Is the Civic Type R's Horsepower Underrated?

From Road & Track

The new Civic Type R just hit the market, which means the general public is finally getting its hands on Honda's hottest hatch. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take too long before the Type R was put on a dyno to verify Honda's claim of 305 crank horsepower. The results were really impressive.

Dyno Center, a shop in Puerto Rico, put two new Civic Type Rs on their dyno and measured one as making 295 wheel horsepower and the other as making 301. Additionally, the more powerful of the two Type Rs tested generated 292 lb-ft of torque.

It's important to note that internal combustion engines lose around 10 to 15 percent of their power between the flywheel and the driven wheels in a car - this is called drivetrain loss. Automakers generally quote power figures as measured at the flywheel (crank horsepower), where dynos measure horsepower at the wheels (wheel horsepower).

Considering the Type R actually makes nearly as much wheel horsepower as Honda says it makes crank horsepower, this car's power figures are likely underrated. That certainly explains why the Civic Type R is so fast at the Nurburgring.

This sounds like pretty good news for new Type R owners.

via Jalopnik

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