After telling us about the development Civic Type R’s 7min 50,63sec second lap time of the Nürburgring earlier today, Honda now wants us to see its feat through an on-board camera.
The Japanese hatch set a new world record for a front-wheel drive car on the Nordschleife beating the Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy-R’s 7:54.36 lap time by nearly four seconds.
However, while the French car was a production model, Honda said that its lap time was “achieved in development car with technical specifications representative of the final production car” in May of 2014 “by a contracted pro test driver”.
Because these details count, we’ll let Honda elaborate further:
“The development car was in a standard state of engine tune, with suspension, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes and the aerodynamic package identical to those of the production Civic Type R. The removal of equipment such as air conditioning, the front passenger seat and audio equipment offset the additional weight of a full roll cage (installed specifically for safety reasons and not to add rigidity)”.
And since the Japanese carmaker is well aware of what the internet might say about the run with a development model, it said that it plans to return to the Nordschleife later this year with a final production Civic Type R to set a new lap record for a front-wheel drive production car.
Revealed today at the Geneva Motor Show, the Civic Type R sports a newly developed 2.0-liter turbocharged VTEC petrol engine, producing 306hp (310PS) and 400Nm of torque. Did we mention that it’s capable of revving up to 7,000 rpm, which ain’t half bad for a turbo unit…