The enthusiast world is geeked for the debut of the 2017 Honda Civic Type R, which will happen later this year. It's not terribly expensive, but what if it could be even cheaper?

The latest Civic Type R rumor to leave the rumor mill is that the 2018 CTR will be offered in both base and Touring trims, as opposed to the 2017 CTR, which is offered in just Touring trim. The rumor comes by way of a HondaPro Jason tweet, a serious Honda enthusiast who's pretty reliable in these matters.

Honda did not immediately return a request for comment, but automakers traditionally don't spill the beans on future product, even if it's just a lesser version of a model that already exists.

When the 2017 Civic Type R Touring goes on sale this year, it should carry a price in the mid-$30,000 range. That's about on par with the Volkswagen Golf R. The Civic will bring some serious equipment to the table, including a 306-horsepower I4, adaptive suspension, LED headlights and Brembo brakes.

Were a base model Civic Type R to come to market, it would likely ditch a good deal of the expensive stuff. The LED headlights could become projectors, the suspension could be fixed and the infotainment offering could be simplified.

Considering there were pictures of a Civic Type R with projector headlights attached to the news of its Nurburgring lap record, it certainly lends some credence to the rumor, although that could be chalked up to differences between the European and US models.