10th Generation Civic To Be Designed By Honda America

Just my 2 cents but I dislike the euro type R as well. It reminds me of a daewoo or something. If someone wanted to trade me straight across for my si, I wouldn't even consider.
 
The most obvious contender for SEAT's new lap record is Honda. In September 2012, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito announced the second coming of the Civic Type-R which was subsequently unveiled in Geneva last week – the same day the SEAT Cupra's new 'ring record was announced.

It must have been a mixed day for him, as 18 months previously, he had specifically targeted the Nurburgring lap record in his announcement speech with the words: “With the application of technologies which will be cultivated through participation in WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) starting this year, the all-new Civic Type-R is being developed with the goal of becoming the fastest front-wheel drive vehicle on the Nurburgring race course."

Since then the car has been seen testing on Nurburgring, and has spent a lot of time in the workshops of Honda's "go to" performance tuners, Mugen, getting every last horsepower from the vehicle.

On the day of Honda's Civic Type R announcement, no doubt aware that SEAT had carved a further ten seconds off Renault's lap record, the new Honda's weight remained undisclosed, while the output of the Type R's turbocharged 16 valve VTEC two liter engine was only mentioned as "more than 280 PS", presumably meaning Honda was intending to find a way to extract even more performance than the originally targeted 280 PS (206 kW) before the car hits showrooms 12 months from now.

SEAT set the Nurburgring lap record several weeks before the Geneva Motor Show and did not do the traditional immediate announcement, though videos circulated on YouTube showing the record had been set, and a number of automotive journalists ran articles wondering if the videos were accurate or internet hoaxes. SEAT obviously wanted to make the announcement in the presence of the world's automotive media, and hence the official announcement was delayed until the Geneva Show.
 
Well all I can tell you this Leon kicks! The "normal" version is out a year or so and the cupra looks terrific. I wonder wheather Honda is going to beat its laptime. I personally think it doesn't even matter who comes 1 or 10 seconds quicker on the Nordschleife circuit. It's like 24Kms so 1, 10 or 20 seconds really shouldn't matter for people who are going to buy these things. I would buy the Honda even if it was 1 minute slower than the Leon :)

...because Honda in Europe means sport and fast and cool. As the Honda slogan says: Power of dreams! And Seat has the reputation of a cheap Scion (especially in the last 5 years) :\
 
Honda has since developed a dual clutch transmission with a torque converter, but it's going in the 4 cylinder Accord. I really hope a 250ish horse power turbo Si with a dual clutch option happens in 2017/8. If not, I'm taking a long break from Honda. The 2014 MY has given me some hope, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
 
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We aren't getting the S660 either..... Nissan IDX may not happen either. Oh well. Time to keep wasting money on my civic.
 
The IDx was/is a pipe dream. That appeals to such a small audience in the grand scheme of things that it wouldn't even be affordable to that small group anyway.

But that is coming from someone who would have never believed that Honda would do a mid-cycle refresh on a brand new body style one year after its initial release and I was totally wrong. The FR-S/BRZ have seen some real success in the American market despite being severely underpowered. So, I suppose the IDx could actually happen. The auto industry has amazed me in the last few years. They're really pulling out all the stops. Well, everyone but Honda anyway.
 
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