Setting a lap record on a race track for a production car is a serious deal to some car manufacturers. Just ask Honda, as they have just set four new front-wheel drive production car records in Europe with the Honda Civic Type R, but the Nurburgring is not one of them.
As a refresher, the fourth-generation Honda Civic Type R (FK2) is the first Civic mega hatch that is powered by a turbocharged VTEC engine. Its K20C1 Direct Fuel Injection 2.0-litre four cylinder VTEC engine generates 306 hp and 400 Nm of torque, and it’s mated to the one and only six-speed manual shifter.
Known for its oversized rear wing and race car lookalike bodykit, it blitzes from 0 to 100km/h in 5.7 seconds before maxing out at a top speed of 270 km/h. Power is delivered to the front wheels only, and it rides on 19-inch wheels.
From April until June 2016, the bone-stock mega hatch travelled across Europe to shred tyres on five popular circuits: Silverstone (UK), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Monza (Italy), Estoril (Portugal) and lastly Hungaroring (Hungary). The pilots were official Honda racing drivers like Matt Neal, Rob Huff, Norbert Michelisz, and WTCC safety car driver Bruno Correia.
The lap times completed are as follow: Silverstone (2:31.85), Spa-Francorchamps (2:56.91), Monza (2:15.16), Estoril (2:04.08), and Hungaroring (2:10.85).
In 2015, the prototype Civic Type R dethroned the Renault Megane R.S 275 Trophy-R’s to become the fastest ever FWD hatch around the Nurburgring Nordschleife with a lap time of 7:50.63 seconds. However, the current record holder is the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S with a time of 7:49.21 seconds.
So after setting records on the five said tracks, one may wonder: Why didn’t Honda return to the Green Hell to prove a point? Are they contented with being second best at the Ring?
The late and great Formula One driver Ayrton Senna once said, “Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose”. The Civic Type R is widely marketed as “the ultimate race car for the road”, so someone seriously needs to take this car around Nurburgring again, like now!
IMAGE GALLERY
