Toyota GR Yaris v Honda Civic Type R - DRAG RACE

Hello, how you doing? Matt Watson here from CarWow. Welcome to another drag race video. So I'm sat in a Honda Civic Type R and next to me is a Toyota GI Yaris and we're going to see which is the quickest over a standing quarter mile. Let me tell you about this Civic. So it's got a 2 litre turbocharged engine with 320 horsepower and 400 newton meters of torque. It's front wheel drive only, though it does have a differential to help put the power down, a limited slip diff. It's a really good system. Got a six speed manual gearbox, the best six speed manual currently on sale. So this car weighs in at 1380 kilos and it costs just under £33,000. That Toyota costs from just under £33,500. That's with the track pack, which you do want because then you get a limited slip diff at the front like this Honda, but at the back as well, because of course that Yaris is all wheel drive. So it does have an advantage here on the wet track. That car is down on power though. It's just got a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine with three cylinders. It still puts out 261 horsepower and 360 newton meters of torque. It's lighter than this Civic because it's a smaller car. Despite its all wheel drive system, it comes in at 1280 kilos. Six speed manual, nice gearbox, not quite as good as this one. He's got an advantage though, not only because he's got four wheel drive, but he's got a manual handbrake so he can hold the car on the handbrake and then let it go. I can't do that because I've got an electronic handbrake. Hate them. So I can't do handbrake turns either. That can. I could sidestep the clutch, but slippy conditions like this are going to be pointless. So I'm just going to try and pull away as smooth as possible and hopefully this car's superior power will come out, but we shall see. Now, before we get into this video, please make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on. That way you will not miss a single upload. Also, we've seen this, right? Look, look, look. Drag King. Yeah, cool. Carwow t-shirt. Now, if you want to check out our merch, click on the pop-out banner up there to go do that. All right, that's enough of that. Let's get on with this drag race. Oh, I hope I launch all right. Come on, Honda. Buying a new car? Then head to Carwow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price. Carwow, your one-stop car buying comparison site. Right, let's do this. Before we do, quick sound check. See which of these cars makes the best noise. I'm just going to rev this one. Soft limiter, three and a half. It's like it's mooing. Hopefully it sounds better on the outside. See if that sounds better with its one less cylinder. Let's hear the Yareth. Sounds crap from the outside as well. Sounds better on the inside of that car though because Toyota plays fake engine sounds into the cabin through the car's stereo speakers. Let's do this. Three, two, one. I didn't even launch it. I'm going to win. I'm just going to do this. I'm going to take the victory. Oh, just go for a cruise. Oh, that Toyota's not very quick. A power steering malfunction. In a Toyota, a malfunction. What's it saying now? It's not saying anything now, so it's fine. It's fine. The natural world order of car reliability is restored. Don't spin now. Oh, it's close. Come on, Honda. Come on. I'm gaining. I'm gaining. I'm gaining. Oh, not quite. Not quite. That was so close. That was so very close. That was a lot closer than I thought it would be. How was it for you? I got a good start. Managed to do some good gear changes there. It was a really fun race. It was so very close. So then what exactly happened? Well, the Toyota just about won. It completed the standing quarter mile in 13.8 seconds. Meanwhile, the Honda took 13.9 seconds. Now we're going to have a rolling race from 50 miles an hour. I'm going to put the cars into their normal or comfiest setting. We're going to be just cruising along in sixth gear. And then when I call it in, we're going to have to change down to third. These cars have auto blip features, so it should help with the downshift. But we'll see which is the slickest in terms of the gearbox. I think it's got to be this Honda and then which one pulls the hardest afterwards. You ready? Let's do this. Three, two, one, go. I'm off now. Oh, it's spinning up its wheels in third. Got the Yaris now though. Goodbye, Yaris. Oh, this Honda is quick. Not completely smashed him though. Oh, my gear shift was really, really slick and quick, but this car lost a bit of traction in third gear when it dropped down. How about yours? Traction was not a problem in this Yaris at all and the gearbox in this thing. It is lovely, but I've driven both. This one is even nicer. It is. Now we're going to do a rolling race again from 50 miles an hour, but this time we're going to put the cars into their sportiest settings. So I'm in plus R mode and we're going to start in third gear. We're going to do this race. You ready? Let's go. Three, two, one, go. That Yaris picked up better than this. This is struggling for traction. It's utterly nuts. So close. Now I'm pulling. Dropped it though. I'll tell you what, your car picks up better than this one. This just struggles with the bumps you can feel its wheels just losing grip a little bit. That just spins up so fast, that turbo, doesn't it? It spins up first and third to fourth isn't difficult, but even easier to be honest. Now we're going to have a brake test from 70 miles an hour. When we hit the line, full emergency stop. Let's get on with this brake test. Okay, let's do the brake test. If you're into your front wheel drive cars, this is the best one. Come on, do this. Do this. Come on. Bollocks. Yaris definitely won that. These brakes are awesome. They are wicked brakes. They're good on this as well, but that thing just stops like crazy. Overall then the Yaris won two things, the drag race, the brake test, this won the rolling races. So it's two wins each. Overall victory does go to the Yaris just because it's so awesome. No, because it won the drag race and that's what matters most. Now, if you haven't done so already, please make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on. That way you will not miss a single upload. Oh, and don't forget, follow me on Instagram at Matt Watson Cars. There's a pinned comment by me with my Instagram account there, which you can just follow me at and just link through. I'd appreciate it. Thanks very much.