Spied: For the first time ever, China set to CKD 2023 FL5 Honda Civic Type R
Eric · Sep 23, 2022 09:47 AM
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For the first time in China’s automotive history, the country will be locally-assembling (CKD) the 2023 FL5 Honda Civic Type R. The FL5 Type R is also set to be the first Type R to be sold officially in China; earlier models were parallel imported into the country by third-party dealers.
Courtesy of Yiche, we can see that Dongfeng Honda is preparing for local assembly work of the FL5 Civic Type R at one of their production facilities, as this body-in-white (BIW) awaits.
Currently, the FL5 Civic Type R is manufactured at Honda’s plant in Yorii, Saitama. The previous FK8 Civic Type R was manufactured at Honda’s Swindon plant in the UK, but that plant has since shuttered.
As a brief recap, the FL5 Civic Type R made its global debut back in mid-July. Power may come from the familiar turbocharged 2.0-litre K20C1 as before, but has been fettled to output 330 PS and 420 Nm, a small bump from the FK8 Type R (320 PS, 400 Nm).
Thanks to the bump in power and various handling and aerodynamic improvements, the FL5 Civic Type R now holds the Suzuka Circuit’s lap road for front-wheel drive cars.
What about Malaysia?
Hang in there – There is a good chance of Honda Malaysia offering the FL5 Civic Type R in our country. After all, Honda Malaysia did offer the FK8 Type R here a couple of years ago, retailing at RM 330k.
In Japan, the new FL5 Civic Type R is 5 percent more expensive than the model it replaces. Assuming that the same 5 percent increase in Japanese prices applies here, we expect Honda Malaysia to launch the model here sometime in late 2023, priced at around RM 350k.
Started from the IT industry but somehow managed to find his way into the automotive industry. If he’s not gaming, he’s constantly tinkering with his daily/weekend car.