Honda has big plans for the new Civic Type R’s racing career. After unveiling the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge-bound Type R TCR, the Japanese company revealed an even lower and wider model called Type R-GT that will compete in Japan’s Super GT series.
Shown publicly for the first time at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon, the Type R-GT is billed as a concept that accurately previews the car being developed to hit the track in 2024. Honda doesn’t have much to say about the design study, but the photo largely speaks for itself: The hatchback gains a full body kit that includes a new front bumper with winglets and massive air intakes, flared wheel arches, redesigned side skirts, and a massive rear wing. While we haven’t seen photos of the back end yet, we can tell that Honda added a huge diffuser.
All told, the aerodynamic modifications are even more extreme than the ones performed on the Type R TCR. Technical details haven’t been released, but we know that the Type R-GT will race in the GT500 category, and regulations dictate that teams must use a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine fitted with a single turbocharger and linked to a six-speed sequential transmission. Most of the cars that race in this category make around 650 horsepower; in comparison, the street-legal Civic Type R‘s turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder is rated at 315 horsepower.
Honda will release additional details about the Civic Type R-GT in the coming months, and the model is scheduled to start racing during the 2024 season. One of the cars it will race against is the Nissan Z GT500, which replaces the GT-R as the company’s entry into the series.
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Source: www.autoblog.com