Honda Civic Type R

The Honda Civic Type R has set a blistering but unofficial lap record for a road-legal hot hatch at Mount Panorama Bathurst, posting a time of 2 minutes 35.207 in the hands of Formula 1 ace Jenson Button. The 2009 Formula 1 world champion flew into Australia on a secret mission to do the timed run on Easter Monday, while the circuit was closed following the previous day’s six-hour production car race.

On this week's podcast, you're joined by Mandy Turner, Joshua Dowling, and Mike Stevens. In car news, the Volkswagen Passat has joined the Victoria Police fleet, and the Honda Civic Type R has joined the NSW Police, but as a community vehicle. Also, according to Nissan and research conducted by Morgan Stanley, prices for EVs could match internal combustion engine cars by 2024, while Honda is wanting 25 per cent of its sales to be hybrid and electric by 2025.

Honda has announced a new range of carbon-fibre accessories and a set of forged wheels for the Civic Type R. The headlining option is a new set of forged alloy wheels designed to hark back to legendary Type R models past. They're finished in white, and measure the same 20-inches as the standard units but shave 2.1kg per corner, for an 8.4kg saving in unsprung weight. They'll also lighten your wallet to the tune of $13,999.

Another day, another Honda Civic Type R lap record. This time, the front-drive turbo tearaway has toppled its predecessor's mark around Estoril in Portugal. Having started at Magny Cours in France, the Civic caravan rolled on to Silverstone (the GP circuit) and Spa, beating records held by its predecessor in the process.