Tokyo Motor Show: Honda Civic Type-R not for Australia

Bad news for VTEC fans, with Honda Australia boss Stephen Collins confirming ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show that the current-generation Civic Type R won't make it to Australia.

The spearhead of Honda's performance renaissance, along with the new NSX, the Civic Type R's local release had been 'unconfirmed' for some time due to problems of timing.

As Honda Australia sells both sedan and hatch variants of the Civic, the Type R's late arrival would have seen it sitting side-by-side in showrooms with the next generation of Civic Sedan.

While a Type R version of the new-gen Civic will arrive in due course, fast Honda fans will need to wait until at least 2018 for it to appear locally.

It's a blow for Honda's local operations as its lineup has been sadly lacking anything exciting since the demise of the previous-generation Civic Type R.

The new Type R, powered by a 228kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, lapped the Nurburgring in just 7:50.63, putting it up there with the likes of the Renaultsport Megane RS275 Trophy-R as one of the fastest front-drivers around.

We were impressed following our first overseas drive, but sadly we'll now never get the chance to see how it stacks up on Australian soil.