Doesnt Make Sense.....
Thread Starter
Protege Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 70
From: Chilliwack, BC, Canada
Doesnt Make Sense.....
Mazda states that the Protege ES 1/4's in 17.4
Honda states Civic Si 1/4 in 16.5/16.8
My car has Catback and i upgraded tires to Dunlop SP Sport FM 901 205/50/16.(NICE tires people, highy recommend)
My friends '00 Civic Si has Headers, Intake, Toyo 205/50/15 and 50 shot NOS.
We dragged at a local strip 4 times. 2 with his NOS on and 2 with it off.
NOS on he beats me by car and a half.
NOS off i beat him by car and a half.
So 17.4 car with Catback and Tires beats a 16.5/16.8 car with Intake, Headers and Tires? Whos information is wrong?
I know we have a bigger engine and more HP and Tourque than Civics....but i go at it with this '02 Civic all the time as well. Anywhere you look it says these cars are faster than ours, yet i beat both these(without assistance of NOS)hands down everytime.
Just seems strange to me. I know it doesnt have everythign to do with stats, but a second less in 1/4 mile is a lot!
Honda states Civic Si 1/4 in 16.5/16.8
My car has Catback and i upgraded tires to Dunlop SP Sport FM 901 205/50/16.(NICE tires people, highy recommend)
My friends '00 Civic Si has Headers, Intake, Toyo 205/50/15 and 50 shot NOS.
We dragged at a local strip 4 times. 2 with his NOS on and 2 with it off.
NOS on he beats me by car and a half.
NOS off i beat him by car and a half.
So 17.4 car with Catback and Tires beats a 16.5/16.8 car with Intake, Headers and Tires? Whos information is wrong?
I know we have a bigger engine and more HP and Tourque than Civics....but i go at it with this '02 Civic all the time as well. Anywhere you look it says these cars are faster than ours, yet i beat both these(without assistance of NOS)hands down everytime.
Just seems strange to me. I know it doesnt have everythign to do with stats, but a second less in 1/4 mile is a lot!
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,122
From: Dallas, Texas
Simple explanation: You can drive. He can't.
My suspicion is that he doesn't really appreciate what it takes to get good times out of a VTEC 1.6L Honda. I used to frequently drag my old 91 CRX Si (no VTEC but many of the same issues) and I have two observations about 1.6L Hondas:
1) Launching is really critical because these cars have no low-end torque whatsoever. You HAVE to spin the tires just enough (but not too much) to come out of the box in the powerband. Blow the launch and it's bog city. The race is over unless the track is 1/2 mile long
2) These cars have to be shifted AT THE LIMITER. If you shift a Honda at the redline, you add 0.5 second to your e/t.
This can freak out some Honda drag newbies- "Ohmigod, I'm going to blow up my engine!" He has to get over this fear if he wants times that don't suck 
BTW I used to drive my CRX through the traps bouncing off the limiter in 3rd because it would get better times that way than if I shifted into 4th.
Both of these factors are critical in a Honda but don't really matter in a Pro or most other cars with decent powerbands. Sounds like your friend needs more practice
Another hint: ignore factory performance estimates. They are essentially fictional. Different companies play different games with these stats. You can really only use them to compare cars made by the same company.
My suspicion is that he doesn't really appreciate what it takes to get good times out of a VTEC 1.6L Honda. I used to frequently drag my old 91 CRX Si (no VTEC but many of the same issues) and I have two observations about 1.6L Hondas:
1) Launching is really critical because these cars have no low-end torque whatsoever. You HAVE to spin the tires just enough (but not too much) to come out of the box in the powerband. Blow the launch and it's bog city. The race is over unless the track is 1/2 mile long
2) These cars have to be shifted AT THE LIMITER. If you shift a Honda at the redline, you add 0.5 second to your e/t.
This can freak out some Honda drag newbies- "Ohmigod, I'm going to blow up my engine!" He has to get over this fear if he wants times that don't suck BTW I used to drive my CRX through the traps bouncing off the limiter in 3rd because it would get better times that way than if I shifted into 4th.Both of these factors are critical in a Honda but don't really matter in a Pro or most other cars with decent powerbands. Sounds like your friend needs more practice
Another hint: ignore factory performance estimates. They are essentially fictional. Different companies play different games with these stats. You can really only use them to compare cars made by the same company.
Last edited by carguycw; Aug 2, 2002 at 10:25 AM.
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