2021 Honda Civic Type R Returning To The Nurburgring

Believe it or not, it's been almost three years since theHonda Civic Type Rset aFWD Nurburgring lap record of 7:43.8. Last May, this time was beaten by the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R, which conquered the Green Hell in 7:40.1. A 3.7-second difference is substantial, but the question is whether Honda intends to fix this. The answer is kind of. CNET spoke to Honda's technical consultant, Ko Yamamoto, about this topic and his answer was actually kind of interesting.

"We will return to the Nurburgring and we will do a timed lap, but not with the purpose to break the record." It's certainly possible the newly updated 2020 Honda Civic Type R could beat its French rival, but Honda's main objective is to "verify and confirm the improvement level of all those technical measures in a lap time."

Honda also revealed the2021 Civic Type R Limited Edition, of which just 600 units will be made. Although output remains the same at 308 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, some 70 pounds of weight has been shed. Combined with stickier tires and recalibrated steering, there's an excellent chance the Type R Limited Edition will beat the standard model's 'Ring time. Will it be by more than 3.7 seconds? We'll just have to wait and see, but Yamamoto is hopeful.

And if it does succeed, Honda won't be shy about letting the motoring world know. "If that time happens to be the quickest, then of course, we won't be silent," Yamamoto said with a smile.