Introducing the 2018 Civic Type R Prototype - Finally!

PirelliPZero said:

He is Sage Marie, Honda PR man. Also races some Honda products, like at Pikes Peak.

I'm with you on the 7:40 time. The VW Clubsport S took the record by just 1.6s, but I think this new CTR will be a much bigger leap than that.

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Sage seems like a pretty reliable source. Here's his LinkedIn info.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sage-marie-377b757

ayau said:

I wouldn't put much emphasis on the Ring time. The difference between the GTI and the CTR is so small that it could be attributed to 10 degree difference in weather.

The new CTR's Ring time is more marketing than anything else. Unless the gap is more than 15 seconds, I wouldn't really look too much into it.

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True true. I know it's a marketing thing mostly - I just want to make sure Honda takes it from VW and makes it extremely challenging for VW or anybody else to to achieve, mainly because of my deep-rooted hatred of VW. haha.
It will make no difference what the time is - It's the car for me.

I'll be curious to see how the Si does...

ayau said:

I wouldn't put much emphasis on the Ring time. The difference between the GTI and the CTR is so small that it could be attributed to 10 degree difference in weather.

The new CTR's Ring time is more marketing than anything else. Unless the gap is more than 15 seconds, I wouldn't really look too much into it.

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Also, something that not many articles have mentioned is that there was a pretty significant change to the ring after the CTR made it's lap and before the GTI CS beat that time.

A portion of the track was smoothed out and some speed limits were lifted as a result: http://www.autoblog.com/2015/08/18/nurburgring-speed-limits-lifted-2016/

09CivicSiBrian said:

I caught that too... I'm hoping they sell well enough to keep feeding them to us because going the DIY TypeR build just isn't quite the same.

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I don't think this will be a car that one can simply 'clone' like the R's in the past.

I have 100% reason to believe that the chassis of this car will not simply be a 'platform chassis' with a performance engine, a tuned suspension and brake package, and some Recaro seats like the R's were in the past.

As pointed out, the areo that this car offers is on the same playing field with super cars. You can't simply replicate that with knock off parts and other bits and pieces. And we as enthusiasts are still guessing as to what this car is and we are already impressed with it.

ayau said:

I wouldn't put much emphasis on the Ring time. The difference between the GTI and the CTR is so small that it could be attributed to 10 degree difference in weather.

The new CTR's Ring time is more marketing than anything else. Unless the gap is more than 15 seconds, I wouldn't really look too much into it.

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I really couldn't care less about the ring time. That said, 15 seconds is a huge amount of time on a race track. 3 seconds is quite a time gap.

JYR said:

I don't think this will be a car that one can simply 'clone' like the R's in the past.

I have 100% reason to believe that the chassis of this car will not simply be a 'platform chassis' with a performance engine, a tuned suspension and brake package, and some Recaro seats like the R's were in the past.

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The ITR we got in the past was different from GSR's in that there was more welding at seams as I understand. Also less sound deadening material but I think otherwise rather interchangable. If someone wanted to turn their EK-hatch into a TypeR it was mostly engine and suspension changeover but I doubt anybody did the body welding that the factory TypeR received.

If I recall correctly, this will be the first Type R with a real bolt-on rear subframe (excluding NSX?). This is going to add extra weight to the car. Not sure if there will be any performance benefits. From a production standpoint, this makes the Civic platform more modular. Most likely to accommodate the next gen Accord and CRV drivetrains.

Here's a pic of the 2016 Civic sedan rear subframe.

ayau said:

If I recall correctly, this will be the first Type R with a real bolt-on rear subframe (excluding NSX?). This is going to add extra weight to the car. Not sure if there will be any performance benefits. From a production standpoint, this makes the Civic platform more modular. Most likely to accommodate the next gen Accord and CRV drivetrains.

Here's a pic of the 2016 Civic sedan rear subframe.

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OH MY GOSH! This means CRV (AWD) will be bolt-in!!!


Ok that could be a stretch perhaps but it looks like swapping 'rear ends' will be step one. You could definitely envision a rear differential that is integral with those cross members.

09CivicSiBrian said:

OH MY GOSH! This means CRV (AWD) will be bolt-in!!!


Ok that could be a stretch perhaps but it looks like swapping 'rear ends' will be step one. You could definitely envision a rear differential that is integral with those cross members.

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Just ask these guys to sell you their RWD conversion kit.

http://www.touringcartimes.com/2016/06/22/honda-could-switch-to-rear-wheel-drive-in-2017/

Overall the car looks incredible. If the 10th gen CTR is based on the 9th gen then every facet of the body is supposedly useful and adds value. Though, I'm a believer that hood scoops should be practical so hopefully the cooler is top mounted like the STi or they remove the scoop in production model; just my opinion. I know a lot of people become disappointed by FWD, but Honda designed the 9th gen CTR with a dual axis strut front suspension that apparently cut down the torque steer significantly so I don't see why this would change in 10th gen.

There was also a recent post on here with photos of the interior and many are disappointed. Yes, the prototype interior is very bland, but I really do think that Honda was more concerned about showcasing the exterior of the car than the interior. I have faith that the production interior will be leagues above the prototype.

Hood scoop will just be for engine bay cooling. For performance you'd much prefer the front mount intercooler... they aren't as prone to heat soak as the top mount intercoolers.

Hood scoop is functional and more aero need than cooling.

FMIC area is huge and adequate for intercooler cooling.

09CivicSiBrian said:

OH MY GOSH! This means CRV (AWD) will be bolt-in!!!


Ok that could be a stretch perhaps but it looks like swapping 'rear ends' will be step one. You could definitely envision a rear differential that is integral with those cross members.

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Doubt it. There will probably be enough differences in the components to prevent a straight swap from being possible without significant modification.

Just like with the K24W1 manifold/tb swap that I just finished, flange pattern was just different enough(~5mm difference in spacing) to require pressing out the bolt stays in order fit it onto the head studs.

Personally, I think swapping major components on the gen x is not going to be as easy as a lot of people think. Hopefully I'm wrong though. I wouldn't mind an AWD swap.

Lets worry about getting the actual car on soil before we talk about swapping sub frames.

JYR said:

Lets worry about getting the actual car on soil before we talk about swapping sub frames.

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Pssh... I'm not gonna let a little thing like that stop me.

DarkLight said:

Pssh... I'm not gonna let a little thing like that stop me.

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Haha yup. If it's the same between hatch, sedan, and coupe, then they should be of somewhat the same architecture so maybe not a 100% direct swap, but maybe close enough that custom links or something like that are all that are needed to make the transition. It would be great if the body didn't have to be cut/penetrated.

If we could get some more shots of the underside of the Rallycross Civic it would help-