RE: Honda claims new Civic Type R Nurburgring record

[spikyone]

Article said:

Production of the Civic Type R will begin at Swindon this summer, when first drives will commence too.

I'll admit that I live in Swindon, so this may not be representative, but I'm sure I've seen more than one on the roads round here already. I did a double-take at seeing the first one, then saw another at the local recycling centre, and another since then (could've all been the same car I suppose), so maybe Honda employees are somehow able to get their hands on pre-production models?

ETA: When you consider that the R35 initially went round in something like 7:30, that's an incredible laptime from something with wrong-wheel-drive and "only 316bhp"...

[RacerMike]

I'd be interested to see the 'real' time when it's reviewed in SportAuto. The 'old' one that allegedly did the 7min50sec could only muster an

8min15sec in the hands of Christian Gebhardt

who independntly managed a respectable

7min56sec lap in the Golf GTI Clubsport S which was only 6s off the official VW time at that point.

Christian is a very quick driver, and having tried myself the other week in my own Focus RS, I would only just have managed to beat his 8min06sec lap if I'd had it clear. As it was, the best I could get was an

8min12sec haemorrhaging time at Adenau Forst behind a hesitant TTS and M3.

I have no doubt in my mind that the best an 'old' production Type R could manage would be around an 8min10sec. A fair way shy of it's alleged record.

In reality, I guess the new car will probably be similar to the 8min06sec of the Focus. Which is still monumentally quick....

Edited by RacerMike on Monday 24th April 12:03

[HJMS123]

jon- said:

Anyone know what tyres it was run on? I've not had a press release from any of the big manufacturers so maybe a Toyo or Nankang?! (total guess)

Cup 2's seem to be the flavour of choice for the OEM's at the moment

[WCZ]

impressive but it's a non-story as it's not a production car.

also re: yawns
every single fwd/rwd car which i've driven that has posted a good ring time has been sensational on the road

[dannyDC2]

Awesome! Would love to know what tyres it was on. They were screeching a bit... Cup2 maybe?

[mp3manager]

The engine's still far too quiet.

[51mes]

There are rumours of 2 variants of the new Type-R...

A touring version - with all the bells and whistles, and a stripped out more tracked focused variant due a little later in the lifecycle.

I wonder if that's what they will say they are running ????


I really like the front - but yes - not 100% sure of the rear....

S.

[Mike1990]

Just like the 'old' FK2 Type-R in the pictures they did look awkward IMO, but will look ace in the flesh from seeing them on the Roads. I do still find it cool all these 'Ring records tbh, inner geek, next up Renault...

[ukaskew]

People say these things don't matter, news articles immediately get the most comments on any given news site...

Marketing - job done.

[wemorgan]

Ashtray83 said:

Non structural rubber mounted cage? Hahaha no nuts or bolts at all? Sky hooks....

Indeed. A roll cage that doesn't improve structural rigidity isn't a roll cage.

It's reasonable to assume this was a proper roll cage and therefore the article's claim is false.

[Regiment]

Definitely rather have one of these over a Golf but I wonder what the new RS Megane will do.

[xjay1337]

kambites said:

Jonno02 said:

Does anybody really care about lap times? The whole sub-8 thing with the leon cupra was so yawn.

I think the idea is to get people talking about the product rather than to actually sell cars directly off the back of its track performance.

It's just something to brag about.
I doubt you or I would notice any difference

New Civic is ugly. Looks like a fish with a cardboard box up its arse.

[RacerMike]

dannyDC2 said:

Awesome! Would love to know what tyres it was on. They were screeching a bit... Cup2 maybe?

Slicks cut to look like Cup2s? :P

[ash reynolds]

Well there is something uglier...

Ring times are getting tedious, seconds shaved off over nearly 13 miles in the hands of a pro driver is going to make what difference exactly to the typical buyer? Willy waving among the manufacturers is what it is. As a development location great, as a marketing USP it's almost meaningless.

[lemmingjames]

jon- said:

Anyone know what tyres it was run on? I've not had a press release from any of the big manufacturers so maybe a Toyo or Nankang?! (total guess)

linglongs

[foggy1974]

Gosh that is ugly

[RacerMike]

ash reynolds said:

Ring times are getting tedious, seconds shaved off over nearly 13 miles in the hands of a pro driver is going to make what difference exactly to the typical buyer? Willy waving among the manufacturers is what it is. As a development location great, as a marketing USP it's almost meaningless.

Well...and totally impossible to achieve in a production car that you can buy in a lot of cases.....however that doesn't stop the keyboard warriors saying they're 'dissappointed' that a car 'only' does an 8min6sec lap without any appreciation for just how incredibly fast that is...

[Catatafish]

What's the deal with nurburgring record attempts? Do they stop as soon as the class record is broken or do they go to the extreme of what the car can do?

If it's the first then it's more a measure of how mental the driver is. I can't imagine the second is possible without a few cataclysmic offs to gauge where the extreme performance is possible.

[havoc]

great_kahn said:

rich12 said:

Is the steering wheel on properly??

Pretty sure the driver was under contract for £1 per steering input. Honda are gonna have to shift a few of these to claw back the 2 million quid they paid the driver for this lap.

That is odd...looks like he's fighting permanently-changing torque-steer, certainly where you see the bits when he's changing gear it doesn't look like his inputs.
(Other thought is it's set-up to have a really loose tail-end for a road car (think BTCC) and he's trying to keep it in-line...)


Not entirely sure Honda's PR team realise what they're doing sometimes - same mistake (pre-prod caged car) twice?!? Unless it's really not up to the record as RacerMike suggests...in which case why even bother?
(Mike - OE rubber on the FK2 was ContiSport 6's, which by all accounts aren't as sticky as the Clubsport-S's rubber...have you any info on the respective tyres for the laps you mention?)

[Durzel]

ukaskew said:

People say these things don't matter, news articles immediately get the most comments on any given news site...

Marketing - job done.

Indeed.

I can see why they do it to be honest. It's a boon for marketing, even if you're not remotely interested in trackdays or the Ring you will no doubt have heard of it, and being able to tell your mates in the pub that your car holds the lap record, or "did it in less than X" is a badge of honour, a way of telling your mates and anyone who cares to listen that you own a rapid "track weapon".

There's a weird dichotomy where manufacturers and owners ostenisbly care about Ring times and stuff, because it infers that they are "motorsport driven", but in reality neither really cares about it. The majority of people who would boast about Ring times for their cars would never actually track their car, much less at the Ring.

It's all pretty hollow though, since this car will - as many are I would assume - have been heavily prepared for this circuit. Bespoke ECU map, semi-slicks, stripped out + cage, etc, not the car you'd be buying on the forecourt. That's not the point though.. beating the immediate competition at the Ring is a marketing coup.