AWD Toyota GR Yaris vs. FWD Honda Civic Type R Is Everyone's Drag Race, JDM Smiles Proudly

That’s not to say that the adversity is non-existent; it just is not famous enough to stir up a bar fight during Superbowl day. However, if gearheads really want to pick a brawl using the JDM pretext, the two brands can suit their hot-spirited primitive needs.

Look at this head-scratching funny race over a quarter mile starring the aforementioned brands. Courtesy of Mat Watson from carwow, a Civic Type R from Honda and a Yaris GR from Toyota chase each other on the 1,320-foot-long strip.

This wouldn’t be a fair fight sanctioned by motoring associations and governing bodies, with a more powerful (but also heavier) four-door hot hatch picking up the gauntlet thrown by a lowly city car with an attitude.

The love-of-hype Type R has an engine with one turbocharger, two liters of displacement, four cylinders, and a six-speed connection (via the clutch pedal). Going up the headcount list of this powerplant’s attributes, we come across 329 PS and 420 Nm. In non-metric star-spangled-banner units, that’s 325 hp and 310 lb-ft.

Please note this drag race: it is held in the UK, so the car has more power than the American-market variant boasts. On the correct-side-installed--steering-wheel shore of the Atlantic, the Civic Type R is capped at 311 hp (315 PS), with the torque rating unchanged.

A lot of power for a pair of wheels that generally also deal with steering (not during a drag race, I know, but still). Apart from a seemingly disadvantageous placement of the drive wheels on the lifting end of a launching car, the Civic Type R is also heavier than its adversary – 1,429 kg (3,150 lbs).

The baby Toyota is low in almost every aspect – one less cylinder, two fewer doors, 1.6 liters of cubic capacity, and 1,280 kilograms (2,822 lbs). That’s a favoring minus that should get good performance out of the six-speed old-school manual gearbox and two diffs – front and rear).

Regarding power, the GR badge on this Yaris serves 261 hp (257 PS) and 360 Nm (266 lb-ft). Underpowered and underweight, but the clue in the previous paragraph should give you an idea about its up-the-sleeve ace. It’s a four-wheel drive – and that can make all the difference, especially on the damp track of this race.

And it does, fortunately (for Mat Watson, who is the owner of the Yaris), as the outnumbered Toyota puts the Honda in the rearview mirror and keeps it there for the entirety of the 440-yard sprint. Against all odds, the tiny Yaris gaps the Civic by about three car lengths, or 0.3 seconds - 13.6 versus 13.9.

Despite being 27 bhp/ton under the Type R, the GR put its main four-wheel advantage to the test and won the standing quarter round. The Honda was gaining heavily toward the end of the race, but it was too little, too late to turn the tables on its conational.

The following races – rolling start each – see the opposite: the top-end power reserve of the Type R makes all the difference in the world. That is particularly true when the racers face strong headwinds. The final test is the 100-0 mph braking (160 kph to dead stop).

The heavier Honda has a better stopping power – about a foot and a half better. Then again, the rubber choice significantly affects this kind of automotive trial, so the car’s badge alone isn’t worthy of all the glory.