Honda reveals the Civic Type R-GT for GT500 duties, first 4-door sedan to race in the class
Dinesh · Jul 25, 2023 07:27 PM
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The time for the all-new Honda Civic Type-R FL5 to take on the big boys has come and from the initial looks of things, it appears more than ready for the challenge as Honda unveiled the Super GT racecar based on it for the top-tier GT500 class.
Honda unveiled the Civic Type R-GT prototype at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January 2023, teasing us of the machine to come.
Dubbed the Civic Type R-GT, it’ll replace the current NSX-GT beginning from the 2024 Super GT season. That’s some big tyres to fill given that the NSX-GT won the championship for the last time back in 2020.
Furthermore, the Civic Type R-GT will also mark the first time that a 4-door car has been used in the top-tier GT500 class.
Current Super GT rules require manufacturers to run a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, something the production Civic Type-R already runs. For GT500 duty, expect the output to be in the 550 – 650 PS region and for that to be running the rear wheels, in accordance with the series regulations. That’s about twice the road-going car’s power.
The concept at Tokyo Auto Salon gives us a better look at the body.
Together with the extensive weight reduction, aero and technical upgrades, it’ll more than prepared for Super GT demands that will see it go up against the likes of the Toyota Supra and Nissan Z GT500.
Like all GT500 machines, the visual differences of the Civic Type R-GT are night and day over the road car, with aero development encompassing a large portion of the car’s performance.
We're glad the massive rear wing was carried over.
“From the 2024 season, we will participate in the Super GT GT500 class, one of the highest categories in Japan, with our constant desire for victory, we will aim to win the championship from the first year, so please keep your expectations high for the permeance the Civic Type R-GT will demonstrate in the coming years,” said Honda Racing Corporation President Yasuharu Watanabe.
The car will hit the track for the first time as you read this, with official testing currently running at the Okayama International Circuit in Japan. It’s expected that Naoki Yamamoto and Tomoki Nojiri will be putting the car through its paces.
“Better late than never.” Some despise it, others begrudgingly agree with it but he swears by it… much to the chagrin of everyone around him. That unfortunately stems from all of his project cars not running most of the time, which in turn is testament to his questionable decision-making skills in life. A culmination of many wrongs fortunately making a right; much like his project cars on the rare occasions they run, he’s still trying to figure out if another project car is the way to go.
