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New Honda Civic Type R Spied Testing Against Mercedes A45 AMG

Since Honda itself pledged the upcoming Civic Type R will be the fastest front-wheel drive hot hatch around the Nurburgring, we expect a lot from the Japanese machine. Nonetheless, it seems that Honda is getting cheeky these days, with the Type R prototype being spotted playing with the Mercedes A45 AMG.
New Honda Civic Type R spyshots 20 photos
Photo: SB-Medien
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The result of the testing session are obviously buried deep within Honda engineers’ laptops, but the sheer fact that the Civic took on the all-wheel drive AMG shows it will be a serious piece of kit.

Then again, the new Type R needs to be extremely fast. First of all, that’s because Honda has delayed the launch for quite some time now, citing the thourough development process. It seems that we’ll be getting the car sometime in the course of 2015.

Just as important, if the Civic Type R does want to back up Honda’s promise, it will have to beat the #under8 Megane RS - as you are reading this, Renault engineers are doing everything they can to come up with an extreme edition for the Megane RS. Tentativelly called Megane RS275R, this aims for a Nurburgring lap time of 7:45. The French have a quest of their own, since they’re aiming to beat the current record holder, the 280 hp SEAT Leon Cupra. If they achieve the aforementioned time, the difference between the two will be a staggering 13 seconds.

Honda is up to a pretty difficult fun job here - while it is constantly testing to improve its Type R, so are the other carmakers. This war could go on forever, but while Honda is waiting, the other are already out on the market.

Still, the target would make the Type as fast round the Nordschleife than certain V10 supercars such as the Audi R8 V10 Plus. Moreover, we are extremely curious to see how such extreme performance copes with the drivability factor.

As for what will deliver such impressive performance, the Civic will leave natural aspiration behind. A two-liter four-banger with around 300 hp is expected. While the standard gearbox will be a manual, Honda is also expected to offer a dual-clutch unit. Going further down the tech road, the 2015 Type R could feature an active suspension.

Alas, the 2015 Honda Civic Type will not make it Stateside.
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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