With the previous Civic Type R, Honda set front-drive lap records at an array of world-class racing circuits. Now it’s out to beat its own best times. And it may very well set a few more in the process.
The program dubbed “Type R Time Attack 2018” will take the Japanese hot hatch to Silverstone in England, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, and Estoril in Portugal. Further tracks are set to be announced in the future as well.
Honda is still finalizing the driver lineup for the initiative, but it’s already set to be headlined by former F1 champ Jenson Button. Touring-car drivers Tiago Monteiro and Esteban Guerrieri will join him, along with Super GT driver Bertrand Baguette.
This after the previous Type R set lap records at Silverstone, Spa, and Estoril, as well as Monza in Italy and the Hungaroring in (you guessed it) Hungary. This past April, Honda set the front-drive record at the mack daddy of them all: the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany. There the new model recorded a lap time of 7:43.8, beating the 7:47.19 set by the VW Golf GTI Clubsport S and the 7:54.36 achieved in the Renault Megane RS 275 Trophy-R.
The latest model to wear the Japanese automaker’s famous red “H” emblem, the new Honda Civic Type R packs a 2.0-liter turbo four, sending 306 horsepower to the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission.
Honda will display the time-attack Civic at the Geneva Motor Show next week. At that point we may see further details of the coordinated assault on hot-hatch bragging rights.