A British-built car is again the hottest hatch around the Green Hell. Honda has snatched back the front-drive record for fastest lap of the 12.9-mile Nurburgring Nordschleife with the new Civic Type R.
APR 24th 2017
Video: Watch the new Civic Type R smash the hot hatch 'Ring record
A development version of the latest 316bhp winged wonder from Swindon clocked an impressive 7 minutes 43.8 seconds, almost 7 seconds faster than the last Type R’s record set in 2015. Since then the front-drive accolade has seesawed between Seat, Renault and Volkswagen. Most recently the record was held by VW with the Golf GTI Club Sport at 7 minutes 47 seconds.
As always some Nordschleife records are more official than others. How similar to the model we will be able to buy from this summer is the car Honda used? Although a “development” car, Honda says its technical specification is representative of the final production version. It had a roll cage fitted for safety, with the cage’s extra weight compensated for by removing the rear seats. The car was run on road-legal tyres.
Honda says the near-7 second improvement over the last Type R is down to more advanced aerodynamics delivering an improved balance between lift and drag. The new car is lighter (by 16kg) and stiffer than its predecessor, with acceleration helped by slightly lower gearing. A longer wheelbase, wider track and new rear suspension improve cornering speeds: Honda says the new car was able to enter the corner after Metzgesfeld at around 150 km/h, 10 km/h higher than before.
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The sportster of the 10th-generation Civic range was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2017 and is being built for global export – including to the US for the fist time – in Swindon. It goes on sale in the UK this summer.
Fastest production cars around the Nordschleife
Fastest road racer
Radial SR8 6 minutes 48 seconds
Fastest supercar
Lamborghini Huracan Performante 6 minutes 52 seconds
Fastest electric car
NextEV NIO EP9 7 minutes 05 seconds
Fastest saloon
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 7 minutes 32 seconds
Fastest front-drive hot hatch
Honda Civic Type R 7 minutes 43.8 seconds
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