2017 Civic Type R Top Speed ~ entwurfqueen

2017 Civic Type R Top Speed

Nov 08, 2017 at 7:37am ET

Honda might say the turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine puts out 306 crank horsepower (228 kilowatts), but in reality it likely develops more considering a dyno'd Civic Type R had 301 hp (225 kW) at the wheels. Factoring in the 10-15% power loss on the way to the wheels, it seems the engine generates more power than advertised and now a new video reveals Honda might have underrated something else.

Our French colleagues at L'argus had the opportunity to take the Euro-spec Civic Type R and push it to its limits by attempting to hit its top speed. They actually managed to go beyond the official 170 mph (273 kph) velocity as the digital speedometer goes all the way up to 283 kph (almost 176 mph) towards the end of the attached video.

This Thing Is Fast:

That being said, the actual speed is in most cases slightly lower than what the speedo is showing and a GPS will always provide a more accurate number that's closer to reality. Even so, the Civic Type R likely has a slightly higher real top speed than the one listed in the technical specifications. Who knows, maybe there were still a few kph/mph in there somewhere waiting to be unlocked, but it's tricky to go all out when you're on a public road.

Indeed, L'argus tested the front-wheel-drive Lord of the Nürburgring on an unrestricted section of the autobahn in Germany. Since we only get to see the speedometer, it's not known whether the Civic Type R stumbled upon traffic or the driver decided to take his foot off the gas pedal because the no-limit area was about to come to an end. The fact that the low fuel warning came on (exactly when the car hit 280 kph) might have had something to do with it...

Regardless, the onboard video goes to show the performance five-door hatch from Honda is seriously fast and manages to play in the same top speed league with the five-cylinder RS3 Sportback, which according to Audi tops out at 174 mph (280 kph) when configured with the Dynamic Plus Package.

Attached below is another video, shot at the Nürburgring.