Sneaky tactic behind Honda Civic Type R Nurburgring lap record

The Honda Civic Type R hot hatch that set a new lap record for front-wheel-drive cars around Germany's Nurburgring race track was a special lightweight version not available in all markets, the company has acknowledged.

Yesterday Japanese car-maker Honda announced the new-generation Civic Type R had posted a seven-minute, 44.881-second lap around the 20.832km layout of the Nurburgring Nordschleife, half a second faster than the previous record holder, the 2019 Renault Megane RS Trophy-R.

But in the fineprint at the bottom of Honda's European media release – and conspicuously absent in its US and Australian announcements – was a disclaimer noting the record-setting car was an upcoming, lightweight special edition exclusive to Europe.

"The lap time was set using a Type R that is a lighter version of the latest model," the Honda Europe media release says.

"This model will be available to order in European [left-hand-drive] markets only, and will be referred to as a Type R S grade."

According to website Carscoops – which spotted the anomaly – the Type R S edition deletes satellite navigation (though the 9.0-inch centre touchscreen remains), air conditioning, the cargo area cover, parking sensors, and cargo net hooks in the boot.

It also swaps in manually-adjustable mirrors – deleting power adjustment and their heating functions – and removes the auto-dimming function for the rear-view mirror, and illumination for the sun visors.

The company does not say how much lighter the Civic Type R S edition is than the standard Type R.

The last stripped-out, lightweight version of the Civic Type R – the yellow Limited Edition version of the previous-generation 'FK8' model – weighed 46kg less than the standard car in Europe.

However its weight-saving measures were more comprehensive than the new Type R S, with 8kg-lighter wheels, reduced sound deadening, the deletion of the rear wiper, boot area cover and rear air vents, and the removal of the infotainment screen and air conditioning.

Honda also says the record-setting car was also fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect track-day tyres, rather than the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber.

In Europe these tyres will be "available to order through Michelin directly" – suggesting they will not be fitted when Type R S examples roll off the production line – but in the US they will be available on the standard Type R through Honda dealers.

Compared to Australian and US versions, the Civic Type R sold in Europe – in standard and 'S' form – is more powerful, quoting 243kW and 420Nm from its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, compared to 235kW/420Nm here.

It is believed the detuned engine is due to inferior fuel quality in the US and Australia.

The previous front-wheel-drive Nurburgring record holder, the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R, also posted its lap in Record Edition trim, of which 32 were made globally with carbon-fibre wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes.

This compares to 500 examples of the 'standard' Trophy-R, which was already much lighter than a standard Megane RS, with no rear seats (despite five doors), upgraded suspension and various weight-saving measures.

But unlike the Honda Civic Type R S, the Megane RS Trophy-R Record Edition was exported beyond Europe, with one coming to Australia – compared to 12 examples of the 'regular' Trophy-R.

The Record Edition sold to the public used the same Bridgestone tyres as the record-setting car, and did not require track tyres to be purchased separately from Renault dealers, or the tyre manufacturer.

The 'FL5' Honda Civic Type R S edition's lap time of seven minutes and 44.881 seconds appears slower than the 7min 43.80sec lap time posted by the previous-generation 'FK8' Civic Type R in 2017.

However, the 2017 lap was set around the 20.6km layout of the circuit – while the new car's lap record was timed to the longer 20.832km layout of the track, which has been used for official lap timing since 2019.

The difference between the layouts is an additional section of the final straight, which 'completes' the lap – so the timer starts and ends at the same point.

The FK8 Civic Type R held the front-drive lap record until the Megane RS Trophy-R posted its time of 7min 40.1sec around the 20.6km layout, or 7min 45.389sec around the 20.832km configuration.