You’ll never guess what all the holes in the new Honda Civic Type R

The purpose of the extra holes in the new model Honda Civic Type R

Honda Civic Type R, 2017 slices the air like a sharp knife, due to its incredible aerodynamic forms. Every hole, every gap was not created just as. Even a hidden hole near the passenger seat — not just the idea of the designer, and fog.

In addition to all these aerodynamic chips, the car has 306 horsepower, four-cylinder 2.0 VTEC Turbo with direct injection, custom valve timing, 16 valves and turbocharger. The motor needs fuel, spark and air and all he gets is thanks to a special complex drive system, which I’ll discuss in this article.

Like most vehicles, the new model Type R is characterized by a wide air intake. And these large cells are built – in fog lights, you ask? Exactly, it is.

Updated grille between the headlamps ensures good airflow and cooling, but the lattice itself, how shall I say … not sure that the word “elegant” fits Civic Type R, but the air is forced through smaller and smaller holes.

The air intake on the hood

Let’s start from the top, the air intake does not take energy directly from the motor or radiator. But this is the most that neither is a real air intake in the sense that it passes through the air and into the engine compartment. As explained to me by experts Honda, it “provides a General cooling of the engine compartment” and improves the stability of the vehicle as the air is distributed inside the machine, passes through it and even under it.

Well, it’s obvious. I was expecting that I will say that this decision was the result of a meeting at which the designers wanted to make the air intake on the hood. Marketers, in turn, immediately noticed that the isolated intake will be the subject of relentless criticism, so engineers had to justify that hole in the hood. Anyway, it looks cool, and if it also helps to significantly lower the temperature in the engine compartment, you can even count on an extra lap on the track.

The intake of the engine

The air that is actually absorbed by the engine during the combustion process, passes through the opening just below the hood, right above the letter H, the emblem of vehicle Honda. Of course, this letter is red, because what could be cooler than red?

Like many modern cars, the Type R engine consumes the air coming directly from the intake system, but you will not see this system unless you open the hood. Pipe the air from this hole goes to the filter and the intake manifold, which is quite obvious. But the system itself looks really impressive.

Engine cooling

The outlet at the bottom, next to the H emblem is connected directly to the radiator. As many motorists know, the outside air that passes through the aluminum fins, it is more important to control the temperature of the engine than the air just blows into the engine block through the air intake on the hood, as in the case of this Honda model.

Of course, the radiator cools the working fluid of the engine (it is known that a liquid based on ethylene glycol with water is called “coolant” or “antifreeze”), which allow to maintain a constant temperature.

Turbocharging with intercooling

Below the radiator, there is another aluminum rectangle with a bunch of plates. If the radiator cools the fluid, it cools the air. This is called intercooling system and its main function is to make the air that enters the car cooler, therefore, more dense. Because of this, the engine becomes more powerful.

Technical characteristics of Honda gives the following explanation: the fresh air passes through the filter, a turbine, then through the system of intermediate cooling and the cooled air finally goes right into the engine.

Cooling of the brake disks

Finally, almost at the very bottom of the Civic Type R we find two small holes for cooling brake discs. Here everything is very simple: brake discs get hot, hot discs weaken, so the constant air flow required for cooling of the brake system. Can’t really say the extent to which cooling is performed, but in my experience that there are no serious problems with the brakes I had.

The stabilizer of the air in the wheel well

The intake hole on the external side purposefully direct the air in a niche of the wheel and around it. It is expected that this decision will help to optimize the stability at high speed.

The hole for the horn

I never could understand, why would you need to do is cut a hole next to one of the foglights. When I looked closely, behind that plastic grille saw the horn.

Just now Honda has a legal way to place the horn from appearing without blocking the openings for engine cooling and air. I wonder how it affected the aerodynamics of the car?

(CORRECTION: I called the model of the Civic Type R 2018 although, actually, it was a model of 2017. In 2018, most likely, nothing will change, but nevertheless, I apologize).