Over the past two decades, Hondas have garnered a sort of bad reputation in some circles. Most of the time, those circles are made up of people who have never experienced VTEC for themselves before. After all, every group of people will have a few bad apples. But you can't label all of them one way or another judging by that small percentage. You could say that Hoonigan's trying to improve people's perception of Hondas with their new format.
For the past few weeks, we've seen three different battles between some fast Hondas and various other cars. At first, a 1,085 hp Civic took on an Audi TT RS. Then, a 650 hp EG went up against a Mclaren. And just last week, a Type R raced against a Z/28 Camaro.
Of course, you can't boil everything down to race at the drag strip. But this series is aimed at showing that Hondas are not all slow, loud, and obnoxious ricercars. And even old FWD models can still pack a serious punch while delivering a thrilling driving experience.
On this week's episode of Hondas versus Haters, we're looking at a 1988 CRX that's about to race a 2001 Nissan Skyline R34. And no, this isn't an AWD GT-R. It's just a GT-T model, which is slightly more common and cheaper to get.
Just by looking at the stats, you could predict the outcome of it all. The Skyline has got a bigger engine and subsequently speaking more power too. The RB25DET pushes out about 300 hp, sending it to the rear wheels via a 5-speed gearbox. But we all know Skylines are quite heavy, even in non-GT-R form. This one weighs 3,110 lbs (1,410 kg), which is about 1,260 lbs (571 kg) more than the CRX but still 300 lbs (136 kg) less than a GT-R.
The Honda is running an all-motor setup, and the B20 unit is capable of a maximum output of 250 hp. At this level, using FWD is not that big of a disadvantage. But let's just watch and see what happens. As we've seen before, this isn't a quarter-mile (402 meters) challenge.
Instead, the finish line is set at 1,000 ft (304 meters). The CRX driver is a little too eager with the throttle, and he wins the first run after jumping the start. The two competitors negotiate terms for the second run, and the R34 now has a serious advantage even before the start of the race.
But that doesn't make any difference at all. Scrappy looking as it may be, the little CRX is quite fast in a straight line, and it wins again. Even so, we get to see the third run of the day. And this time, they will be going all out as soon as they hit 30 mph (48 kph).
It's slightly more balanced, but the RWD GT-T just can't keep up with the old-school hot hatchback. With that being said, it would be interesting to see how things would go if the format was switched to Time Attack instead.
The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S. Full profile
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