HONDA has revealed details of two new sporty versions of its UK-built Civic.

The star of the show where Honda is concerned is the eagerly awaited new 280 horsepower Honda Civic Type R, which picks up where previous R models left off – but for customers who can’t stretch to the full, hard-core R treatment, there’s a new Civic Sport model, which shares some of the R’s sporty looks with the more economical Civic mainstream engine choices.

The new Honda Civic Type R has a Euro 6-compliant 2.0 litre i-VTEC engine producing more than 280 PS.

Although this is the first turbocharged R engine, it still has the traditional high Honda red line of 7,000 rpm.

As well as a six-speed manual gearbox, adaptive dampers and a “steer axis” that minimises torque steer, there’s a new button-activated “+R” mode which heightens engine responsiveness via changed torque-mapping and changed steering and adaptive damper settings.

One thing that isn’t new – the distinctive red “H” badge on the new Honda Civic Type R’s nose, the marker of R models for the last twenty-two years.