Honda says its latest Civic Type R has set a new lap record for front-wheel-drive production vehicles at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

On 3 April 2017, the Japanese automaker says a "development car" lapped the famous circuit in 7 minutes 43,8 seconds. Last year, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S (first 7 minutes 49,21 seconds, then 7 minutes 47,19 seconds on a second attempt) bettered the previous Civic Type R's time, and now the Honda has grabbed it back. Well, sort of.

You see, Honda says the lap time was achieved during the final phase of the model's testing regime, on a dry track with an optimum ambient temperature for the best tyre and powertrain performance. But was it really a production-spec car that completed the lap?

Well, Honda says the development car in question was "technically representative of production specification", although it was fitted with a "full floating roll cage" for safety reasons (but its presence apparently did not provide any additional rigidity).

"The extra weight of the cage was compensated for by the temporary removal of the infotainment system and rear seats. The car was using road legal track-focused tyres," Honda added.

The updated 2,0-litre turbocharged VTEC engine produces 235 kW and 400 N.m, with new lower gear ratios in the six-speed manual transmission further improving the car's acceleration.

The Civic Type R is also lighter than the previous model, with a claimed torsional stiffness improvement of 38%. Honda says the updated multi-link rear suspension system "enhances stability under braking and reduces the total roll movement of the car, enabling later braking into corners and helping to achieve higher cornering speeds during the lap".

"The cornering speed achieved in the new Type R is higher because the car features a wider track and tyres, a longer wheelbase, new multi-link suspension in the rear and optimised aerodynamics that improves stability," said Ryuichi Kijima, the lead chassis engineer on the project.

"For example, drivers typically enter the corner after Metzgesfeld at around 150 km/h. Even at this medium-speed corner, the speed is around 10 km/h higher due to the new Type R’s excellent stability. So, with improved cornering performance, we can increase the speed throughout the lap, helping the new Type R to achieve a much quicker lap time."

Watch the lap below...

Original article from Car