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2023 Honda CivicType R Beats FWD Record At Suzuka Circuit

The new 2023 Honda Civic Type R has been teased by Honda, and while we’re already excited to see the upcoming Japanese hot hatch, you can’t beat a good lap time. And that’s exactly what Honda has done, it’s given us both, and this lap time is nothing to snigger at.

The Civic has beaten the front-wheel drive record at Honda’s home track, Suzuka, surpassing the old record holder, the previous Civic Type R, by setting a lap time of 2:23:120 seconds.

The new Type R has been slowly making its way to the road for a long time now and we’ve seen teasers here and there from Honda. But beating the 2021 Type R’s lap time, 2:23:993-seconds, by almost a full second gives us some hints at its pretty impressive performance. Let’s not forget that that time is faster than the likes of a ’99 Honda NSX, a Mercedes SL600, and even a Mitsubishi Evo 8 according to GTPlanet.net.

But let’s take a look at the lap itself.

There’s little to no torque steer with the driver being very gentle with the steering wheel, there are moments of understeer, especially under heavy braking but professionally managed by the driver, but it seems very potent out of the corners with power being put on early and that front diff expertly managing how it’s put down.

There’s quite a bit of movement in the chassis as the car clambers of the bumps in the tarmac and a lot of tyre squeal, but overall it looks very tidy.

This is where I should note two things, however.

Tyre performance comes on leaps and bounds each year, so this will have a huge impact on lap times. And on top of this, this car is a final development model, so the factory car could see some changes. It’s also worth noting that this lap was for internal use only by Honda, indicating that they’re still working out a few bugs but are happy with how the car is looking. And you can’t deny the numbers.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Type R as we get closer to its release, but for now, will be very happy enjoying some wheel wrestling by Honda’s finest.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]
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