Hottest Honda Civic Type R breaks Suzuka lap record
Honda’s Civic Type R Limited Edition just earned its R rating by smashing the front-wheel-drive lap record at the Suzuka F1 circuit.
The Limited Edition, of which just 600 are headed stateside, lapped the 3.6-mile track in two minutes and 23.993 seconds.
Suzuka’ famous three-quarter-mile back straight and 130R corner gave development drivers the chance to prove the Limited Edition’s updates in a time-honored Honda tradition. Honda has used Suzuka to test its road cars since 1962 as founder Soichiro Honda firmly believed: “Automobiles cannot be improved if they are not put through their paces on the racing circuit.”
Improvements over the standard Civic Type R include lightweight 20-inch BBS forged alloy wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 tires which save 22 pounds. The dampers are optimized and steering recalibrated to take advantage of the new boots. Inside the cabin is stripped of its infotainment system and air conditioning to help save a total weight of over 100 pounds.
Hideki Kakinuma, Civic Type R Project Leader, says: “The engineering team and I embraced a racing spirit that has been passed down for generations, and it’s this strong passion that’s driving the evolution of the Civic Type R.”
Kakinuma has hinted that there could be more to come yet: “The mission of Civic Type R is to continue to be considered as the “ultimate” vehicle. There is no end to this challenge.”
Watch this space.
