The first Honda Civic Type Rs are just now arriving to their new owners. Many of those owners are likely enthusiasts who plan on tuning their brand new fun-mobiles into power hungry monsters. Luckily, they’re in for some good news in the horsepower department, as one tuner in Puerto Rico put their dyno results with the car on Facebook over the weekend.
The 306-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder found in the Civic Type R should make even the Ford Focus RS and Volkswagen Golf R nervous, despite the Civic only having its front wheels put power to the ground. But the good news is, the Type R has less overall power loss to affect its horsepower found at the wheels because of that very reason. This power loss, called drivetrain loss, is the mechanical effort it takes to move power from the crankshaft of an engine to the road. When there are more components involved, like in an all-wheel-drive system found in the Focus RS and Golf R, the drivetrain loss is generally greater.
Typically, when a dealer supplies power numbers for a vehicle, it’s the horsepower and torque made while the motor is on an engine stand. The engineered number that the motor will output at the crankshaft is what usually makes its way to brochures, and not the number which accounts for drivetrain loss. Surprisingly, when a new Type R owner took his car to the dyno, the advertised 306 HP figure was very close to the actual number. The result? A whole 295 hp–less than a 4 percent loss from the advertised numbers, was shown on the dyno.
There is a lot of debate in the numbers produced by different dynos. In fact, Dynojet (the particular brand of dyno used according to the Facebook graph) is generally speculated as one of the higher-reading dynos on the market. So before debating on the accuracy, it may be wise to wait for a few more graphs to make their way online. You can at least enjoy the car stretching its legs on the rack with the video below.
If you haven’t gotten a hold of one yet, hopefully you won’t be paying more than the $33,900 sticker price, especially since some dealers have already begun the markup game. With its sharp body lines, and boy-racer style spoiler, it’s sure to bring out the kid in you.