On April 21, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix was held at the Shanghai International Circuit as scheduled. After five years, the event that marks the highest technological achievement of the human automobile manufacturing industry has returned to China, which has made countless netizens and performance car players excited. However, in addition to the excitement, many players also have some regrets, because the generation influenced by JDM culture still can't see the once dominant Honda red-headed engine in F1.
Born in the end of the micro, but wrote the most glorious legend
Speaking of red-headed engines, we have to mention Honda's history in F1. In the early 60s, when the sky-high sports cars in Europe made many fans scream on the track, Honda was just a "layman" to build cars. However, spurred on by the success of the professional motorcycle championship, Honda took Soichiro's teaching that "the spirit of challenge is innate" and stepped into the F1 lap.
In the 60s, Honda was only a well-known offspring in F1 circles, and the only thing worth praising was that it was one of the few teams that could produce its own engine and chassis, but it could be compared with Mercedes-Benz and other big manufacturers in the manufacturing industry. However, after an almost frenzied process of development, testing and racing, in 1988, Honda's McLaren-Honda team, a partnership with the McLaren brand, swept the race, winning 15 championships in 16 races, creating a record that cannot be broken to this day with a 93.8% win rate. Since then, no one in F1 has dared to underestimate this originally inconspicuous manufacturer.
In the nearly 10 years since, Honda has worked with the team to win the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships for five consecutive years. With the VETC engine, it won the championship and the manufacturer's championship again, and so far, Honda's engine has become famous in one fell swoop and has become an undefeated myth in the field.
The following gram is on the myth of the civilian car
After receiving the recognition of the world championship and the audience, Honda seems to be not satisfied, and it hopes to give the power to pursue extreme performance to every ordinary person equally. As a result, Honda transferred VETC technology to the Civic, which was later known as the "civilian god car", and in 1997, the Civic Type R, a mass-produced family car equipped with a red-head engine (VETC technology), was launched. With a price far lower than that of traditional performance cars, and a driving experience far exceeding that of mass-produced family cars, it quickly exploded among car players. At a time when turbos were not yet commonplace, Honda made everyone feel the charm of a naturally aspirated engine, which also made everyone raise their arms and shout "VETC is the best", and it was in the limelight for a while.
In 2017, the Civic TYPE R set a new front-wheel drive lap record at the Nürburgring with a time of 7:43.8, beating GTI and Focus RS in one fell swoop, and was called "the fastest front-wheel drive car" by netizens.
Lowering the bar and raising the ceiling, this is how Honda brought the track to everyone's heart. That's why you can understand why people say: once you enter Honda, Honda for life.
You must have the spirit of nobility, but you can't have the value of nobility
Not afraid of the supercar 911, even afraid of the Civic with a red label, TYPE R has become a culture and belief, and has become a "luxury" that people with the core of JDM spirit must enter in their lives.
At the end of 2022, the all-new generation Civic Type R appeared in front of the public as a more accessible production car. This is likely to be the last generation of the petrol Civic Type R, and it lives up to expectations to continue the glorious story on the track: the 2023 CTCC Super Bowl · At the TCR China Series, international superstar Wu Yanzu represented Dongfeng Honda and won the Drivers' Cup, Model Cup and Constructors' Cup. This move has allowed more new car fans to join the ranks of motorsports, and more dreams of ordinary people are sprouting.
WHAT IS THE STRENGTH OF THE CIVIC TYPE R? MANY PEOPLE WILL ANSWER THAT IT IS A RED-HEAD ENGINE WITH VETC TECHNOLOGY. Although power is indeed the basis of the explosive power of the Civic Type R, it is by no means the core, and the handling is the second killer feature of the Civic Type R.
If you want to ask what it feels like to control the Civic Type R, some people will say that it is the smoothness and following feeling of stepping on the accelerator and changing gears, some people will say that it is the precision of the steering wheel, and some people will say that it is the sense of safety of the chassis when cornering or the sense of power when braking. But no matter which one it is, it is an exclusive experience brought by the excellent tuning of the Civic TYPE R.
The ultimate experience comes from exclusive technology, and the latest generation of the TYPE R can be said to be the ultimate in this area:
The first is the heat dissipation design: the TYPE R is equipped with an air duct above the hood, which vertically links the water tank and the intercooling radiator, and the shorter cooling path ensures that no matter how you drag race or run the mountain, you will not break down.
The second is the cockpit design: the cockpit of the Civic TYPE R is to take into account the comfort of the family car, and at the same time, it fills the cultural atmosphere of the track: although the main and co-pilot seats adopt sports seats with a low center of gravity and low sitting position, because the center console follows the straight design style, the view of the entire front windshield is more open, and the blind space around the A-pillar and the rearview mirror is minimized.
The third is the humanistic care exclusive to TYPE R: when the market is domesticated by the intelligence of autonomous driving and super large screens, TYPE R does the opposite, and it carries out "intelligence" around the behavior state of driving itself. Whether it's the Honda-inspired track seats and gear knobs, or the track-specific LogR system. Every setting clearly tells you: "You just need to focus on driving, and the TYPE R will take care of the rest".
It is worth mentioning that the logR system allows the driver to observe and record the vehicle trajectory and various parameters while driving, and can upload these data to the mobile APP, which is convenient for the driver to view anytime and anywhere. You can even share it with TYPE R riders and have an online showdown with them.
Rome wasn't built in a day, and TYPE R wasn't a god in a day. It all comes from its focused, pure, and challenging spirit. And this kind of car with "aristocratic spirit" but no "aristocratic value" is exactly what the current car group needs.
summary
The integration of various intelligent configurations makes it difficult to distinguish whether they are driving the car or being controlled by the car machine, and the driving enthusiasm may also decay with the battery. But retrogrades, such as the TYPE R, are still insisting on "performance parity" and providing the purest joy to everyone who pursues speed and control.
It's hard to insist, but it's also cool to insist, break the cognitive trend that parameters are king, choose and insist on the fun of control, this is the best answer TYPE R has for dreamers.