Honda breaks Suzuka lap record with its 2022 Civic Type R

What do you know, Honda’s are fast. Suzuka-lap-record-breaking fast (in class, might I add).

The boys with the big H on their shirts recently put their new Honda Civic Type R through its paces.

Dressed in camouflage, the yet-to-be-revealed Type R rocketed around the full-length Suzuka circuit in 2m23.120s, resetting the track’s front-wheel-drive record by nearly a full second.

The onboard video attached with the brief media release shows the car hitting 231 km/h into turn one. It also sounds fantastic.

The turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine has an authentic race tone to it. And it will also come in manual transmission, so you know it is designed for the track.

It isn’t a complete overhaul of the current-generation Type R. The current chassis has been merely tweaked rather than entirely uprated. Instead, Honda’s engineering team has devoted time to unlocking even more performance from their engine setup.

The end result is pretty darn cool. Suzuka is an iconic track. It’s not necessarily Honda’s favourite bit of tarmac (remember GP2 engine?). Still, it is one of the world’s best circuits to show off a car’s raw speed and handling agility.

The new Type R is expected to be the last with a pure internal combustion engine. Honda isn’t too keen to play catch up in the changing automotive industry and has suggested moving to hybrid and fully electric powertrains soon.