Check Out How Honda’s Factory Builds The Civic Type R
HondaPro Jason made a video of his Civic Type R being built from start to finish.
If getting a new Type R isn’t enough, getting to seeing Honda build it is a huge cherry on top of the cake. The factory is in Swindon, UK, and makes 75 Type R Civics a day. HondaPro Jason (AKA Jason Richmond)’s Type R is made to U.S spec as that’s where it’s going, and it’s interesting to note that only 22% of Type Rs stay in the UK. It also means the engine, that is built in Ohio, is shipped to the UK factory only to come back again inside the FK8.
Final assembly takes four hours per car, so when you consider a new Civic rolls off the line every 69 seconds it’s hard not to be impressed. Particularly when you consider the just-in-time inventory management system Honda uses. As a result, Swindon keeps on hand only a few hours’ worth of parts for production at a time.
Richmond also talks with Phil Haydon. Hayden is the UK Manufacturing Operations manager, and happy to answer his questions to explain the modifications made for the U.S spec Type R. Something we learn that’s particularly interesting is that the drop in horsepower is purely down to a difference in fuel. Contrary to common belief, U.S. gas is not of a lower quality. The U.S simply uses a different system to measure the octane rating. The difference is small but accounts for the 10 horsepower drop when the Type R lands in the states.
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Finally, Richmond goes out with the test driver that makes sure the cars are ready to go. It’s hard not to smile at Jason’s excitement at going on the quality control test of his own car. In fact, for the video’s wrap-up, he has trouble finding words through his excitement. It’s probably the closest we’ll ever see HondaPro Jason get to actually being speechless.
