Honda Civic EG Hatch VS Subaru GC8 Impreza WRX l Driver Battles

If you love classic Japanese sports cars, then this episode of Driving Line’s Driver Battles is for you. In it, Nick Aguayo and his 1996 Subaru Impreza GC8 WRX swap go up against Meng Tea and his 1993 Honda Honda Civic EG Hatch at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. With almost double the horsepower we decided to put Nick and his Subaru on Nitto NT05's to even the playing field as much as possible.
00:00 Intro at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway
00:52 Meng's Civic EG Hatch Breakdown
01:44 Nick's GC Impreza Breakdown
02:39 Welcoming the NT05
03:10 Nick's Track Experience
03:46 The Wager
04:25 The Lap
06:43 Who Was Faster?
09:48 Do You Wanna Race?
Let’s dive into the details of the cars to get a better sense of who might have the edge in this tight battle. The first car up is Nick's swapped Impeza. Its EJ205 2.0L flat four engine. As far as mods go, he has added STI spec pistons and rods, Cobb SF Intake. Perrin inlet, STI VF48 turbo, HKS EL header, BC 272 cams, OEM 2003 WRX ECU, Fortune Auto coilovers, Volk TE37's 17x7 +48 with 235/40ZR17 Nitto NT05's, 2004 STi Brembo Brakes, Recaro RS-Gk. Meng’s Civic is a little more stripped down and also engined swapped. He has added Honda B20B 2.0L I4 engine swap, HPS intake, DC header, Greddy Muffler, Stock Integra LS ECU, GS-R Transmission, Riaction coilovers, Volk TE37 SL's 15x8 +35 with 225/45ZR15 Nitto NT01's , Project Mu brake pads, Recaro seat, and a Momo steering wheel.
With the consistency of both the NT01 & NT05 tires, both drivers had the opportunity to push their times lower as the day went on. The only question was, who could take advantage, and who would be left wishing they had pushed that little bit more?
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[@mengtea8878]

Always a fun time at the track! Thanks nitto tire / driving line for having me!

[@Vsm_integra]

Really like the series I always look forward to seeing under powered Hondas with great drivers beating out higher powered vehicles can’t wait for the Content to come❤

[@NoSleepRacing]

I've had both they are both great cars. Tires were a big factor on those times

[@antdo]

I'd love to bring my GR Corolla to the show

[@mariagus805]

Saw the title and was excited to see a good battle but disappointed to see you guys put different tires on the GC8. This became tire battles and not driver battles. Why handicap the GC8 for having more power but mot handicap the EG6 for having lightweight, makes no sense. Would've been a great battle of power vs weight if they had same tire.

[@seimon8149]

I own a GC8. I love both Subaru and Honda. They are two great cars.

[@Holmesson]

You own a legit GC8 WRX? The Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS in this video is NOT a GC8. I realize that everyone used the chassis code from the WRXs to describe any Imprezas from the 90s to early 2000s, but unless your car is imported, it isn't a GC8. Jussayin.'

[@zerogravity2436]

@@Holmessonu must like to ride meat by this comment you put up. WHO gaf if it’s a gc8 or not. If you got the money to import one then cool but if not what Cuh has is close enough

[@Holmesson]

@@zerogravity2436 That's how you talk to people? WTF is wrong with you? I shared a little piece of knowledge because the guys in this video incorrectly referred to the car as a GC8, which it isn't. It's one thing to own a 2.5 RS, it's another thing entirely to own a real GC8 WRX... which is why I was curious as to what he actually owns.

[@garage2track]

Love both cars

[@ClaytonYatescarenthusiast]

Live on the west coast and have plenty of track experience would love to be on the show. C7z time attack car. Bring someone fast!

[@the_reapers_fa5]

it’ll be fun to battle another driver/car with my supercharged fa5 🤘🏽

[@panderalexander]

They only mention it briefly during the introductions but was not mentioned ever again even when talking about the results on how big a difference a 100tw and 200tw will make for a Time Attack. That's like one person with a rifle and the other with a bazooka.

[@zombielivesmatter7294]

came to comments expecting someone to mention this, difference between 100tw and 200tw in going for a time attack fast lap is huge, but this show is just for entertainment purposes you can tell the content creators and the drivers are amateurs, but still fun to watch none the less.

[@jonj4357]

Lol the Subaru also had cams and a tune so at least double the power

[@zombielivesmatter7294]

@@jonj4357 read my other reply, the subaru weighed 2800lbs, the civic stripped was closer to 2000lb, why make it unfair to make up for power but they did not make up for weight? you trying to defend the dumb decision clearly shows you don't understand how cars work on a track if you only look at power and you don't look at weight and tires, clearly you don't go on track. this show had been fair for years having their competitors use the same tire, not now anymore.

[@panderalexander]

@@jonj4357 yeah that was the point, why handicap the benefits of the Subaru but don't handicap the benefits of the Honda, should've kept it fair and just use the same tire that way we can see a fair battle of power but heavier weight vs less power but lighter weight.

[@VinRZ]

​@jonj4357 I mean you can clearly hear the turbo dropping boost throughout multiple corners. If the driver had to let off gas, it clearly meant that the car was understeering. Civic on the other hand was on gas the entire time. Civic was carrying so much speed throughout the whole lap, and that's where it won all its time from. Straightline acceleration will only give you so much

[@AgentRex]

Love both cars! Both need to be on the same tyre to make this fair though... One has more power and heavier vs the other way lighter + better tyres. Would be keen to see them both on the same tyre TW

[@hondahacks1014]

Love chuckwalla. I hope to hit a .55 next month

[@goGDOGod]

The only GC8 with a 2.2L is the 22B. Wxr came with a 1.8. Sti with 2.0

[@skatetown100]

GC8 was decked out !! :-)

[@senglee2330]

22B STI is my dream Subaru!

[@occamsrazor1285]

It's many people's dream. This 96 impreza isn't it, though. Assuming the driveline is generally untouched, there are quite a few things different, but the most obvious is the 22b has front an rear clutch-type LSDs and a DCCD center diff. This Impreza almost certainly has the stock front and rear open diffs (even the 2.5 RSs had open diffs) and a viscous center.

[@samuelbabet974]

HP/kg ratio ?

[@HalfAssBuilt]

8:04 is the lap times

[@BigDreamsGarage]

Thank you

[@kobedabest]

That GC8 is a beauty

[@justinburwell7288]

Race my MR2 😈

[@tamtrily]

I always just skip to the end 😅

[@zombielivesmatter7294]

when Ive spoken to you before you always say its driver battles and down to the drivers, that you give them equal grip with equal tires. its odd in this one you give completely different class of tires in 100tw vs 200tw which are dramatically different grip levels for a time attack. that 5 second gap is ridiculous, if you gave them equal tires, it would have been a closer match. cant say you were making up for the power difference when you exclude the important weight difference, that gc8 was around 2600lbs where as that completely stripped eg6 weighed closer to 2000lbs.

[@mengtea8878]

You said it, the name of the show is called driver battle. And to be completely fair on my end, as mentioned I wasn’t even suppose to compete that day. The gc8 competitor was a no show ( which they were both on NT05’s) I happen to be there just to turn some laps with my 6 track day old nt01’s. But yes lap times would have been closer, but 5 seconds closer? That’s a big margin. I’ve track both nt01’s and NT05’s on the same car and it was under 2 sec difference. In the end, yes we are not professional drivers and I definitely don’t claim to be. 😅

[@zombielivesmatter7294]

@@mengtea8878 exactly, suppose to be "driver" battle but that day it wasn't, it was tire and weight battle.

[@panderalexander]

@@mengtea8878 you're right, name of the show is suppose to be DRIVER battle but it wasn't, instead they handicap the benefits of one of the cars. My guess is you probably would have won still if it was fair and given same tires but that's just a guess, we'll never know.

[@KDD8]

That gc8 cant weigh 2600lbs. It's probably closer to 2800. Its got a turbo setup so factor in the weigh of the turbo, manifold, full exhaust + any additional mods he has. The brembos alone weigh probably 20lbs. He didnt mention if he had a 6 speed or 5 speed. the 6 speed would be another +80 lbs there too.

[@zombielivesmatter7294]

@@KDD8 That's my whole point, the GC8 is a lot heaver so it needs the power, the eg6 weights a lot less, yet they didn't handicap the eg6, instead they handicap the GC8, kinda dumb. Should've been a equal matchup on tires to battle heavier weight and more power vs lighter weight and less power, would've been a more decent battle.

[@uses0ap]

I swear, they try to make these as cringe as possible

[@Mrmudbone_gaming]

That Subaru needs a driver mod ASAP