"Honda says the new Civic Type R will aim to be âthe fastest front-wheel drive vehicle on the Nurburgringâ. To the best of our knowledge (and âRing records are always a little hazy) that means itâll have to beat the 8m08s lap set by the Renaultsport Megane RS Trophy last year. Thatâs a mighty quick lap.
Bad news for a grizzly, autumnal weekend! Firstly, the fourth-gen Civic Type R wonât arrive until 2015. Secondly, we have literally no idea how powerful it might be, or what engine it might use. Honda CEO Takanobu Ito announced yesterday his companyâs plans to put a new hot hatch into production, but remained frustratingly schtum on tech details.
So itâd seem likely that Honda, with a âRing record in its sights, will ditch simple N/A power in favour of a power system that delivers more horses for less CO2. Hondaâs CR-Z coupe â while hardly sporty â uses a hybrid module to add electric power to its naturally aspirated petrol, and Honda yesterday announced development of new two- and three-motor hybrid systems, the latter of which will feature on the upcoming new NSX.
But the Civic Type R is more likely to turn turbo. Ito said it will represent the âapplication of technologies developed through Hondaâs participation in WTCCâ. This isnât mere marketing fluff, but CEO-speak for âthe Civic will use a 1.6-litre turbo engineâ, developed from Hondaâs take on the FIAâs âglobal engineâ specification.
How much power can Honda squeeze from a dinky 1.6? Well, consider the Megane Trophy makes 265bhp, so youâd expect the Civic to boast rather more if it wants to crush Renaultâs record."
Interesting read.