The Honda Civic Type-R FL5 has arrived in the Philippines

Honda Cars Philippines officially unveiled the latest generation Honda Civic Type-R FL5 in a Thanksgiving event at the Karrera Showroom in Alabang. They only brought in 39 units for the first batch and it will retail for P3,880,000. It’s available in one variant only and two colors – Championship White and Racing Blue Pearl.

The new Type-R stood side by side with the previous model and the difference had much more impact than pictures on the internet would convey. Gone are the Gundam-esque design language with faux vents and in its place is a more seamless design front to back. The horizontal slats of the Civic were replaced with a mesh grille while the fog light housing was replaced with narrow vertical air vents. There’s also a sleeker air vent on the hood.

At the side is a prominent protruding beltline that connects the front and rear sides of the Civic.

It’s accented by the upswept lower character line on the doors and the 19-inch matte black alloy wheels.

The rear is just as radically different as the front, when compared to the previous Type R.

There’s no more flamboyant plastic bits here, no fins, no vortex generators. The spoiler is still huge, there’s still three exhaust pipes, and the C-shaped taillights are now connected by a faux lighting accent but apart from that, it’s all curves at the back end of the Civic Type-R.

As with all other Type-R, the FL5 builds on the design of the current Civic of its time. This means the overall style of the interior is taken from the 11th generation – only with more flair.

There are legit bucket seats for the front passengers while the rear have recessed bottle holders in the middle.

The sizes of the digital gauge cluster and touchscreen are the same between the red badged and standard Civic. What’s new are the functionalities added on the Type-R. There’s a +R option on the driving modes, and a new version of the Honda LogR with Performance Monitor, Auto Score, and Data Logger. It also comes with Honda Sensing that includes Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, and Forward Collision Warning among others.

Under the hood is a 2-liter turbocharged VTEC engine that only comes with a 6-speed manual transmission. It lashes out 325 horsepower and 420 Nm of torque, making this the most powerful red-badged Civic in its history.

Call your nearest Honda dealership now and see if you can still snag one of the 39 that was brought in initially. There’s no word when a second batch will come.