The 2017 Honda Civic Type R has set a new lap time record for a front-wheel drive car at the Nurburgring.
Honda say a development car did a lap in 7 minutes 43.8 seconds. This time is nearly 7 seconds quicker compared to the previous model.
A floating roll cage was added for safety reasons but the added weight was taken away by the removal of the infotainment system and rear seats.
Combination of a tweaked 320 PS 2.0-litre VTEC TURBO engine and lower gear ratios help towards an increase of the car’s acceleration. The new aerodynamic package is best-in-class.
The new Civic Type R is 16kg lighter than the previous model and is 38% more rigid helping steering response. A new multi-link rear suspension helps stability under braking making late-braking possible.
“The cornering speed achieved in the new Type R is higher because the car features a wider track and tyres, a longer wheelbase, new multi-link suspension in the rear and optimised aerodynamics that improves stability.”
“For example, drivers typically enter the corner after Metzgesfeld at around 150 km/h. Even at this medium-speed corner, the speed is around 10 km/h higher due to the new Type R’s excellent stability. So, with improved cornering performance, we can increase the speed throughout the lap, helping the new Type R to achieve a much quicker lap time,”
said Ryuichi Kijima, lead chassis engineer of the Honda Civic Type R.
Production will start in the summer at Honda of the UK Manufacturing in Swindon.
