If you’re familiar with Super GT racing, Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) certainly needs no introduction. The team, coached by Japanese Formula 1 legend Aguri Suzuki and supported by one of Japan’s largest car accessories and parts dealership chains, has a long history of involvement in Super GT racing and will typically use Honda machines in the top GT500 category.
At the Tokyo Auto Salon 2026 today, ARTA introduced a tuned model for sale to the public: this is the ARTA GT, the Honda Civic Type R FL5 inspired by the Honda Civic Type R FL5 GT500 racing machine!
The influence of the GT500 machinery is clearly visible on this ARTA GT: it gets a body kit that makes the already wide Civic Type R FL5 even wider. At the front, bumper, splashback and the hood cover is no longer used and replaced with components designed by ARTA itself.
The given shape certainly looks like it’s been taken straight from the FL5 GT500, but it’s not just cosmetic. The large air intake holes on the bumper in the front grille serve to bring in fresh air for cooling intercooler for the turbocharger, engine oil cooler and even the front brake. While spoiler under the front bumper and also canard on both sides, carbon fiber sections are really productive downward force to make the body of this car stick to the road surface at high speed.
The air hole above the wheel chamber is intended to remove the turbulent air that arises in the wheel chamber. The ‘fin’ part splashback front and also ‘wings’ below skirt the side is also made of carbon fiber and serves for maintenance downward force which keeps the ARTA GT stable at high speeds.
While in the back this ARTA GT gets a unit spreader real is also made of real carbon that is located under the bumper to allow airflow from front to rear with ‘clean’. It is also given spoiler carbon GT with the same ‘gooseneck’ type handlebars as the FL5 GT500 racing machine.
The ARTA GT is still powered by the K20C 2.0-liter four-cylinder VTEC turbo engine, but has been upgraded with a turbo kit, intercoolerexhaust, and also a computer case built together by ARTA and also HKS. To ensure that the engine oil is always at an optimal working temperature, it is also equipped with an oil cooler from HKS.
ARTA hasn’t mentioned how much final power the engine produces, but it’s certainly much higher than the standard figure of 330 hp with 420 Nm of torque coming from the factory. The engine is also still mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, but the original LSD unit has been replaced with a Cusco Type RS LSD.
This increased power is also supported by an upgraded suspension, with the ARTA GT getting a set of shock absorbers and dual-adjustable springs from KW. To ensure that all rotational force can be transferred to the road surface, the ARTA GT comes standard with Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RZ tires in size 295/35R18, wrapped around a set of alloy wheels forged ARTA’s own 18-inch multiradius.
For stopping, the original Brembo Civic Type R kit is no longer used and replaced by an AP Racing Pro 5000R brake kit that includes a 365mm ‘two-piece’ disc with six-piston calipers and semi-metallic brake pads at the front. While at the rear the original brake kit is still retained, only the brake pads have been replaced by semi-metallic brake pads and the hydraulic flow is routed through stainless metal tubes.
The cabin area of the ARTA GT is no exception to the influence of a racing car. Seating bucket the original Type R red front has been replaced with Recaro RSS ASM Limited racing seats, and the original steering wheel has also been replaced with racing steering wheels from Sparco. While the control switches on the original steering wheel have been moved to a specially made switch housing and resemble the control switches on the steering wheel of a real racing car.
“It corners so sharply that you wouldn’t believe it’s an FF (front-engine, front-wheel drive) platform, and anyone who sees it will think it’s a race car. Of course, it feels like a perfect piece of work, taken straight from the track to the road,” said Aguri Suzuki.
“There is no Civic (FL5) in the world that has been modified to this level,” says ‘The Drift King’ Keiichi Tsuchiya, who is now director of the ARTA team. “We want to show what happens when people involved in the racing world take building road cars seriously,” he added
To own this ARTA GT, you first need a standard Honda Civic Type R FL5. The car must then be taken to ARTA and the production cost will cost 3,500,000 yen (approximately RM90,000). If you want your ARTA GT to be presented in the ARTA Orange body color, you will have to pay an additional fee.
But money alone isn’t enough to own a Civic Type R converted into an ARTA GT, as this company will only produce 20 units of the special model.
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