New Nurburgring FWD record

menamestom

The upcoming Civic Type R has just broken the Nurburgring FWD record:-



That's unbelievably quick for a FWD, it's obviously something the manufacturers put a lot into so they can have the claim as the fastest FWD hatch.  Amazing also considering the 5 fastest times behind the Honda Civic:-

Nissan GTR
Porche 911 GT3 RS
Audi R8 V10
Pigani Zonda
Bugatti EB110

httrps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nürburgring_Nordschleife_lap_times

Blistering pace for a 30k car,  I wonder if this is near the limit of front wheel drive cars?

dindude

Wowsers, impressive indeed. 

Bucket

Awesome.

Bet you someone else comes and beats it before the year is out though - all the hot hatch makers are engaged in some kind of Nurburgring-based arms race, it seems. They are getting ludicrously fast though - has it beaten stuff like the RS3 and A45 AMG?

menamestom

Bucket said:

Awesome.

Bet you someone else comes and beats it before the year is out though - all the hot hatch makers are engaged in some kind of Nurburgring-based arms race, it seems. They are getting ludicrously fast though - has it beaten stuff like the RS3 and A45 AMG?

Not sure, not every car has a time set.  Thing is with 4WD high powered cars is they have blistering 0-60 times to show off, putting their fastest lap round here in lights could be counter productive.  Plus there isn't really a 4WD unnoficial competition on the go with the manufacturers I don't think.

Bucket

menamestom said:

Bucket said:

Awesome.

Bet you someone else comes and beats it before the year is out though - all the hot hatch makers are engaged in some kind of Nurburgring-based arms race, it seems. They are getting ludicrously fast though - has it beaten stuff like the RS3 and A45 AMG?

Not sure, not every car has a time set.  Thing is with 4WD high powered cars is they have blistering 0-60 times to show off, putting their fastest lap round here in lights could be counter productive.  Plus there isn't really a 4WD unnoficial competition on the go with the manufacturers I don't think.

I do agree with James May on this though - the faster a hot hatch goes around the Nurburgring, the less likely it will be a pleasant companion when sat in traffic, or bumping along the UK's shattered and weather-beaten roads.

Out of the current crop, the Golf R is the one I would have. Fast, yes - unbelievably so - but also relatively civilised.

I'm interested to see how this Type R pans out though - I'm a real sucker for a Honda.

Sporky

menamestom said:

That's unbelievably quick for a FWD, it's obviously something the manufacturers put a lot into so they can have the claim as the fastest FWD hatch. 

Indeed.

And all they had to do was strip out a load of weight, bung in a roll cage (which definitely didn't stiffen it, honest) and put special tyres on.

So you can't buy this, unlike the Leon and the Golf Clubsport S. And it looks like it ram-raided a superglue factory and then a Halfords.

menamestom

Sporky said:

menamestom said:

That's unbelievably quick for a FWD, it's obviously something the manufacturers put a lot into so they can have the claim as the fastest FWD hatch. 

Indeed.

And all they had to do was strip out a load of weight, bung in a roll cage (which definitely didn't stiffen it, honest) and put special tyres on.

So you can't buy this, unlike the Leon and the Golf Clubsport S. And it looks like it ram-raided a superglue factory and then a Halfords.

From 'Evo':-

"Though the car that set the hot lap was technically a development car, Honda claims it was 'technically representative of production specification'. A floating roll cage was installed for safety but did not provide any additional structural rigidity, Honda says, and the added weight was compensated for by removing the rear seats and infotainment system. The lap was run on track-focused, but fully road-legal tyres."

Sporky

Exactly. It's not what they're selling, so it's irrelevant.

The Clubsport S had a rollcage but no weight reduction, the Cupra was in a spec you can go and buy today.

cj73

If only Honda could shift this tech to F1

cruxiform

Cars? Pfft. Everybody knows you need a 12 year old Honda Fireblade to get around the Nordschleife quickly.

Grumpyrocker

Impressive. But it'd be hell to drive on the country roads where I live. I value my spine.

James May is right about the 'Ring.

randella

Bucket 

I do agree with James May on this though - the faster a hot hatch goes around the Nurburgring, the less likely it will be a pleasant companion when sat in traffic, or bumping along the UK's shattered and weather-beaten roads.

There's something in this. The tech from the halo models filters down to the more ordinary cars which means I'm now driving around in a family hatchback with rock-hard suspension. 

Even the French stuff has gone the same way, chasing the 'sporty' vibe by using massively hard springs and dampers. 

My spine rues the day this bullshit fashion started. Why do I care how fast a car goes round a track when I'm pottering around on urban roads that look like a relief map of the moon, on my way home to read my MOT report with yet more bloody advisories on the suspension control arms. 

Nitefly

Fake news - the steering wheel is on the wrong side.

rlw

Totally and utterly pointless waste of time.

And I like fast cars.

TTony

rlw said:

Totally and utterly pointless waste of time.

But at least it wasted the time very quickly.

menamestom

Sporky said:

Exactly. It's not what they're selling, so it's irrelevant.

The Clubsport S had a rollcage but no weight reduction, the Cupra was in a spec you can go and buy today.

It's not got any back seats to be fair, but I get your point, the Golf was a limited in production 
Model and the Honda is a pre production model. I wonder if they will go again when it is in production, or just make a limited run of the track car like VW did so they can nab the crown as fastest 'production' FWD car.  Splitting hairs at this point really though.  The Cupra is may favourite of the bunch, a Golf with no back seats would be pretty useless with 2 kids (in fact I'd just get a 2 seater RWD rather than a Golf if 2 seats was an option).

menamestom

randella said:

Bucket 

I do agree with James May on this though - the faster a hot hatch goes around the Nurburgring, the less likely it will be a pleasant companion when sat in traffic, or bumping along the UK's shattered and weather-beaten roads.

My spine rues the day this bullshit fashion started. Why do I care how fast a car goes round a track when I'm pottering around on urban roads that look like a relief map of the moon, on my way home to read my MOT report with yet more bloody advisories on the suspension control arms. 

To be fair the testing they do at this circuit probably helps develop the adaptive suspension on these cars.  Cheaper hatches like the Fiesta ST just have passive stiff suspension but some of the more advanced systems have harder modes specifically for the track and comfort setting for everyday driving.  Nurburgring is especially challenging due to how bumpy it is and camber changes so the goal of faster times pushes the development.  

But in all honesty there are plenty of cars with soft easy rides built for comfort.  Nobody needs to buy a car with stiff suspension if they don't want to.  Just test drive cars before you buy them and ignore things that don't interest you.

menamestom

cruxiform said:

Cars? Pfft. Everybody knows you need a 12 year old Honda Fireblade to get around the Nordschleife quickly.

Is that you?  Nice.  My dad has been round there many times in a Fireblade ;-)

Emp_Fab

Sorry to go all devil's advocaat on the thread, but... what's the point ?  Inventing all these hyper-fast rockets for what ?  What's the market for these cars ?  Public roads obviously - where there are speed limits everywhere, where we are continually told that speed kills etc.

I wonder how many admirers of these things are also happy to get on their high horse when it comes to speeders ?

Steffo

It's still a Honda Civic to me, albeit a fast one. It may appeal to boy racers but to anybody really into cars it's not very attractive.
Want to go fast on the track? Get a proper track car.
Driving on the road without breaking your spine? Get a car with some decent suspensions.

Sporky

menamestom said:

I get your point

That's a relief, 'cos I was massively overstating it!