RE: Honda claims new Civic Type R Nurburgring record
Monday 24th April 2017
Honda claims new Civic Type R Nurburgring record
It's not over yet! Honda sends 'production specification' Type R to Germany, returns with 7:43.80
If it seems that a controversial Honda Civic Type R Nurburgring lap happened not all that long ago, then you'd be right. It was in fact just over two years ago when, along with the debut of the then-new Civic Type R, Honda also published a 7:50.63 Nurburgring lap that it claimed was the fastest ever for a front-wheel drive car. Only it wasn't a production car, it was a development car. Then VW came and beat it, with a production car. And then beat it again...
Undeterred, Honda is back with the new Civic Type R and a new lap of 7:43.80. Which is quite incredible actually, though the same caveats as before sadly apply. We're told the car in the video is again a development vehicle, "technically representative of production specification". Just with a full cage in. And no rear seats. Or infotainment. Offsets the weight gain of the cage, see? Despite Honda's claims that the cage was only for safety and "did not provide any additional rigidity to the body frame", it does rather undermine the lap if that's not how the car will be sold. Many may rubbish the idea of a two-seat Golf GTI, but that means the road car was the same spec as the 'ring record car. At least, we hope it was. For what it's worth, the Civic here was said to be running "road legal track-focused tyres."
Moreover, casting aside the debate about what is and what isn't representative, seeing a front-wheel drive car do such a lap is an incredible thing to watch. Honda cites the new aero package - said to balance drag and lift better than any rival - the stiffer body and new multi-link rear suspension as the main factors for the improved time, the latter key for braking and cornering stability. Even if the driver here still looks pretty busy...
It's interesting to see the lower gear ratios in action here too, this Civic Type R able to pull fourth comfortably through the Hatzenbach section where the old car was in third. See as well where it's fourth in use at the complex before the run to Bergwerk; again that was third (and the limiter!) in the old car. While good for a lap time it should help on the road too, closely stacked intermediate gears just the thing for fun on a B-road.
Inevitably comparisons with the Golf lap will emerge, so it's worth pointing out a couple now. The Honda appears to gain its advantages on the straights, its higher speeds surely evidence of how effective the aero is. Or proof that the development car has rather more than a 10hp advantage over the Golf - depends on how cynical you are. At the Foxhole the Civic peaks at 241km/h (Golf 235km/h), on the long drag at Kesselchen it's 220km/h against 215km/h and the gap in Dottinger-Hohe peak speeds is even greater: the Civic reaches 265km/h, the Clubsport S 247km/h. Over to you for further proof of superiority, or bending the rules...
Production of the Civic Type R will begin at Swindon this summer, when first drives will commence too. Suffice it to say this soap opera will continue for a while yet!
