Honda has confirmed the next high-performance Civic will go on sale in 2015 and will be the first turbocharged Type R.

The model is likely to use a 2.0-litre petrol engine and develop close to 300bhp as Honda attempts to take the lap record for a front-engine front-wheel drive production car at the Nurburgring Nordschleife with it.

Honda had previously used high-revving normally aspirated petrol engines in its high-performance models (such as the previous Civic Type R pictured), but has now decided to adopt turbo charging to deliver performance with improved fuel efficiency.

With almost three years of development left before the car arrived in showrooms, the specification of the final model is still to be finalised, but Yasuhisha Arai, mnaging director of Honda's R&D centre in Tochigi, Japan confirmed the car's engine would produce in excess of 260bhp.

Honda is also trialling a revolutionary new four-wheel steer system for front-wheel drive cars, and although a Civic would need new rear suspension to accommodate it, such a move hasn't been ruled out for the new hot hatch by Honda management.

The system has sophisticated programming to improve stability under braking as well as in corners.

Arai added that while high-revving VTEC engines had always been part of the appeal of its high-performance variants, the new turbo engine would still inherit some of the VTEC characteristics.