Compact racing

[neilap]

Since the late eighties there has been a revolution in drag racing that is slowly becoming mainstream in the US. It is racing FWD vehicles. An example is the Honda Civic. It has become the universal hot rod here in the import circle. Now there are other cars that are a better base to begin with however the aftermarket has chosen its baby. The fastest FWD vihicle now is a Civic driven by Stephan Papadakkis. He has so far run a 8.1 sec 1/4 mile at 176 mph. There is little doubt that he will be in the seven second range by the end of this season. Is this popular in other countries. Or are we here the freaks of nature?

[woodyracing]

Im not a major drag racing fan but i do like it, and i know that they drag race virtually any car. And FWD street car types are also very popular. see www.santapod.com

[StuiE]

there is a few FWD dragers in Oz, a Civic that had engine built in the US dont know what it runs though, and the fastest full bodyed FWD is a black integra from NZ that runs 11s

[neilap]

Its so much here that every day i get hit up for a race. If you drive a honda, modded or not there will be someone wanting to race. I have raced Mustangs and even 300z. Sometimes I have to laugh, because some of the cars are barely even modded and would have been slower than me in stock form. Those I dont bother with. There was even a guy with a Supra that wanted to run against me. He would have killed me. His car was modded to a reported 650 hp but still he wanted to race me. Idiot! I would have gone for it if there was no traffic. After all I had nothing to lose. He could miss shift and make a couple more mistakes and I could have won.

[woodyracing]

what car have you got neilap ?
hardly anyone ever tries to race me at the lights.

[DavyboyLT1]

There's lots of import cars around here, neilap. But at the local drag strip, on Friday nights (street cars only - heads-up, casual racing) most of us with late-model cars are in 'Stangs and Camaros. There are, however, more and more imports every year.

[neilap]

I drive a Civic with a SOHC 1.6. Pretty slow from the start. I have done some mods to bring the power from 125 207hp. When I refer to imports it is because at first it was just imports that I would see daily with aftermarket mods. I should say compact cars. FWD compacts. It is kinda fun, but there is an 18 year old that has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for causing the death of two other people on the road. He was racing when he caused the collision.

I have to shamefully admit that I have started some of the confrontations too. However I have learned my lesson. I try to go to the track to race now. Drag racing is a lot more difficult than it looks.

[woodyracing]

most cars in UK are FWD with puny engines :\ but petrol is a rip off here so its probably not a bad thing.

[DAVID PATERSON]

A friend of mine recently sold his Sierra Cosworth powered Mk II Escort and bought a '95 Honda Civic V-Tec.

He doesn't race on the street though, only on the track, because he is a grown up and he knows the only races that count are on a track, winning a street race means absolutely nothing at all.

[neilap]

Well it means you have won a street race. I dont do it anymore but it was fun while it lasted. Some guy I was racing got into a very serious accident and was ejected from the vehicle. The funny thing is that I had already beaten him and saw that there were cars ahead. I backed off and he did not. That was one of the last times I ever did that again. The city does not do enough to keep the kids from doing it. They write tickets and now they are going to make it a crime. However they do not intend to build anywhere for them to race!