The 2017 Honda Civic Type R has made massive waves in the hot hatch segment since its launch midyear. The Type R blazes its own trail with a different map that Ford and Subaru use for their Focus RS and WRX STI. The Honda lacks a fancy AWD system, drift mode, or some expensive Recaro or Sparco branded seats. Rather, Honda focused on reducing mass and aerodynamics. The aero work is clearly seen when looking at the car, but there’s more to the story than just tall spoilers and big intakes.

Rob Keough with Honda Civic Product Planning goes into deep detail on all the Type R’s aerodynamic surfaces and cooling ductwork in this five-minute video from Honda. Keough goes through the visual tour of the car’s thermal package first, showing the three separate intakes for the intercooler, radiator, and engine air intake. The hood-mounted scoop then channels air down and out of the engine bay. This not only helps relieve air pressure, but also reduces lift on the front wheels. A hidden air duct below the fog lights help cool the front brakes.

Around back, the wing is positioned high enough to not block rear visibility yet is thin enough to not cause any undue drag. Its angle and shape are positioned to create downforce at higher speeds, aided by vortex generators along the rear of the roof. Honda says the Type R has a drag coefficient of 0.26, which is incredibly low. By comparison, the Bugatti Chiron has a drag coefficient of .35 in its Top Speed mode. Yeah…

Of course, aerodynamics are only a part of the 2017 Civic Type R’s story. We’ll have more Type R content this week as we’ve got one in the driveway. Feel free to ask questions in the comments and we’ll answer them.

References

Honda Civic

Read our full review on the 2017 Honda Civic Type R.

Read our full driven review on the 2017 Honda Civic Type R

Read more Honda news.