66 Nova vs Civic

[Chris66]

Anyone in here ever drag one of these Imports? I know they can be fast when they are hooked up to a good turbo system but what if its NA?
A guy at my work is always giving me a hard time about my build and has been calling me out for a while even if my car isn't running yet. He has a stripped down 95 civic with a built NA motor. He claims it puts down 288 whp which doesn't seem like much but the car weighs next to nothing. Has anyone run up against a car like this or owned a built honda? Once my car is done it should have 500+whp from the built LS3 but I know there are so many other factors that go into it like weight ad drivers etc.

[chevelletiger]

Well,i tell you i used to run with a group of asian guys back in the day,and there little hondas and acuras kicked a few stangs,camaros,and vettes...so? You will just have to see what he brings to the race and the same goes for yourself.

Just be safe and dont do that stuff on the street,we did it and getting crap from cops when we raced around in my buddys 3000gt vr4 ,being pulled out of a car and ruffed up...yeah good times ; )
Phil

[BMR Sales]

It's a No Win situation for you. If you Win, you beat a Ricer, If you lose, you got beat by a Honda!

[TheJDMan]

It's a No Win situation for you. If you Win, you beat a Ricer, If you lose, you got beat by a Honda!

I agree!

[Zachalanche]

Anyone in here ever drag one of these Imports? I know they can be fast when they are hooked up to a good turbo system but what if its NA?
A guy at my work is always giving me a hard time about my build and has been calling me out for a while even if my car isn't running yet. He has a stripped down 95 civic with a built NA motor. He claims it puts down 288 whp which doesn't seem like much but the car weighs next to nothing. Has anyone run up against a car like this or owned a built honda? Once my car is done it should have 500+whp from the built LS3 but I know there are so many other factors that go into it like weight ad drivers etc.

Civics are light and have good aero, so 288 hp is going to make that car move. However mid-60's cars tend to be deceptively light (at the cost of safety, comfort and chassis rigidity). My 67 fairlane is 2900 lbs. even though it looks like it should be 4000 lbs. As long as you don't add too much weight its reasonable to believe that you car could weigh in around 2800 lbs with the LS in it (just a guess). That would put you close to .18 hp/lb. to achieve the same hp/lb ratio, the civic would have to be 1600 lbs. there is no way that car is that light.

SO, to sum it all up, you will be melting tires while that civic is walking away from you. hopefully your tires and suspension can handle your engine. good luck.

[Spork82]

I raced Honda's for close to 10 years. They don't need much power to be fast. I had a 92 civic that was stripped down and a DOHC 1.6l, running on 3 cyl it went 13.2. If that motor was healthy 12's would have been easily achieved. Problem is traction like all cars, he will need to run slicks and have a good clutch to hookup or he will bucking around like crazy.

I launched my car at 8000rpm on 15" slicks, only way it wouldn't bog off the line.

[71maroesteban]

Civics got you beat. They weigh nothing and 288 hp on a light fwd car is fast

[captainofiron]

Just tell him what I told this SRT4 Neon guy that was talking trash once to me at a gas station when I was in college

"Listen man you may have spent a lot of money on your car to make it fast, but at the end of the day, its just a neon, my grandma drives a neon."

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/11/7nTnr-1.png

(both what I told him and my grandma did drive a neon at the time)

[Build-It-Break-It]

I use to have a fully built 650hp Acura "street car" and I can tell you first hand that I smoked quit a few domestic cars, new and old school. But it all comes down to driver, traction and hp to weight ratio. I've gotten beat by an all wheel drive eagle talon with a little less hp.

288hp for an all motor Honda is a lot of Hp if he's telling the truth and has axles and a clutch to handle it. It would be a decent race to see. On Hondas the axles, clutch and front traction are the weak link.

Imports are fun to drive but a waste of money. I've since parted out my Acura and bought a 68 camaro.

[Chris66]

Civics got you beat. They weigh nothing and 288 hp on a light fwd car is fast

I guess I better look into a procharger, turbo or some major trimming of fat

[Zachalanche]

104878

[captainofiron]

104878

challenge him to a donut contest

[Build-It-Break-It]

Ummmm.... yeah they can...

[71maroesteban]

Imports are awesome because it doesn't take much to make them fast. As much as I love the cool cars on here a miata with some mods would give a 100k 69 Camaro build a run for its money

[captainofiron]

Imports are awesome because it doesn't take much to make them fast. As much as I love the cool cars on here a miata with some mods would give a 100k 69 Camaro build a run for its money

Miata is more of an exception to the rule, every once in a while an Import comes along that means business

[71maroesteban]

Imports are awesome because it doesn't take much to make them fast. As much as I love the cool cars on here a miata with some mods would give a 100k 69 Camaro build a run for its money

Miata is more of an exception to the rule, every once in a while an Import comes along that means business yea miatas are mean cars and you can pick one up for 3k put 4k into it and destroy a lot of high end cars also subarus are some the nicest cars out their

[OG_Racing]

yea miatas are mean cars and you can pick one up for 3k put 4k into it and destroy a lot of high end cars also subarus are some the nicest cars out their

someone say miata?
that was me btw. :)
104882

[scott_fx]

the new ones look good too :)
104885

[J-440]

Driver, parts, power to weight ratio...they all factor in. If he's the F&F ricer boy type (fart can, wing, neon, backwards hat wearing white boy) then you'll smoke him. It's the tuner guys that don't talk a lot of smack are the ones you have to worry about.

[scott_fx]

If he's the F&F ricer boy type (fart can, wing, neon, backwards hat wearing white boy).

is that even the ricer stereotype anymore? i live in LA and haven't seen more then maybe 3 of those cars in the last 2 years... and they were all beat to hell like they were done 10 years old

[J-440]

Yeah we still have a few around here. But hey, as long as those movies keep coming out, the ricer boys show up and still get their butts whipped on the streets.

[OG_Racing]

Anyone in here ever drag one of these Imports? I know they can be fast when they are hooked up to a good turbo system but what if its NA?
A guy at my work is always giving me a hard time about my build and has been calling me out for a while even if my car isn't running yet. He has a stripped down 95 civic with a built NA motor. He claims it puts down 288 whp which doesn't seem like much but the car weighs next to nothing. Has anyone run up against a car like this or owned a built honda? Once my car is done it should have 500+whp from the built LS3 but I know there are so many other factors that go into it like weight ad drivers etc.

unless he has a K motor i highly doubt it has 288hp. but 300ish hp in a 2000lbs chassis flies!

[captainofiron]

Yeah we still have a few around here. But hey, as long as those movies keep coming out, the ricer boys show up and still get their butts whipped on the streets.

Yea there are still plenty of them around.

As long as there are cheap cars, and young guys that like cars but arent gear heads, there will still be ricers.

The other day this little red Nissan Sentra was tailgating me and trying to get along side of me when I was driving home from work in my Veloster Turbo, its not the fastest car in the world, but he couldnt do anything but do the ricer flyby when I let off

[68Cuda440]

Anyone in here ever drag one of these Imports? I know they can be fast when they are hooked up to a good turbo system but what if its NA?
A guy at my work is always giving me a hard time about my build and has been calling me out for a while even if my car isn't running yet. He has a stripped down 95 civic with a built NA motor. He claims it puts down 288 whp which doesn't seem like much but the car weighs next to nothing. Has anyone run up against a car like this or owned a built honda? Once my car is done it should have 500+whp from the built LS3 but I know there are so many other factors that go into it like weight ad drivers etc.

The hatchback civics are about 2100 lbs.

That said, a guy I ran around with in Austin (about 10 years ago) had a '93 Civic Hatch with a huge turbo and intercooler. 590hp at the front wheels on the "race" tune on the dyno. On the "street" tune with 93 octane it was still over 400hp. He was "accustomed" to beating old muscle cars all the time.

My car surprised him. My car weighs in the 2800-3000 pound range. At the time it had 446ci, 550hp at the crank (estimate by respected Mopar machine shop - never dynoed), over 500 ft-lbs. Coan converter, well built automatic, and 3.55 gears. I put at least a car length on him in each gear with his "street" tune. So, hp probably close to equal, but torque greater on my car across the entire power range. The RWD also helps in this kind of race since weight naturally wants to go to the rear tires. In this configuration my car ran 90 mph in the eighth mile. That would be a solid mid 11 second car in the quarter.

66 Novas are fairly light. It depends on your torque curve, your drivetrain, and your suspension.