Honda has unveiled the new 1.6T HR412E engine that is going to power the new S2000 Civic in the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

"In the continuous technological development of an internal combustion engine, the thermal efficiency is the essential key for improvement. And a race engine is not an exception. This HR412E was born from such thought process: aiming for higher efficiency," said Daisuke Horiuchi, WTCC Development Project Leader at Honda R&D.

The engine has been delivered to the Honda Racing Team JAS workshop in Italy for fitting in the new Civic.

"The HR412E heralds a new generation of high performance racing engines from Honda. All engineers at the R&D centre in Tochigi have worked hard to develop a race engine that will deliver great driveability to our racing drivers, with no compromise on peak power performance. We believe the innovations that have led to this revolutionary engine will also lead to benefits beyond the race track, helping us to further increase the efficiency of our road car engines," said Horiuchi.

Honda is going to enter one car this year for the three final races, starting at Suzuka, Japan, for Tiago Monteiro. Gabriele Tarquini will only test the car this year, while entering full season next year with Monteiro.