In the car world, everyone has a preference for something, and that can lead to extreme situations where some end up discrediting everything different from what they like. As they say, if you do not like it, you are not in the target-customer range for it. One of the longer-standing arguments in the U.S. is the eternal fight between imports and domestics, as it is called.
We are referring to the quintessential American muscle car that ends up racing modified imports. In the latter case, we have a tuner favorite, the Honda Civic, which is boosted up to a claimed 550 horsepower. Not too shabby for an inline-four-cylinder motor, right?
Well, its opponent comes with a blown V8 motor that should provide a value that is north of 500 horsepower. How far north is the question, but we will leave the distance between the vehicles at the end of the race to tell us all about it. Its owner describes the 1969 Camaro Z/28 with a supercharged LS3 as being his “Sunday cruiser.”
Meanwhile, the FK8 Civic Type R has a stock motor, but 32 pounds (2.2 bar) of boost going through it. The result is an incredibly powerful front-wheel drive car with a manual gearbox, which means that the clutch is holding on for dear life.
The American muscle car has the advantage of displacement, with 6.2 liters on its side, as well as a supercharger on the LS3, nonetheless. Its rear-wheel drive configuration should also be advantageous in a drag race, especially when facing a front-wheel-drive model.
Honda's Civic Type R does come with more power in this form, as it benefits from a claimed 550 horsepower, which is higher than the estimated 500 horsepower of the Camaro Z/28. It will be tricky to put all that power to use, though.
The Camaro might have more ponies on its side, or fewer, but its owner claims 500 horsepower, so we will have to go with that value until it hits a dyno in its current configuration.
The V8 in the Camaro is “borrowed” from a CTS-V, but it comes with a different supercharger, and custom headers, which means it is far beyond the mentioned 500 to 550 horsepower.
The Japanese model also has a weight advantage, since it is 300 lbs. (ca. 136 kg) lighter than the Camaro, and its six-speed close-ratio gearbox might provide an edge when facing the four-speed automatic that serves the 1969 Chevy Camaro featured in this Hoonigan video. Will it be enough?
Yes, you guessed it, this import versus domestic battle is going to be exciting. The folks over at Hoonigan describe it as a Honda versus haters feud, but we would like to see it as another friendly race between car enthusiasts, which is how we see it instead of a silly internet feud.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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