Tuesday 3rd March 2015

Honda Civic Type R - Geneva 2015

A Nurburgring lap time finally confirmed (sort of), but the £30K UK price is assured

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Did you know the CR-V is now offered with a 160hp 1.6 diesel and a nine-speed auto? More exciting news from Geneva... A Civic? Ah yes, the Civic.

The big Type R news is the Nordschleife lap time. Honda made a FWD record a development goal from the off and has sent a test car round in 7:50. So four seconds quicker than the Renault and eight seconds quicker than the SEAT. The caveat? No front seat, air conditioning or stereo. This was to offset the weight of the full roll cage, added purely for safety reasons and absolutely not for rigidity. No sir. Not one bit.

Type R unlikely to be confused with regular Civics

There's some confusion about the tyres as well. Wouldn't be a ring 'lap story without that, would it? So Honda maintains the development car was "in a standard state of engine tune, with suspension, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes and the aero package identical to those of the production Civic Type R." Continental has designed tyres specifically for the Type R but without any confirmation of what they are yet. "The test cycle during which the 7:50.63 lap was achieved was part of the tyre's development and testing process" is the official line from Honda. Curious.

A production car will be there shortly to establish its position as the fastest production front wheel-drive car. Start the debate now as to how production-spec that Civic Type R will be...

Honda has also announced a UK price for the Type R. It will cost £29,995 when sales begin in July, with the GT pack (comprising active safety equipment, Honda's new Connect infotainment system and Garmin sat-nav) costing £2,300 on top. Honda expects Civic Type R GTs to be the most popular model. Furthermore, a PCP payment of under £300 a month has been stated with a 30 per cent deposit and 5.9 per cent APR. For reference a Megane Trophy is £28,930 without the Ohlins dampers and a Leon Cupra with a Performance Pack and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s is £29,430. Bring on the triple test!

Watch the 'ring video here.

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Click here for the PH Geneva news hub!

[dukebox9reg]

That diesel is quite impressive considering Honda was late to the diesel party.....anywho so basically even stripped out to an even more stupid degree than either the Leon or Megane and its not much faster with more tq and bhp. Can only assume in standard trim its on going to be on par or only slightly faster than the ageing Megane.

So basically when the new Megane comes out the smile will instantly be wiped off Honda's face. I was expecting a lot more looking at the spec sheet.

[dukebox9reg]

vz-r_dave said:

dukebox9reg said:

That diesel is quite impressive considering Honda was late to the diesel party.....anywho so basically even stripped out to an even more stupid degree than either the Leon or Megane and its not much faster with more tq and bhp. Can only assume in standard trim its on going to be on par or only slightly faster than the ageing Megane.

So basically when the new Megane comes out the smile will instantly be wiped off Honda's face. I was expecting a lot more looking at the spec sheet.

Did you read the article? They stripped out elements of standard interior to balance out the weight of the roll cage which increased rigity aside is a fair enough comparison. I'd be surprised if there is much difference in the times between test and final product.

As for the new Megane, how much further can you go with FWD and 300hp. I am sure that these cars are at the ceiling of what can be achieved without stripping, caging and slicks (excluding driver and track conditions).

Yes and being an engineer just loosing the equivalent weight is not the same. A great big heavy AC pump in front of the engine and dead weight in the form of a seat next to the driver is completely different to a roll cage weight spread evenly throughout the cabin and aiding no doubt in structural rigidity (assuming that it was a proper full cage) The writer even hints to the fact they seem to miss the point out that a car mounted with a full cage will handle better.

Regards to your comment on how far can we take the hot hatch. I still think the way forward is weight loss. Strip 200kg out of the Megane and even keep the 265bhp engine. It would go like stink.