How The Hell Did The Honda NSX Lose A Race To The Civic Type R?

Okay so which car did you honestly expect to win the race between a supercar and a hot hatch? We all know that the Honda Civic Type R (which is finally coming to America) is one blazingly quick hatchback that we'd all love to own, but the NSX is the daddy of the Honda/Acura range. Thanks to the latest technology from engineering-savvy Honda, the NSX's hybrid drivetrain puts 573 horsepower to the pavement through all four tires.

On the other hand, the Honda Civic Type R only gets 306 horsepower spewing out of the front wheels, more than enough to handle its competitors on the race track, but not quite the setup you'd want for a kilometer-long drag race with its bigger more brutish brother. To make things more fair, Auto Express wisely gives the Civic a handicap.

In retrospect, a five second handicap may have been a bit too long because once the Civic's front wheels lock up with the pavement, the spunky racer's hatch is all Steve Sutcliffe (the NSX's driver) sees for the rest of the race. By every metric, the NSX has the race in the bag, especially seeing how much more quickly it gets up to speed over its FWD sibling. Even the Type R's driver can be seen peeping through the rearview mirror anxiously waiting for impending defeat, but plans can change, especially when the parents step in and try to make the fame fair. Civic Type R owners bear in mind: all you have to do is launch earlier if you want to win an NSX pink slip.