Honda Civic Drag Races Volkswagen Golf, Which One Would You Bet On?

And you can say this is quite a classic duel. The Civic has been around since 1972, while the Golf was introduced in 1974. These will serve any purpose, from taking your kids to school to going out to the occasional track day, depending on the version that you're driving. And although I've been born and raised in Europe, as a former Civic owner, I'm rooting for the Honda in this race. But first, let's have a look at the specs.

The Civic is using a turbocharged 1.5-liter, 4 cylinder engine, which is mated to a CVT gearbox. The Golf is packing a turbocharged 1.8-liter, also a 4-cylinder, but this time with a 6-speed automatic. Both cars have been tuned to a certain degree, and the Honda is now pushing out 300 horsepower and 240 lb-ft (325 Nm) of torque. The Volkswagen may have less grunt with just 255 horsepower, but it makes up for it with 340 lb-ft (460 Nm) of torque.

After some research, it seems that it's not difficult to achieve 300 horsepower with the Honda engine, although I was reluctant when I saw the figures at first. But you will need to upgrade the turbocharger, the cold air intake, the downpipe, the intercooler, and the ECU of the car. On the other hand, I'm sure you can push the VW engine even further, as I've seen previous generations of the 1.8-liter upgraded to 400 horsepower or more.

Between the two, the Honda is slightly heavier, by 81 lbs (36 kg). On paper, it looks like the Honda may win the race, but I'm not going to bet on that, as I'm not very enthusiastic about its CVT gearbox. For the first run, both cars will be left in their normal day-to-day driving modes. The Golf is faster off the line, but the Civic gets back in the game fast and assumes control of the race to the end.

We get to see a second similar run, which shows that the CVT isn't ideal for launching off the line, but the Civic does win once again. Both cars switch to Sport Mode for the third run, and it becomes more and more obvious that there's nothing the Golf can do to keep up. By the time that they're engaged in their fourth run, the Volkswagen can't even launch faster than its opponent, so the Honda scores another victory.

They decide on going for a rolling start, in sport mode, from 31 mph (50 kph). Once again, the German-built hatchback is outgunned, and even though they try the same format one more time, it's the Japanese hot-hatch that claims the win. Either way, if you're planning on doing fun stuff with your future Honda or VW, do yourself a favor and start with their top-of-the-line sport versions. That won't be as affordable, but it is going to be more exciting.