Latest Honda Civic Type R Reclaims Nürburgring Lap Record
The Civic Type R has long been the king of Nürburgring lap records, having claimed and reclaimed the fastest time among front-wheel-drive cars repeatedly over the years. And now it’s happened again.
The former top time at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, where automakers love to strut their stuff, was set by the 2019 Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R. The French hot hatch lapped the long, near-13-mile circuit in 7 minutes 45.399 seconds, a new FWD lap record.
Related: How the Honda Civic stacks up to its rivals
The 2023 Honda Civic Type R has now just bettered that time with a 7:44.881 on the stopwatch, making it the fastest FWD production car at the Nürburgring. You’ll note that this is still slower than its own record in 2017, but that’s because lap times are calculated differently now.
However, for those who base their purchasing decisions on lap times at circuits they’ll likely never visit, there is a caveat: the lap was done on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. This makes an enormous difference in lap times and Honda says buyers in Europe must order them directly from Michelin. This means that technically, the Honda Civic Type R that lapped the Nürburgring may not meet the standard of a production-spec car.
American customers are able to purchase the Cup 2s as a $1,780 dealer-installed option, but sadly, they wouldn’t be fitted to the same type of Type R that set the record. That’s because Honda used the Civic Type R S, a special lightweight spec available only to the European market. Additionally, because of lower availability of high-octane fuel, the U.S. version of the car is detuned to 315 horsepower, down from the full 325 of the EU model.
Of course, this is all somewhat semantic. The latest Honda Civic Type R is incredibly fast, and by a fair bit over its predecessor, even without that extra 10 hp or special lightweight body. Car and Driver took the U.S.-spec car to Virginia International Raceway and set a lap time nearly two seconds faster than the old Type R Limited Edition. And if you ask us, it looks a lot better, too.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.