Honda Teases Civic Type R Limited Edition Lapping Suzuka, But Why?

We first saw the Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition back in February, with Honda promising the most track-ready version of its famed hot hatchback yet. Just days later, COVID-19 struck the world and we've haven't heard much about the Limited since. Today, Honda released a cryptic teaser that has us coming up with all kinds of possible conclusions.

The fifteen-second video shows the Type R Limited gearing up to set a fast lap around a track. Pause the clip nine seconds in and you'll notice the sign for Suzuka Circuit – the Formula One track that Honda itself built decades ago. In the last few seconds, we see a stopwatch come into frame, obviously indicating that the company was timing the car. And then boom, fade to black.

From this teaser we can only speculate, but with some degree of certainty. During our interview at the car's unveiling, the chief engineer mentioned that Honda wasn't eyeballing any track records ... but if it were, then this would be the car to do it in (hmmm). We also know that during a pandemic, you can't move an engineering team around the world to other tracks – like the Nurburgring, for example – so it makes sense that Honda chose to run the car around the most famous track in its home country of Japan. Does the video's "#TypeRChallenge" title indicate that this is the first of many record attempts for the Limited? Maybe.

As a reminder, the Civic Type R Limited is a limited-edition lightweight model that is basically designed to reclaim front-wheel-drive records from the Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R (even if Honda won't admit that). The 600 units will be 46 pounds lighter than the standard Type R and swap Continental rubber in favor of much stickier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. The dampers are more aggressively tuned and Honda recalibrated the steering for better driver feedback.

From what we know, the Limited should be an absolute monster around just about any track, and today's teaser was hopefully the first official proclamation of that. Honda hasn't specified pricing yet for the U.S.-spec Type R Limited, so we can also surmise that whatever lap record announcements follow are designed to re-ignite enthusiast passion. Barring any further delays from the pandemic, Honda should be sharing much more on its new track star soon.