2016 Honda Civic Type R Could Be Even More Powerful
As any justifiably envious American can tell you, the new European-market 2016 Honda Civic Type R is the most powerful Type R that the Japanese automaker has ever produced, boasting a top speed of 168 mph. With over 300 horsepower, it’s already one hell of a hot hatch—but it has the potential to be blazing.
At least, that’s what the vehicle’s project leader, Hisayuki Yagi, said at the car’s press launch in Slovakia. The Type R currently holds the record for front-wheel-drive powered cars on the Nurburgring, but Yagi welcomes any and all challengers.
“At the start of development we set the target to be the fastest front-drive hatchback around the Nurburgring Nordschleife. And we are,” Hisayuki Yagi told Motor Trend. “If someone takes our record, we will take it back.”
A bold claim, but Yagi-san explained the potentials:
How would they do that? Modify the car, or simply drive faster? “We didn’t leave ourselves any margin of safety in that lap. We would have to modify the car.”
We ask how. “Weight, and power output. You’ve driven it,” Yagi-san said. “You can feel there is headroom for more power from the engine. It’s all about power to weight ratio.” MT suggested about 120 pounds and 20 horsepower. Yagi nodded.
Already quipped with a 2.0-liter direct-injected turbo VTEC four-cylinder engine yielding 306 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 295 lb-ft of torque at 2,500 rpm, an extra 20 ponies would make the Type R really fly.
We’d sort of like to see someone run the Nurburgring faster, just so that Honda has a reason to make the most extreme Type R in the automaker’s history even more extreme. If they do upgrade the Civic Type R, perhaps those of us here in the states will reap the benefits—in, you know, another two years or so…
News Source: Motor Trend
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