The Honda Civic Type R Super GT Race Car Looks Completely Nuts
Replacing the Honda NSX-GT Type S as Honda’s factory car in Super GT the Civic Type R-GT is set to debut for the new ruleset in 2024.
Super GT is one the more well-known motorsport series in Japan, but it’s still fairly obscure for anyone but the most hardcore racing fans. It’s enjoyed a long history of factory support and iconic race cars. Honda is looking to move on from the NSX-GT to a car resembling the newest Honda Civic Type R. It’s called the Civic Type R-GT.
For the uninitiated, Super GT is a Japanese racing series based around two classes of cars: the higher-tier GT500 and the slower GT300. Formerly known as JGTC, the cars that became famous, like the iconic Calsonic R34 Nissan Skyline and Castrol Tom’s Toyota Supra, are from the GT500 class, which is a silhouette class.
The cars are touring cars with full bodies, but are not truly related to their production counterpart, and they adhere to FIA Class 1 regulations. All GT500 cars are powered by front-mounted 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines powering the rear wheels, including the Civic Type R-GT. And this is the car that’s going to replace the successful NSX, which was also front-engined and rear-wheel drive.
It won’t race in 2023. Instead, it will be introduced in 2024 to coincide with a rules overhaul for the series, meaning Honda will have plenty of time to test and develop the car. It competes in a field with all of the other major Japanese automakers, with Nissan winning the 2022 season with the Z, Toyota winning 2021 with the Supra, and Honda winning 2020 with the NSX. With the NSX being an outgoing product, it makes sense to shift towards its new halo product.
Also, it’s just neat to see an insane version of a normal road car. Silhouette touring car racing was once incredible and has seen a decline since DTM lost favor in the motorsport world, becoming another FIA GT3 series. Super GT is the last series holding the torch on ultra-fast tintop racecars, and the racing is good. Maybe I’ll try it watch it more consistently in 2023.
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