JAS Motorsport’s 2016 Honda Civic Type-R For TCR Debuts In Monza
By Paulo Acoba
Most Americans don’t even know the TCR (or Touring Car Racing Series) exists and that’s ok, but it does and drivers piloting the new Honda Civic Type-R’s are dominating. The 2016 Honda Civic Type-R Race Car prototype by JAS Motorsports was recently spied testing during its debut thanks to Youtube User 19Bozzy92 earlier this week (May 29,2015.) Currently running in the race series themselves with their car and driver on the top of the results list in points, JAS Motorsports recently took out their 2016 Honda Civic Type to debut in front of potential buyers and to take it through its paces on its home circuit. See the video below for yourself.
What makes this Honda Civic Type-R racecar radically different compared to the current Civic’s racing in the series is the Type R’s new engine. JAS Motorsports have basically kept the engine out of the regular stock Type-R that debuted in Geneva earlier this March and stuffed it in its racecar chassis. The Type R motor as it is, is already a barnstormer of an engine. From the bowels of its 2.0 liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine, the compact but powerful unit produces 306 BHP and 295 lbs-ft of torque.
Stick a roll cage and a set of super sticky tires on the stock Civic Type-R and you already have a formidable racecar. Just a couple weeks ago, the Type-R unofficially stole the FWD Nurburgring Ring record from the hands of the Renault Sport Megane R.S. 275. Check out that video below. Some critics of the record say that the addition of a roll cage made the chassis much stiffer and gave the Type-R an unfair advantage, but rumors have already been circulating that the Honda Civic Type-R has already broken their own record…again… sans roll cage.
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So what makes a TCR Racecar out of a stock Type-R? Take a stock chassis, slam it to the ground (80 mm from the ground), throw on a fully adjustable race suspension and bespoke aero and strip the interior and add a roll cage and you pretty much have a racecar ready for touring car duties.
JAS Motorsports has been with Honda since the early 90’s and they currently supply Civics to race teams competing in the more well known touring car series, the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship.) Pretty much JAS Motorsports wants to build and sell more racecars. And with their pedigree and this new engine, they should have no problem clinching some contracts soon.