Honda wants everyone to remember that the 2023 Civic Type R is on its way. With the launch of the new Civic and teasers of the 2022 Acura Integra, it might be easy for some to forget that the next generation of the Type R is on the horizon.

To ensure that the 2023 Civic Type R remains at the front of gearhead’s minds, Honda released two images of the new Type R during testing on the Nurburgring. The Nurburgring is the sports car test site of choice for just about every major automaker. Considering the Civic Type R’s performance pedigree, we’re not surprised that Honda visited the track.

The New Civic Type R styling is subtle

The only thing protecting the 2023 Civic Type R from the full monty is a black and red camouflage vinyl wrap. While the wrap hides some of the finer details of the Civic Type R, it does reveal the overall styling and body shape. It becomes apparent that the 2023 Civic Type R seems to be more subtle in its styling than the current generation (FK8 chassis) Type R.

One glance at the 2023 Civic Type R, and it is easy to see that the angular styling has been toned down quite a bit. The overall shape seems much closer to the base model Civic. The new Civic Type R does have wider fenders at the front, but they seem to flow more naturally with the rest of the body, and the front fender exit vents appear to be smaller than they were on the FK8 model.

The Civic Type R is also missing the large front splitter with integrated canards found on the previous model. The new model does have a prominent rear wing, but even that seems less aggressive than what was found on the last generation Type R.

Will the 2023 Civic Type R be the same as the 2022 Acura Integra?

Recently, Acura released another teaser image of the 2022 Acura Integra, which showed the back of the vehicle. It was easy to see that the Integra revival will be a 5-door liftback body style from that image.

The 2023 Civic Type R appears to have a similar body style based on these recent images shown here. Could that mean that the new Civic Type R will be a re-bodied Acura Integra? Currently, there is no way to know for sure, but we would not rule it out.

How did the Civic Type R do on the Nurburgring?

After a full day of testing on one of the most challenging and iconic race tracks in the world, Honda should have lots of data about the new Civic Type R’s performance. Unfortunately, they have chosen not to share that data with the public yet.

Instead, Honda thought just letting everyone know that the Type R was there would be enough to hold us over until the official reveal in 2022. We’re going to go out on a limb and assume most would disagree with that sentiment.

One thing for sure is that if Honda brought the 2023 Civic Type R to the Nurburgring, they are aiming to beat the FK8 Type R’s lap time.