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Right now, the entire Honda world is focused on the new 2023 Civic Type R. However, that car exists because of dedicated Honda owners who have spent decades building insanely fast Civics like the 1994 hatchback featured in this Hoonigan video. Who would have guessed when this car was new that it would one day be a 1,085-horsepower, eight-second drag-racing monster?
With the RS badge, the Audi TT RS it’s racing against has some performance pedigree. This is a 2018 model with a boosted 2.5-liter inline-five that produces around 400 hp in stock trim. It’s far from stock, however, with upgraded internals and other tweaks to produce 900 hp, according to the video. With that much power in the small TT going to all four wheels, it will be tough for even a 1,000-hp front-wheel-drive Civic to beat on an unprepped surface.
Here’s the thing. The Civic also has all-wheel drive. Wait, what?
This Honda appears to be a Frankenstein’s monster. The engine block’s bottom end is from a Honda Accord. An RSX is used to power the high-flow head. The transmission is from a CR-V, and the powertrain is from a fourth-generation Civic AWD waggon. And it’s a full-fledged race car, so maybe this is a good matchup after all.
In fact, it’s a fantastic matchup. We’ve seen a lot of This vs. That races in the past, many of which were blowouts. The first race is a dead heat this time. After a fast start, the Audi extends its lead, but the Civic recovers and charges hard to close the gap. Despite examining the video frame by frame, the race is declared a tie.
Clearly, the Honda has the advantage in terms of power, so the Audi driver is given “the hit” for the second race. In short, the Audi comes in first by a narrow margin. The key word here is small, but it perfectly levels the playing field between the cars. The street-ready Audi takes the early lead, while the gutted racing Civic charges from behind. Surprisingly, the second race also ends in a tie. It’s a This vs. That first race, which means the third race is a winner-take-all affair.
Of course, that assumes there will be a clear winner rather than another tie. This time, one car clearly crosses the finish line first, but it’s still a close race. We’ll leave the suspense to the video, because it’s certainly an exciting battle leading up to the finish.
Source: Hoonigan via YouTube
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