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2023 Honda Civic Type R Returns to the Nurburgring, Looks Ready to Set a New Lap Record

The outgoing Honda Civic Type R is still the fastest front-wheel drive production car bar none at certain racetracks all over the world. This has been part of the Japanese company’s strategy of promoting the hot hatch, and they seem to be sticking to this recipe when it comes to the new generation too.
2023 Honda Civic Type R 12 photos
Photo: CarPix
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It is already a champ at Suzuka, having lapped the 3.6-mile (5.8-km) long course in 2:23.120 in mid-March, beating its predecessor by almost one second. And by the looks of it, Honda might be going for the Nurburgring Nordschleife lap record for front-wheel drive production vehicles once again with the 2023 Civic Type R.

Mind you, the recorded run wasn’t against the clock, but it appears that the brand’s rival to the likes of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Renault Megane RS, Ford Focus ST, and Hyundai i30 N is quick enough to actually go for it. In fact, our spies said that they saw “some Japanese guys from the Honda Garage shooting both videos and photos” as the focus of the camera lens was on the pictured prototype.

Until that happens, however, Honda needs to make sure that it lives up to expectations by fine-tuning it, ahead of its grand unveiling, which is likely a few months away. The model will officially touch down in the United States this summer, albeit dressed in camouflage.

Compared to the regular Civic, the new-gen Type R will feature more aggressive styling, as well as a re-tuned chassis with stiffer suspension. Beefier brakes will be part of the makeover, and the steering might be sharpened.

In terms of power, you are looking at the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission, and front-wheel drive. We don’t know yet how much it produces, but it should be at least as powerful as its predecessor, which has 306 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque available via the right pedal.

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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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