2023 Honda Civic Type R Takes Front-Drive Crown at the ‘Ring

• The 2023 Honda Civic Type R has set the record for the fastest front-wheel-drive production car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
• Honda says the new Type R circled the 12.94-mile course in 7:44.881, beating the 2019 Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R’s time of 7:45.399.
• The record-setting CTR wore a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 track tires, which are offered as a $1780 dealer-installed option.

The new Honda Civic Type R is a front-wheel-drive beast. We’ve known this for awhile now, and today the rest of the world is reminded of its greatness as Honda announces it’s the fastest front-drive production car to lap the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife.

The 315-hp hatchback circled the 12.94-mile track in 7:44.881. That time beats the previous FWD record of 7:45.399, which was set by a 2019 Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R. While the Trophy-R wore Bridgestone S007 rubber, the CTR lapped the ‘Ring wearing Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s. Those race-focused tires can be purchased by regular customers as part of a $1780 dealer-installed option. Watch the R-rated Civic set the lap record from inside the cockpit in the video below.

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2023 Honda Civic Type R Record Lap of Nürburgring Nordschleife

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People who remember a last-gen 2017 Civic Type R posting a quicker Nürburgring lap time of 7:43.80 might be scratching their heads right now. That’s because some things have changed at the Nürburgring since then, as our colleagues at Road & Track have detailed. In a nutshell, the people who operate the track have started regulating lap times, which includes new rules about where a lap starts and finishes.

Previously, the Nordschleife’s was 12.8 miles from beginning to end, but now it’s 12.94 miles. The added 0.14 mile and official timekeeping obviously means lap times set before the 2019 rule changes can’t be directly compared to those that came after.

So, no, the new CTR isn’t slower than its predecessor. We saw this firsthand during our most recent Lightning Lap, where the 2023 Civic Type R became the quickest FWD car we’ve ever lapped at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Its time of 2:58.8 was also 1.9 seconds quicker than the old Type R Limited Edition.

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Senior Editor

Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.