Somebody emailed three photos to us showing what is supposedly an accessories catalog for the 2019 Civic Type R. The person who sent the photos says that they were posted on FaceBook. As you can see in the main photo, the Type R that is shown has projector headlights, similar looking to those that are currently found on the Civic Si. Recall that last year, there were official indications that the Type R would be offered in 2 trim levels for the 2018 model year, a 'base' trim and a 'Touring' trim. That did not come to pass. So with the 2019 model year coming, it appears that we could possibly see this lower trim level. If so, we don't know what the differences will be, but if this brochure is legitimate, it looks like the Touring's LED headlights will be chopped in favor of Halogen projector headlamps. We're guessing that the 12-speaker 540-watt stereo will be downgraded somehow as well, likely losing the subwoofer. Otherwise, there's not a lot left to cut from the equipment list unless Honda decides to cut back on the ultrasuede upholstery. Another possibility is that the adaptive damper system could be swapped out with standard dampers, which would save weight as well as money.

We straightened the perspective and cropped 2 of the photos and it does indeed appear to be an accessories catalog. Our first thought was that maybe this was a catalog for another market, but a close look at the fine print shows that it's actually from American Honda.

UPDATE: Dealer order systems are not currently showing any trims besides the Touring trim for the 2019 Civic Type R.





UPDATE 2: In speaking with some more folks, it sounds like Honda is fairly agile and the base trim offering can truly be a "game time" decision, depending upon how demand holds up for the Type R. As for the photo seen here, there is some question about its accuracy. Why? Well, it seems that if there WERE going to be a base trim Type R, it wouldn't be offered in Championship White.

SUMMARY: It's complicated. 🤔

OTHER NEWS FOR 2019?
Since you're here reading this we might as well let you know what we've heard about any other expected changes for the 2019 Model Year of the Civic Type R. It seems like about the only thing significant would be the addition of Sonic Gray to the color palette. Other than that, we're hearing that the Type R will not get the mid-cycle updates that were announced for the Civic sedan and coupe model this year, and it will be model year '20 at the earliest before we see any such updates applied to the Type R. We've also heard that the same holds true for the standard Civic Hatchback models.

After checking around some more, we've heard from one of our contacts that production for 2019 Civic Type Rs is beginning the week of October 6th, so if this is accurate, we could potentially be seeing the 2019s hitting showrooms before the end of the year. 2018s are said to remain in production until September 30th.

Last edited by JeffX on September 27, 2018 16:07