Honda Announces New FWD Civic Type R Nürburgring Lap Record, but There's a Catch

Honda has had a tremendous period as of late. They ushered in an all-new HR-V subcompact crossover for the global markets and a different, larger HR-V, based on the eleventh-gen Civic, for North America – which is called ZR-V internationally. Speaking of the US, the newest CR-V best-seller compact crossover SUV also arrived in time to offer many options alongside the Civic Type R Hot Hatch, the family-oriented three-row mid-size Pilot CUV, plus the latest (and arguably greatest) eleventh Accord mid-size sedan.

Automotive enthusiasts, of course, only have eyes for the sporty side of Honda – and the Japanese automaker has lots to offer, including from Acura's latest hero, aka the 320-horsepower Integra Type S liftback sedan. Coincidence or not, the Civic Type R sibling is a bit feistier than the closely related Honda hot hatchback, which 'only' has 235 kW (315 hp) for the North American region and a rather steep starting MSRP of $43,295. However, in other markets – like Europe and Japan, the 2.0-liter K20C1 turbocharged inline-four mill gives the advantage the other way around.

As such, maybe the original – aka the FL5 sixth-gen Civic Type R is indeed better than the copycat, aka the DE5 Acura Integra Type S, thanks to its power rating hitting a higher 243 kW (325 hp) threshold. And it's probably severely underrated, if you want our two cents on the matter. A good case in point for supporting our hunch was made by Honda recently. The Rising Sun carmaker announced the new Civic Type R has (again) "set a new lap time record for a front-wheel-drive car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany during testing conducted for the model's performance evaluation."

The footnotes, interestingly, work in its favor – this is the fastest FWD car on the (in)famous Green Hell, to the best of Honda's knowledge at the time of the record's release. And the new lap time of 7 minutes and 44.881 seconds was measured by the track's officials according to the new rules introduced in 2019 for the full lap of the Nordschleife, which is now 20.832 km (12.94 miles) long instead of 20.6 km (12.8 miles) as before, with all unofficial measurements from the past currently not recognized by the track's certification body.

Anyway, those are all merely the details. The gist is that the more powerful European version of the Honda Civic Type R, with 325 horsepower and 420 Nm (310 lb-ft) on tap, has reconquered the FWD lap record time from its rivals on account of a couple of secrets. First, of course, they used the more powerful version, not the US spec, for the challenge. Second, the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires were swapped with Michelin Pilot Sport CUP 2 Connect rubber, which "further enhances the circuit performance of the vehicle, improves dry grip performance and realizes well-balanced handling."