The rumours are true and Honda’s mouth-watering teases at the Nürburgring have given way to confirmed technical details about Honda’s next Civic Type R hot hatch. Honda’s European president, Manabu Nishimae, has confirmed the engine propelling the Civic Type R will be a direct-injection, turbocharged unit with 2 000cc displacement; producing an Opel Astra OPC-matching 206 kW. That power will be channelled through the front wheels only; that is a massive whack of power for a front driver.
With about two years of development still to go, Honda has very publicly announced they will pull out all the stops to make the new Civic Type R the fastest front-wheel drive car around the Nürburgring. Setting the objective to beat the 8-minutes 7.9-seconds time set by the RenaultSport Megane RS Trophy 265 in 2011.
Before we knew the Honda Civic Type R Turbo was going to carry 200 kW plus, courtesy of its turbo, there appeared simply no way a normally aspirated Civic Type R would produce the 360 Nm of torque required to navigate the famed German racing track faster than the 195 kW RenaultSport. Then there was the issue of power-to-weight ratio and the potential of having it be lighter than 1 100 kg.
What about a mechanical limited slip-differential on the front end; harnessing all that turbo torque for the Type R? Surely the next Type R is going to need one of those to get its power done? Perhaps a combination of all three will see the job through for the Japanese hot hatch? Either way, this ring record business is a tall order and we wonder if Honda hasn’t bitten off a little more than they can chew?
Due to be launched in the summer of 2015, the Civic Type R Turbo is being developed under the watch of Japanese engineer, Suehiro Hasshi, with key members of Honda Germany perfecting ride and handling around the famous proving ground.
Speaking at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Suehiro Hasshi said: ‘The reason for turbocharging is quite simple: the extra control and driveability you get from wider torque performance is important. To create a fast lap time two things stand out. Firstly, the long back straight means a high top speed is essential; which means good aerodynamics, but also the sheer number of corners means that if you can cut even a tenth of a second at each corner it will add up to make a big difference.’
The Honda Civic Type R Turbo prototype has been getting lots of action around the famous German circuit at the hands of WTCC driver, Gabriele Tarquini. It looks quick. We can’t wait for the results of this exhaustive prototyping process. See Honda’s latest Honda Civic Type R Turbo tease below:
