I wanna know how did your early z cars with turbo swaps , run up against turboed hondas like crx,civics, I got alot of buddies into hondas and there pretty Impressive, I was even was gonna buy a wicked fast crx but decided not old enough and not rwd and I always likeed early zcars way more.

 

Apples and oranges...

I've seen 200hp turbo Hondas, I've seen 1000hp turbo Hondas. I've seen 100hp S30's and I've seen 1000hp S30's...

If you want a Z to race turbocharged Hondas... then build your Z to race turbocharged Hondas. The sky is the limit (actually your wallet is the limit).

Remember: There will always be someone faster than you.

 

Im just wondering have any of you guys ran any boosted hondas and I wanna hear about it actually the races dont gotta be a just honda's it can be any other car vs the early z cars.

 

Like the man said, apples and oranges. Lotta little civics around here (check out the stickers on the black-tinted rear window - it’s his Hondalero affiliation..) - but those guys don't just restore and maximize them. No pride in a perfected original in their game. They pull out the perfectly good little Vtec and throw in an Acura or Infiniti or bigger engine - even if it means they have to ditch their AC, P/S, P/B, etc, etc. Like the only cool thing is a small car with a big engine...(so then the coolest thing must be the smallest car with the biggest engine.) While they go crazy outdoing each other for torque and short-term power, they lose sight of what those civics were meant to be. A cheap, economical car that is comfortable on roads. All that gets lost. And they turn nice comfortable little cars into daily drivers that suck at everything but torque-ing out from stoplights.

My issue with racing those guys from a light is that I am driving an almost OEM 86 Z31 and they are in an original 90s tuna fish can with wheels that they put a 250HP motor in... what's fair about that? What's the challenge here? Macho ego, probably. Nothing useful gets proven.

The Z31 concept was beautiful and finally got realized first in 84. Here was a car where overall design balance was tops. Weight was not a problem if you put the right 6 cyl into it and maxed out your torque reasonably. You got both torque and a solid ride for all road surfaces. The ride was always important in the Z31s - So my 86 weighs 3000 lbs but has enough torque to move it like a much lighter car - and still has all the gadget comforts that weigh something but make the car liveable and even enjoyable day to day. I never sense that I am missing something important in my Z. It is a complete car for all conditions. And my turbo is even better because it has some serious torque but is still a great daily driver on any road.

The 90s civics that race me or anyone else from stoplights here are refitted 2000lb gas misers - like you don't care how light the car is as long as it feels peppy with a 4 cyl. and saves gas. Honda did a great job developing them to be so reliable as they are - but they are still so flexible that guys can do wild and crazy stuff with them.

But they are a whole different class from my Z. I suppose there is a formula for comparing the relative torque and comparative zippiness of a 3000lb 6cyl 2 seater with a 2000lb 4cyl 4 seater - but I haven't found it.

Anyway, they are all peppy and still light and way too noisy and usually have short gears. In my turbo I usually blow past them in second while they are looking for third or maybe fourth. If they are gaining and I can hit third just right (I don't always..) they are done. I don't do it that much, only in no-traffic-no-cops situations, average once a week. But I don't get a boost from leaving them in the dust. They really just have a tuna fish can with wheels - and I'm in my brilliantly conceived, genius-designed, magnificently assembled, perfectly appointed Z31. That's apple vs. orange. No contest, dude. ;-)

 

Dude those tuna fish cans are pretty fast me and my cousin built a crx from scratch and it whoops on zo6 vettes and other potent cars on a roll. Im just wondering if anybody has had any street encounters with thos lil hondas with any boosted s30 or s130.

 

For the sake of giving you some kind of answer, this is a video of me racing a Mazda Speed back when I used to street race. The guy talked up a storm, then got left behind.


Again, you can ask all you want about "street racing hondas", but every race will have a different result. As I said before...

 

What have you guys raced with your z?

 

Are. You. Serious? Look at the post above.

I'd say you are a wee bit too obsessed with "street racing other cars".

 

As ZXguy said above, those hondas may be fast but they are utter hell to daily drive.I have a friend that in high school had a CRX pocket rocket.Naturally aspirated it cranked out just under 200 hp.It would have been fast in its own right but everything was stripped out of that car.carpet,headliner,radio,heater,rear seats,the front seats were lightweight,all the sound deadening ,fiberglass panels,etc. It was lowered until it was sitting on the bumpstops.It didn't have an exhaust either, I'm not sure if it lacked it because "performance" or because it was so low either way the "car" was loud and buzzy and generally horrible to be in.Even to myself in high school it seemed horrible.Not to mention it ALWAYS broke down.As for racing them, why bother? That entire cars existence was to "go fast" by any means necessary.You could race and you might win or you might lose but at the end of the day they are driving something that is utterly horrible to drive and their only pleasure consists of going faster than someone else at a stoplight.