Honda explains rationale behind Civic GT500 decision

In a radical departure from the current NSX-GT, which has served in one form or another as Honda’s GT500 base model since 2014, the Sakura marque has chosen to use the four-door Civic as the existing car’s successor, showing off the new Civic Type R-GT Concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday.

The move follows production of the road-going NSX ending last year with a limited run of Type S models, with the NSX-GT being updated to reflect this.

By switching to the Civic, Honda is hoping to promote the Type R moniker that has historically been used across its range of road cars.

HRC President Koji Watanabe said that the decision to use the Civic in particular is a throwback to the days when the car was used by Honda in touring car racing in the late 1980s and 1990s.

"It's still early days, but I'm excited to show off the Type R brand to the world,” Watanabe told Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition after the car’s unveiling. 

“If you look at the past, the Civic has raced in categories like JTCC and Group A. In other words, a mass-produced car like the Civic was at the heart of our racing activities. By using this Civic in SUPER GT, it would be great if we could promote it in this way again. 

“We also wanted to showcase the Type R brand's driving performance to the world. To achieve this, we decided to use Civic as the base.”

 

Honda has acquired a reputation for producing GT500 cars with a high amount of downforce with the success of the NSX-GT, which won the title in 2018 and 2020.

Watanabe dismissed concerns that such a radical change in body shape for 2024 could have an impact on the marque’s performance.

“I think at this point, the [downforce] level is not too different from the NSX-GT,” he said. “We are at a point where there are not many major negative factors."