The Honda Civic->ke236 Type R is one of those cars that import tuners – regardless of their make preference – would give just about anything to get their hands on. We knew that Honda was working on an all-new Civic type R, thanks to a few savvy spy photographers, but the details were still rather sketchy on when and where it would be released.

Well, with a news release that Honda->ke34 sent out today, we have found out that the Civic Type R is a certainty and that this beast will hit the market in 2015. Unfortunately, this model will remain a fabled unicorn for the U.S. market, as Honda also announced that the Type R will be developed specifically for the European market – what a bummer.

According to Honda, the Civic Type R will apply technologies developed while preparing for the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). Given its WTCC roots, Honda has huge expectations of its 2015 or 2016 Civic Type R, as it also announced that it is aiming to make the Civic Type R the fastest front-wheel-drive car to ever lap the mighty Nürburgring->ke999.

That 2-year-old record is currently held by the Renault Megane RS Trophy and the time to beat would be 8:07.97, which is about 54 seconds slower than the Porsche 918 Spyder popped off the other day. Rather lofty goals indeed, Honda, as the Megane RS Trophy is no slouch, pumping out 256 horsepower, 360 Nm (265 pound-feet) of torque.

Reports are showing that the Civic Type R will arrive with between 220 and 230 horsepower, putting it far short of the Renault. Plus, if Honda is planning to use its aging i-VTEC technology, there is simply no way the Civic Type R can produce the torque required to navigate the `Ring fast enough to beat the Renault’s->ke72 time. The only way that Honda can expect to pull off this feat is to add a little boost to its VTEC engine to pump up the bottom-end torque and top-end horsepower, or simply create the most ridiculous power-to-weight ratio by deleting half of the body panels…

We’ll keep an eye out for more.

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