11th Gen Civic Type-R (FL5)
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you already know there is a new Civic Type R coming. Concrete information is hard to come by, but now customers in Japan are taking delivery of their cars, I think it is safe to say that we know a few things.
MSRP will be around $40,000 USD. Some customers in Japan have posted they’re paying around 3.9M Yen which is about $40k (with destination, etc)
Delivery likely won’t happen in the USA until after Jan 1st. There have been reports of limited production numbers coming from Japan, and like the FK8, the FL5 will certainly be in short supply with extremely high demand.
The new Civic Type R is built at the Yorii Plant in Japan. The Type R's K20C1 engine continues to be built at Honda's Anna Engine Plant in Sidney, Ohio.
Power confirmed at 315hp / 310trq. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise to me since while some people were expecting 50hp, I just didn’t see that being the case. For a brand known to REDUCE power numbers for new models, a slight bump in power is no surprise. Considering the Si dropped power for the new model year, I’m not mad.
There are five available colors – Rallye Red – Championship White – Sonic Gray Pearl – Crystal Black Pearl and Boost Blue Pearl. Gone for the new generation is the Polished Metal Metallic.
With more information coming this fall upon the official US release, we will see how soon we can get our hands on one of them and get it to the track!
HRC powered RedBull Racing F1 Wins in Italy
Verstappen is inevitable. The HRC (Honda Racing Corp.) powered Redbull blasted through the field to finish on the top step of the podium at Italy’s Monza circuit. Verstappen managed to steal the lead from the Ferarri’s and never look back. Even if the race fizzled to a slow burn in the last few laps due to a broken McLaren, the Monza GP was a showcase of the RedBull might.
In the end, no other team could put out the flame that is World Champion (soon to be 2-time) Max Verstappen as he blasted to win from 7th position, a feat that seems just as easy for him to do even if he started on pole.
Honda Wins @ Laguna Seca Raceway (Alex Palou)
Alex Palou dominates the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey to win for Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex Palou closed off the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES in dominating style Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with the Honda driver leading 67 laps to win the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. The outgoing series champion started 11th but used a strong second stint work his way into the lead, then built that advantage throughout the second half of 95-lap contest, holding an impressive 30-second margin of victory at the finish.
As the 2022 Indycar season ends, Will Power finishes his charge to win the championship for the 2nd time in his career.
Acura Unveils All-New Electrified ARX-06 Race Car
Acura Motorsports today released the first official images and details for the all-new, electrified Acura ARX-06 prototype sports car, which will make its competition debut next January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The latest in a line of successful Acura endurance racing prototypes, the ARX-06 features Acura-specific bodywork and aerodynamics based around an all-new ORECA LMDh chassis which utilizes an electrified hybrid power unit featuring an equally new, bespoke twin-turbocharged 2.4 liter V6 internal combustion engine designed, developed and manufactured by Honda Performance Development [HPD] the racing arm for Acura Motorsports in North America.
The Acura AR24e power unit was developed by Honda Performance Development to bring electrification to Acura's endurance sports car racing program. The complete hybrid power unit is based around the Acura AR24e internal combustion engine (ICE), an all-new bespoke 2.4-lliter, twin-turbocharged direct injection racing V6 that was designed, developed, and manufactured by HPD.
At 2.4 liters, this is the smallest displacement ICE conceived by HPD for endurance racing, yet still meets the performance target of 500 kW as measured at the rear axle by torque meters. It features a 90-degree V-angle to reduce its center of gravity and polar moment of inertia. In addition, the combustion chamber has been designed to run on sustainable low-carbon fuel.
The hybrid power plant includes an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac. The battery, within the chassis survival cell, is built by Williams Advanced Engineering. The HPD Electrical Group completed both hardware and software development to best match the spec MGU and battery pack to the Acura ICE.