Production of the 2023 Honda Civic Type R has ramped up in Japan. This video takes viewers inside Honda’s Yorii Plant to see how the latest Type R gets built. Pay attention, though, because there is no narration.
The video shows the entire assembly process in just about eight and half minutes, starting with the body shop, where sheet metal is pressed into body panels. Those pieces are then welded and bonded together to form the body shell, after which the hood, doors, and hatch are attached. The completed body shell is then painted.
2023 Honda Civic Type R assembly
Everything up to this point is highly automated, with humans mostly checking work done by robots. Other jobs are more hands-on. Workers manually insert the grille into the front bumper, and also bolt the K20C1 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine to the transaxle. While final assembly takes place in Japan, Type R engines are sourced from Honda’s Anna Engine Plant in Sidney, Ohio.
The engine produces 315 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, making the 2023 Civic Type R the most powerful Honda-badged vehicle ever sold in the U.S. Granted, it’s relatively small improvement over the outgoing Type R’s 306 hp and 295 lb-ft, achieved via a redesigned turbocharger, increased air intake flow rate, and a more efficient exhaust system. Power is routed to the front wheels through a revised 6-speed manual transmission with a rev-matching system like the one in the 2022 Civic Si.
Assembly continues with installation of the engine, suspension components, and brakes, which go onto the car as part of front and rear subassemblies. The video clearly shows the Brembo front brake calipers, which clamp two-piece front rotors, and the front strut and multi-link rear suspensions are visible as well. Both ends were retuned to accommodate the longer and wider 11th-generation Civic platform the new Type R is based on.
Seats and other interior components follow. Each completed car then goes to a quality control station—which includes a quick dyno test—before being driven out of the factory for shipment. Some of those cars should be reaching U.S. dealerships soon.
