Honda HRC could be the performance car sub-brand we've been waiting for

Whenever a Honda has been given the Type R treatment, it’s always resulted in something rather special. The Integra Type R is lauded as the best-handling front-wheel drive car to date, various Civic Type Rs have been at the top of the hot hatch table for decades and the Accord Type R brought a little bit more practicality while not sacrificing any playfulness. The original NSX received a wonderful Type R variant, too.

My issue with Type R is that these special cars have come around far too infrequently. The last time that we had two Type Rs on sale in the UK at the same time was in 2002, with the Swindon-made Civic and Accord, and that was only for a few months, too.  

With performance sub-brands the list is almost endless: BMW’s M division, Mercedes-AMG, Ford ST, Vauxhall VXR/GSE – the Type R brand perhaps should’ve been Honda’s rival to these, expanding Honda’s nous into other, potentially more lucrative segments. Toyota has certainly proved the formula in recent years with its Gazoo Racing brand taking to Le Mans and WRC, while trickling down into range-topping trim levels of the Corolla, Hilux and RAV4. 

Honda cruelly denied us a S2000 Type R and a Type R version of the hybridised, second-generation NSX, but even less obvious sporty variants of the firm’s other offerings could’ve had their place. A CR-V Type R could’ve been a great foil to the Cupra Ateca, and the Jazz could’ve shrugged off its OAP image with a hot version to take on the Ford Fiesta ST. 

This is where I hope HRC comes in. That abbreviation stands for ‘Honda Racing Corporation’, which is doing exactly what it claims with programmes in Formula One (with Red Bull), IMSA GTP, Super GT in Japan, IndyCar, and, of course, being Honda, various motorbike series. It’s not all track-focused stuff either – HRC secured a podium finish in the gruelling Baja 500 in Mexico with a heavily modified Passport SUV.

At the Tokyo Auto Salon at the start of the year, we saw what HRC could do with Honda's current line up. The Civic Type R Concept looked fabulous and we were salivating over the prospect of a bodykitted Prelude Type R monstering the track. HRC also displayed slightly more off-road focused ‘Trailsport’ concepts of the CR-V and ZR-V – something we never would have seen with Type R. 

Perhaps I’m dreaming a bit with HRC, but with this new brand Honda has a chance to bring driving excitement to its wider audience. Hopefully it can live up to its ‘Power of Dreams’ slogan. 

While there’s no mention of the HRC concepts going into production – and the Civic Type R having recently bowed out of the UK market anyway – Honda did state that it will expand its line-up of “more exciting sport-type models”.   

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