Top Gear: Honda head: “I’d love a new NSX Type R”

Chief engineering Hisayuki Yaki tells TG he wants a hotter version of Honda’s upcoming sports car

by Vijay Pattni of www.topgear.com

“We had a Type R with the first generation, so yes, personally, I’d love to see a new NSX Type R.”

That, internet, is about as much as we know about the possibility of a harder, more extreme version of the upcoming Honda NSX appearing on our horizon.

Speaking at the Paris Motor Show, Hisayuki Yagi, chief engineer at the Japanese carmaker, confirmed that he wanted a hotter version of the V6 hybrid sports car follow the launch of the NSX, which hopefully arrives next year. “I’m a big fan of all the Type Rs,” he told TG.com. “The Civic, Integra, Accord, all of them, so I would very much welcome an NSX Type R.”

In the meantime, we’ve got the new Civic Type R (above) to tussle with. A car packing at least 276bhp – some have suggested more – through its no doubt petrified front wheels.

“If you stay within your capable limits, then probably the output [276bhp] is too much for a FWD car,” Yagi-san told us. “But to go beyond your limits, that involves new technology and innovation. With our skills, we can definitely cope with this high output.”

It’s some output, vastly eclipsing the last Type R’s 2.0-litre engine. And this time, for the first time in a Honda hot hatch, we get a turbo. “We were limited in engine size,” Yagi-san said, “so in order to achieve our set targets for performance, a turbo was the most suitable technology.

“But it’s just a tool. If we were in a different era, it would have been a different technology,” he said. “We’ve also put a lot of weight-reducing technology in the Type R. It’s very usual at Honda were we set performance targets that seem unreachable.”

The Civic Type R will be knocking on the door of Golf R power – a car that employs 4WD to devastating effect. Did Honda, TG asks Yagi-san, ever consider the same solution? “During the planning and concept phase, we considered a four-wheel-drive system and automatic gearbox, but we settled on FWD, and that was that.”

So how, to not put too fine a point on it, is this Civic supposed to deal with so much brute force through two driven wheels? “We have a control mechanism using an adaptive damper on all four struts, in order to control body movement,” says Yagi-san. “It distributes the drive force on the wheels, managing the centre of gravity over any given driving situation.”

A driving situation like, say, the Nurburgring? Yagi-san smiles. He knows what we mean. The Seat Leon and Renault Megane have laid down the gauntlet. “The Nurburgring is just a measure, a tool to confirm and validate how quick you are.”

And how quick is this new Civic Type R. Under eight minutes quick? Again, another smile from Yagi-san. “We are targeting a value around the Nurburgring that exceeds customer expectation…”

Game on, we’d say.

Source;
http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/new-honda-civic-type-r-nsx-paris-2014-30-1