As far as front-wheel-drive hatchbacks go, few are more accomplished than the Honda Civic Type R. Earlier this year, Honda upped the ante even further and introduced the Civic Type R Limited Edition which is a lighter and more track-oriented version of the hot hatch.

It proved its mettle by setting a new lap record for FWD cars at Japan's Suzuka Circuit, but nifty handling isn't the only thing that the Limited Edition does exceptionally well. It's also incredibly quick in a straight line, as evidenced by a new top speed run shared on YouTube by L'argus.

In the video, the Civic Type R Limited Edition - powered by the familiar 306-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged engine - reached a mightily impressive indicated top speed of 290 km/h (180 mph). The standard Type R is rated to reach a top speed of 169 mph, a figure that L'argus surpassed a few years ago when the team clocked the stock Type R at 176 mph.

With its 28-pound weight-saving over the regular Type R, the Limited Edition managed to squeeze out another four mph, although, after a quick start, it did need another 39 seconds to get from 200 km/h to 290 km/h. After all, this is an agile hot hatch, not an Autobahn weapon that can be compared to something like the Audi RS Q8.

The 180-mph top speed is also assuming that the speedometer's reading was spot-on, and L'argus admitted that the top speed was reached during a "big descent". Still, it proves that regardless of which iteration it comes in, the current Civic Type R is one of the fastest hatchbacks in the world. It's one of the most respected, too, as the Limited Edition was chosen as the official safety car for the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) this year.

Only 600 examples of the Civic Type R Limited Edition are slated for the US market, so these will undoubtedly become collectors' items.