Honda announces Nurburgring lap time for the Civic Type R development car

At the world premiere of its all new Civic Type R at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Honda announced that a development car had achieved a 7 minutes 50.63 seconds lap time of the legendary 20.8 km Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany. This time is unmatched by any other front-wheel drive performance hatchback.

The lap time was achieved during the final phase of pre-production testing in May 2014 by a Civic Type R development car. 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).

During the test cycle, the development car used production specification high-rigidity 19-inch alloy wheels. These were fitted with 235/35R19 road tyres being developed in conjunction with a major European tyre manufacturer especially for the new Civic Type R. The test cycle lap time that was achieved was part of the tyre's development and testing process.

Honda has now vowed to follow up this achievement by sending a production Civic Type R around the Nurburgring Nordschleife later this year with the aim of setting a new lap record for a front-wheel drive production car.