VIDEO: Mismatched much? Challenger SRT8 vs. Civic Si
We've driven the Honda Civic Si, and have found it to be an entertaining vehicle to attack some twisties. A drag racer, though, it is most assuredly not. Sure, offering just shy of two-hundred horsepower from such a small engine is impressive, but the distinct lack of torque and the stratospheric rev-ceiling required to extract those ponies will surely limit the straight-line drag numbers. The new Dodge Challenger SRT8, on the other hand, does not require high-rev shenanigans in order to scorch the 1320, and this point is proven in the video posted after the break. Although only covering an eighth mile, the Challenger has no problem keeping the Si at bay. We're not knocking the Si, as this type of activity is clearly not its proper playground, but listen closely when playing the video and you'll hear that the Challenger's pilot was toying with the Civic driver. It's not until the last few hundred feet that the Hemi driver dips into the throttle, leading to a few chuckles from the crowd.
[Source: Youtube via Jalopnik]
Video:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
arturo 7:08PM (5/30/2008)
well what can I say!! That is not SI, its an SI with a turbo. i would say pushing close to 300 hp.
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John R 7:12PM (5/30/2008)
How can you tell? I didn't hear a BOV.
Franz 10:55PM (5/30/2008)
Wow. What kind of glasses are you wearing? I want a pair. They must be some kinda x-ray type for you to be able to tell that it's a turbo Civic. It must have dyno capabilities too, for u to arrive at the "close to 300hp" figure.
fbxcore 1:35AM (5/31/2008)
The exhaust tone did not sound like a turbo was on it..too high pitched and raspy I think, just like the NA civics.
The Mosquito 2:40PM (6/01/2008)
Ehhh? Are you crazy? How the heck can you tell?
carfan 7:13PM (5/30/2008)
What the hell was the point of this post autoblog???
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joe 7:27PM (5/30/2008)
Why this post clearly shows that a stock Dodge Challenger SRT8 is faster than a (presumably stock) 8th gen Honda Civic Si in a 660 feet drag race.
*chuckle chuckle*
Throw $18k worth of mods into the Civic Si and see who is laughing at the end of the day. (btw, $18k is difference of MSRP between a base Si and a SRT8)
SOhp101 7:34PM (5/30/2008)
This is definitely a DUH post. i guess it's some lighthearted humor for a friday post.
Yar 8:55PM (5/30/2008)
@joe
Duh, you can mod anything to be faster than just about anything else. So what you said it just stupid, and has no influence on anything. Have a cookie.
Frank 9:02PM (5/30/2008)
love it, i do the same thing in my truck to the "cool guys" in their civics, focuses, etc. never gets old.
cheezwiz 11:40AM (5/31/2008)
@Frank:
You know what I do with my civic - I smoke trucks around corners as they cross double yellow lines for some reason. Then I go pay $30 to fill up on gas. Yup. Never gets old.
alext 5:10PM (5/31/2008)
The problem is, after $18k, you're still left with a Civic.
tekdemon 9:28AM (6/02/2008)
This is pretty silly...does anybody not expect the SRT8 to be able to beat a FWD Civic?!
What's next, videos of a Veyron vs a Taurus SHO?
FWD cars aren't good for drag-racing (short of using impractical specific drag racing mods like a wheelie bar), and the car is down several hundred horsepower, so I don't see what the point is here.
esp4p3 7:16PM (5/30/2008)
Is it fair to compare a 21k car to a 30k car? This is not really a fair comparison and not really a great achievement for the challenger.
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joe 7:29PM (5/30/2008)
The SRT8 is MSRP'ed at $38,000
Actual market price may be higher due to high demand and low supply.
geo.stewart 7:59PM (5/30/2008)
ditto the Si. try finding one in a honda dealer that doesnt have a market adjustment factor
j-d 1:10AM (5/31/2008)
The title of this post is "Mismatched much?" The entire post is about how it's not a fair race, how the Civic is out of its element, etc. And yet people still complain.
As for those saying that the Civic could be easily modified to go much faster for the price of a Challenger...sure, you could do that, but then you'd have spent forty grand on a Civic.
Chris 9:53AM (5/31/2008)
geo.stewart,
When I bought my EX Civic the dealer had a few Si models, both two and four, and was selling them under invoice as well. This was back in August 07 so he might have just been moving them out for 08 models but he did imply that premium gas and the black interior turned off people.
Za 6:26PM (5/31/2008)
geo.stewart, Civics tend to sell well under invoice, including the Si...dunno where you are getting your info from; also, the Civics are significantly higher production models than the Challenger. I would imagine that yearly Si sales would be more than sales of all trim levels of Challenger, and I don't mean that being a Honda fanboy. Just Honda makes/moves a lot more units than Dodge does.
cly 7:16PM (5/30/2008)
....and the award for The Most Useless Autoblog Post of The Year goes to....
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