The Honda Civic Type R is a car that we have been looking forward to for a long time, and Honda has capitalized on our interest by dragging the teaser campaign out over the course of many months. The latest teaser arrived this week and brought with it the information that the hot hatch will be revealed on July 20. The wait is finally coming to an end, and we will see if there's yet another FWD lap record heading to Japan. That's just one of five things we expect from the new Type R, but we no longer need to speculate about at least two things after Honda Japan leaked the new car online.

The first thing that is confirmed is that the styling will be far better than it has been since the start of the millennium. Smoother lines, a more cohesive overall design, and a clear tie to other Honda products will make this a far more attractive vehicle to both old fans of the brand and newcomers to it.

The other thing confirmed by the leak is that Championship White is returning to the color palette. We can also see the trademark red upholstery on the seats, matching the badges and brake calipers. Overall, it looks like the Civic Type R will appeal to both grandmas and groupies.

We're a little surprised to see the leak of the Type R when the car is due to be revealed exactly a week from now. Call us cynical, but this isn't the first time that we've seen a manufacturer's exciting new offering shown off early, and it stinks of cheap advertising. By "accidentally" leaking the car, a manufacturer is able to generate discussions on the car and foster hype without spending anything on advertising or official correspondence. To be fair, in some cases, these leaks come from unscrupulous journalists who break embargo agreements and want to get a jump on the competition. In other cases, the leaks are purely accidental and can be blamed on no more than human error. Regardless of the source of the leak this time, we're just glad that the Type R is back.