2027 Honda Civic Type R: Costs Nearly $50,000, Gets Tiny Updates

• What's new: The Civic Type R gets a more aggressive mug (apparently), and some smaller tweaks to make it even more performance-oriented.
• Why it matters: The CTR is already the most hardcore compact you can buy, so these updates only widen the gap with the competition. 
• Edmunds says: The changes are so small that we won't know the difference they make until we get behind the wheel.  

Blink and you'll miss it exterior tweaks

Let's start with the most obvious change: There's a new color for the Type R. It's called Meteorite Gray Metallic and, well, yeah, it's very gray. The less obvious changes are what Honda says it's done to the front end. There's a new lower grille design that the company says improves cooling by reducing how turbulent the airflow into the engine is. The change also adds downforce at the front. After a lot of squinting, we did, in fact, see the changes to the front end, but boy, are they subtle. 

Honda has also optimized its +R drive mode to essentially reduce how harshly the Type R rides in this mode. The end result should be a better contact patch and more grip when you're scrambling up a back road or on a racetrack. Brake pedal feel has also been sharpened up with the addition of a yoke spring in the pedal to make brake bite feel even more immediate (which arguably the CTR did not need), and the rev match function has been fiddled with to be even sharper. 

What's under the hood and how you shift (thankfully) haven't changed. The 2.0-liter turbocharged engine still makes 315 horsepower, and that juice is routed exclusively through one of the very best six-speed manual transmissions on sale. There is no automatic option, and drive still goes to the front wheels through a near-magic limited-slip differential. 

Interior updates you'll actually notice

Inside you get some more meaningful changes. The standard bucket seats, which we just love, are now heated as standard — still no heated steering wheel, though. The dash is now wrapped in a black suede, which should help reduce glare; the front doors get the same suede treatment; and the air-vent surround is slightly different. Also, the knobs for the climate controls have gone from a chrome finish to black. Neat. 

The infotainment display doesn't change in size but now gets Google Gemini integration; the rearview mirror is now auto-dimming; and the USB ports above the wireless charging pad are now both Type C. The changes are tiny, but perhaps the funniest one was essentially just a footnote from Honda. It says, "Improved horn (dual tone)." Truthfully, we have no idea what that means. But it's ... interesting?

These very light changes look to make the CTR an even sharper machine, and we can get behind the cabin improvements, too. The price for the 2027 Honda Civic Type R is set at $49,990, and with an optional color, that means you could be paying over $50,000 for your speedy Civic (and that's before dealer markups, too). That said, the Type R has always punched above its weight, and we can't wait to see exactly just how much better it's getting.