Honda aims to let the laptimes do the talking
Lap times shouldn’t apply to all cars. But when it comes to hot hatches the race to the top of the leaderboard is a very real problem for manufacturers such as Honda. Introducing ‘Type R Time Attack 2018′ where Honda will set out to break any and all front-wheel drive records at a series of legendary European race tracks. The challenge was inspired by Honda’s Nurburgring record that was set last year.
The 2018 challenge will be completed by a team of serious drivers, headed by Jenson Button. The Formula One World Champion will be joined by WTCR drivers Tiago Monteiro, Esteban Guerrieri and Bertrand Baguette.
The race tracks that Honda will visit during the course of the challenge include the Silverstone racetrack in the UK, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium and the Estoril circuit in Portugal, among other circuits that are yet-to-be-announced.
The latest Honda Civic Type R, which is the fastest accelerating and quickest car in its class, will be the weapon of choice for the challenge. According to Honda, the latest Type R was engineered to deliver the most rewarding drive in the hot hatch segment, both on the road and on the race track thanks to its lightweight, rigid bodyshell, its low centre of gravity and the sophisticated dual-axis strut front suspension system, which minimises torque steer and improves cornering at speed.
Powering the Civic Type R is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder VTEC turbocharged engine, producing 235kW of power and 400Nm of torque. Power is sent to the front-wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox, allowing the hot-hatch to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 5.7-seconds, before reaching its top speed of 272km/h. This performance earned the Type R the title of fastest front-wheel drive production car ever around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with a lap time of 7min 43.8sec back in April last year.
Honda will reveal the highly anticipated 2018 Time Attack Civic Type R to the world at the Geneva Motor Show. Honda fanboys rejoice!
Check out our Track test of the Type R here:
