`The Honda Civic Type R is once again the King of the Nurburgring, but a bit of fine print at the foot of the European press release announcing the record has pointed to the fact that the Type R that set the record is not the same as the one you can buy here in the US. Specifically, the record was set with a lightweight Type R derivative that will only be available in certain lefthand drive European markets. But even then, the car used was not completely stock, as it was using sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect track tires that are not available, even as an option, from Honda. At least Honda disclosed that detail in the worldwide releases, though.
The footnote was curiously omitted from several regional press releases, but reads as follows:
"The lap time was set using a Type R that is a lighter version of the latest model. This model will be available to order in European LHD markets only, and will be referred to as a Type R S grade."
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