In times of rampant and dominant electrification, it is quite unusual to speak of a new record at the Nurburgring set by a production car with an internal combustion engine. And to think that until a few years ago, for most sports model manufacturers, the challenge to the “Ring” was a moral and marketing obligation. In any case, the opportunity to return to talking about the curbs of one of the most famous circuits in the world is given to us by Honda, which brought the new Civic Type-R to the Nordschleife. The Japanese hot hatch took the record for production front-wheel drive, stopping the clock at 7:44.881 on the new 20.8km track configuration.
The latter is an important detail, because the slightly shorter previous configurations led to lower times, so much so that the last generation Civic Type-R was clocked in 7:43.38. The current one can count on the latest evolution of the 2-litre four-cylinder turbo that develops 329 HP and 420 Nm of torque. Front-wheel drive and the 6-speed manual gearbox push the Type-R up to 275 km/h and sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds. The advanced aerodynamics also contribute to these performances, with the fixed rear wing and the faired underbody. On the chassis side, the wheelbase is 35 mm longer and the multi-link rear suspension is combined with a significantly wider track to increase stability.
“The Civic Type R was developed to be the ultimate front-wheel drive sports model, capable of instilling confidence and creating emotion to go straight to the heart of every driver. Since its launch in 2022, we have received a lot of positive feedback globally “, far exceeding our expectations. But there was only one mission left to complete,” explains Hideki Kakinuma, Civic Type R Large Project Leader. In this regard, the lap record was achieved using a Type R in a lighter version which will be available in Europe as the Type RS; the car was fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect tyres, which will be available to order direct from Michelin.
