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Honda Civic Type R vs. BMW M135i Drag Race Shows Rear-Drive Advantages

When it came out a few years ago, the BMW M135i was a revelation in the sense that it drove much better than the Audi RS3 and cost way less too. The Bavarian M Performance hatchback has some flaws, but it remains the only rear-wheel -drive hot-hatch in production.
Honda Civic Type R vs. BMW M135i Drag Race Shows Rear-Drive Advantages 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
You can option xDrive AWD and an 8-speed automatic gearbox, which make it sportscar-fast. But this drag race is using the basic M135i just to make it a fair comparison with the Honda Civic Type R.

The point here is to prove that rear-wheel-drive is better. Not only does it mean that the front wheels never get too busy, but when accelerating, it provides a natural traction advantage. In any case, you can't buy xDrive in Britain.

You might be tempted to say that this is unfair race, but it's not. The M135i 3-door sports hatch will set you back £32,020, making it one of the cheapest 6-cylinder turbo cars ever. Meanwhile, the Civic Type R starts at £ 30,000, to which you can add a few track goodies.

Regarding power and weight, these two cars are evenly matched. The Civic is even said to have a better manual gearbox, and yet it loses to a 1 Series launched in 2013. No wonder BMW has the reputation it does.

If we remember correctly, this kind of experiment has been performed before, with a SEAT Leon Cupra and M235i, back in 2014. The Spanish car's 280 horsepower was no match for the 3.0-liter turbo engine of the German car. But given enough time, regular hot hatchbacks will eventually offer this level of performance.

There are already clues of that happening with the Type R and the newly launched Golf GTI Clubsport S. Of course, it just wouldn't be fair if we brought the A45 gun to this knife fight.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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