We don’t always go in-depth on specific drag racing cars or teams, but we have a fondness for unexpected speed. You’ve seen us talk about a crazy front-wheel-drive Ford Taurus SHO turning an eight-second quarter-mile, with the driver still shifting a five-speed manual transmission no less. This time around our attention turns to a Honda Civic that’s even quicker.
Say hello to Norris Prayoonto. He runs P-Racing, which fields a fleet of six Hondas that race competitively full-time. Not all of them are equal – some have whopping big turbos with all-wheel-drive powertrains while others have naturally aspirated engines turning just the front wheels. None of them are remotely stock, and the quickest of the bunch happens to be one of the quickest Honda Civics in the world, running a 7.45 ET in the quarter at 186 mph. Off the starting line, this Civic goes 0-60 in just over one second.
So, what does it take to turn an unassuming subcompact economy car into a straight-line speed monster? For starters, this Civic no longer spins the front tires. Hitting 60 mph that quickly takes an all-wheel-drive setup, but you might be surprised to see a Honda K24 engine under the hood. It’s the same mill that powered everything from the Accord to the CR-V throughout the naughts, but in this application it’s fully built for race duty.
Gallery: 7-Second Honda Civic Drag Car
It’s also force-fed with over 60 pounds of boost thanks to a massive turbo, with power said to be in the neighborhood of 1,500 horsepower. That’s positively heroic for a small four-cylinder, and it’s still shifted manually with a four-speed dog box. For now, it's actually the fastest all-wheel-drive Honda Civic ... in the world.
That Racing Channel on YouTube had occasion to chat with Prayoonto and his efforts, which is chronicled in the video at the top of the article. There’s certainly no denying the hard work and effort behind this bonkers Honda, and we’ll be cheering when he breaks into the six-second club.
Source: That Racing Channel via YouTube