honda606

Imagine the time if the horrendous exterior was actually aerodynamic.

electricmarauder

How do you know that it's not? I haven't seen anything official. I'm not a fan of its design but I'm not going to make up reasons to discredit it either.

honda606

Common sense. Those cheesy huge gaping holes on each side of the front and rear bumpers with their gaudy chaise lounge looking mesh covering are simply wind catchers (well not so much the rear obviously).

There's simply no way the car wouldn't be more aerodynamic without them.

RedCelica

But it's still so fukking ugly

JonBoy

The car makes more downforce than before and, more importantly, the downforce is better balanced. I'd say they paid plenty of attention to the aerodynamics. Remember, they're building off the base Civic, not building a car from the ground up. They can't change the general shape of the car.

JonBoy

FYI, only part of those is an actual "hole" (on the front bumper, not counting the obvious opening for the intercooler and radiator). They look like holes but they're generally not. The real "holes" are actually about 1/4 the size of the front "mesh area" on the front bumper (on the passenger side, for air intake, I believe) while there are also holes behind the front and rear fenders (for air evacuation). That's it. The rest are completely solid with a "mesh" pattern on the surface. The rear bumper has no holes in it, in the mesh areas.

S2020

add F430, C6Z06, Panamera Turbo, to the list.
(way) down on HP. FWD. 3000lbs (https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/...gt/first-drive). Moreover, this is a track that favors high HP and not a tight small track that favors handling. hard to believe but I guess Honda wouldn't lie about that lap time.

JonBoy

Stability and cornering are key to maintaining speed so the newer control systems, fancy suspension and modern tires would go a long way to PRESERVING speed (via faster cornering speeds), which can (obviously) add up to a very quick lap time.

On the flip side, when OEMs go for records, they spend days, weeks, maybe months in preparation to get the car and driver perfect AND get a day when the track is perfect as well. You know that Porsche spent just as much time trying to get the Panamara Turbo on a fast lap! The F430, on the other hand, was probably run by a hot-shoe journalist who had a day to get it right and didn't rent out the track all to himself. It's not exactly apples-to-apples.

Still, the very fact that the Type R is even in the same breath as those cars is, if nothing else, a testament to how much technology has improved in the last 10-15 years.

TommyDeVito

They did Fanboi. What model have they released here worth a damn in the performance realm? This is a good step for them, this R, but geez it looks like some teenagers designed the body.

JonBoy

NSX and Type R? NSX is "worth a damn" (0-60 in 3s, 1/4 mile in low 11s) and the Type R is the fastest FWD car on the planet (around a track), apparently.

If that isn't at least a good start, I don't know what is...