The new Civic Type R is being teased quite substantially by Honda at the minute, ahead of a 2015 launch date. 

We’ve had photos, concept models, teasers and press releases already to promote the latest Civic Type R, but this time Honda has upped the ante with a genuinely impressive video known as ‘The Other Side’. You can see the short trailer right here:

For the full effect you either need to click-through the YouTube video, or visit hondatheotherside.com to see the full length feature. At ESM we’re generally cynical, but we’ll accept this is actually quite a cool piece of marketing. Most importantly, don’t forget to press ‘R‘ on your keyboard to engage the full ‘Race Mode’ experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ov6Zq_bp6c

There are lots to take in during the mini-feature film, but we were left with the following thoughts:

• The Concept Type R looks seriously menacing on the move,
• It also sounds tremendous for a turbocharged car; please let the real one sound that good,
• When did former France rugby union star Sébastien Chabel learn to do stunt driving,
• We’re quite glad Gordon Shedden isn’t ‘acting‘ in this,
• Can we know some Type R performance statistics now Honda, please?

What we already know is that the 2015 Civic Type R will have a 2.0 litre turbocharged i-VTEC engine, producing 280 PS (276 bhp), which will rev all the way to 7,000 rpm! Oh, and it’ll also have six-speed manual gearbox, which we are praying is as good as the previous generations for that cliche “rifle-bolt” action. Whilst there’ll be no sport mode, the +R ‘race mode’ is probably consolation enough too.

Honda is piling a lot of pressure onto the new Civic Type R, which will enter an extremely competitive hot-hatch marketplace. We’re certainly teased, we just hope the real thing delivers next year!