Slip and fall on the Honda Civic Type R 2023 at Sonoma Racetrack

Let us see what’s new CHEAP Honda Civic can do on the track, Honda invited us to the Sonoma Raceway for an afternoon to track the lead. To protect the precious community of auto journalists, YouTubers, bloggers and artists from the site, Honda factory drivers Ryan Eversley get it easily. While Eversley explained some basic on-track etiquette to influencers like us, heavy rain turned sections of the track into an above-ground pool.

The Sonoma Raceway, formerly Sears Point, is a playground of peaks and valleys with a drag strip in between. A 2.5-mile trail with an elevation change of 160 feet, Sonoma has been waving checkered flags for 52 years. From Dan Gurney’s 1970 IndyCar to Kasey Kahne’s NASCAR Dodge Charger, Sonoma has hosted them all and is a beacon of automotive enthusiasm among the valley’s 14,000-acre winegrowing vineyards.

The Championship White Type R we passed used standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. While these ultimate performance summer tires are great in wet weather, we’ve reduced traction compared to the tire’s enduring dry traction and are ready to creep up to our feet. acceleration.

Embrace the drama

Wet laps teach an important lesson about smooth throttle application. As you get more comfortable, you realize that driving in the rain is just a dramatic version of what works when it’s dry. Gas instead of stomping, and CTR will reward you with a quicker exit corner. Climbing up and out of Turn 2 means a lot of restraint. Getting out of that area requires serious throttle discipline in the rain to avoid losing traction when applying the Civic’s powerful 310 pound-feet of torque.

The Type R’s magic becomes more apparent as the corner exits begin to dry up. Jump right in at the entrance for a wide descent until the end of Turn 6, and experience the side of exiting the Legendary Carousel in CTR at full speed that will make you wince. On drier laps, the Type R’s limited-slip differential shined, generating more power than we thought possible. worry about oh-no, this might be too fast replaced by damn, I guess next time we’ll try faster.

Not like 200 horsepower citizen, the 315hp turbocharged 2.0-liter engine in the Type R squeaks louder when accelerating. That makes it much easier—even while wearing a helmet—to feel the moment of shifting. The gearshift lights above the gauge cluster are also a telltale sign, but this car is loud enough to not need them.

Honda has updated the shift lever base for the new CTR, and it brings sharp changes. Instead of stirring Legos with a plastic fork, the Type R thrown into the next device felt very quick. Honda’s reworked automatic rev-matching system works well on slower laps and is a useful aid when learning braking and turning points. With this off, the extra footwork needed to increase the revs on its own feels more natural, though not as consistent.

Even when the tops were flooded with rainwater, the tracks were still difficult to leave. While our time in Sonoma with CTR was brief, it won’t be our last chance to kiss the curb with one. And we expect better weather at Virginia International Speedway for this year Lightning.