks like the 2019 Honda Civic Type R officially starts production in January at their Swindon UK plant. And, as a conservative guess, you’ll see 2019 Honda Civic Type R’s at your local dealership by March. Want to know the kicker? I’ll get to that in a moment.
So far, we know that Honda has been testing at least two variants of the 2019 Honda Civic Type R at the Nurburgring in Germany with a couple of exterior body parts refreshed. We know it’s a Honda Civic Type R because there are three exhaust pipes sticking out back, a strong hint that the K20C1 under the hood still resides.
One of those variants spotted had a smaller, more subtle wing, perhaps optional for Honda Civic Type R drivers who don’t want to stand out so much. At least one car outlet thinks this might be a GT variant.
The other variant had some sort of plastic dividers in the front and rear grille areas. The aero seems to be cleaned up a bit as well.
Rumors based on a bit of fact are abound about new Type R variants. The most popular ones come from Hideki Matsumoto, Honda’s chief engineer for the Civic range who stated that their ARE variants of the Type R on the way.
“We’re hoping that by gradually putting out more [variants] that we’ll be able to maintain a more stable sales volume,”
Top of that list is a more hardcore version of the Type R, one that would return the Type R to its bare bones roots popularized by the EK9 and DC2 Type R. That’s what I think the 2019 prototype that retained its large wing at the Nurburgring was. I reckon Honda will tweak the exhaust, intake, and ECU to squeeze out roughly 20-30 more HP. Look for Honda to strip major weight by taking out unnecessary things like extra speakers, and a spare tire. Lightning will come thanks to small things like thinner floormats, bare to no sound deadening, and removal of the rear passenger seats. (see cover photo of THAT Civic.)
Car Advice says that another variant possibly on that list is a GT version AKA a grand tourer. That’s what I think the prototype with the smaller wing is. This will be a Honda Civic Type R that ups the luxury if by a little. Perhaps thicker padding on the seats, a more premium sound system and a retuned suspension for long-distance driving.

We do know that new for 2019 is a Sonic Grey Pearl for both Canadian and U.S. markets and is where I got the production start date.
I’m going to guess that Honda will unveil their production-ready version of the 2019 Honda Civic Type R at the L.A. Auto Show later this December.
Here’s the kicker. With 2019s on the way and older 2017-2018 Honda Civic Type R’s sitting on dealership floor rooms, bookmark this and please remind any dealership attempting to add “added dealer markup” that they can go kick rocks and you’ll go elsewhere.