Civic Type R vs Golf GTI Clubsport S: FWD hot hatch drag race 

Maybe I'm just getting old, but to me this Civic looks a bit ridiculous.. I imagine I would have loved it when I was 16

No rear seats, parcel shelf, hidden floor, armrests and noise insulation in the GTI and running on semi slicks. Basically a full blown track car.

So Honda and VW are the top two hatches (FWD) of recent....well done to both brands .....

Thank you for the race. Didn't expect VW to pull away later on the race.

Could the aero be what held the Type R back or do we think its the gearing?

Type-R = a bit more Downforce = Slower top end.... What is so strange about that ?

so Type R beats golf R in many videos on yt and here it can not beat gti... how much VW paid for this vid?

It's quite interesting. Never expected to beat that honda.

The cheapest Clubsport on auto trader is 44 grand so I think the Type R did well

Its really quiet in here, where are the Honda lover boys Lol!!!! 😂😂😂

u guys forgot the cupra 290 sub8

Why haven’t you done a track comparison like you did with regular clubsport?

Correct weights - everybody knows their horsepower, but for weights there is confusion as always, using different standards. Claimed kerb weight full tank without driver DIN (and the heaviest weighed irl acc to the same standard (=EU-75kg); source: Zeperfs.com): Golf Clubsport S: 1285kg (1319kg) Type R: 1382kg (1455kg) Which also helps explain the results (traction limited at start and Civic has better tyres) For reference: Ford Focus ST 5-cyl: 1392kg (1472kg) Ford Focus RS mk3: 1525kg (1580kg) Seat Leon Cupra 290 SC: 1300kg (1358kg) Renault Megane RS Trophy-R 275: 1280kg (1327kg) Golf Clubsport (no S): 1375kg (1402kg) VW Golf VII R DSG: 1420kg (1513kg) So for the RS fans: that is 250kg more, which in a 'sportscar' is a lot and will eat any hp advantage once rolling For the Cupra fans: the lightest car with a rear seat.

Maybe it is 35 and not 36. At the very end of the video, civic seems 0,5 slower but not 1,5. Maybe a typo error??

I wouldn't lose any sleep, since the Clubsport S is limited to 400 units and is far less practical.

There is a known issue with the Type R, if you have 20+ degrees or ~18 the OEM intercooler is just terrible. And it cut the power of from 310 to 265 (tested), so the issue there was that the Civic Type R got warmed up... I already changed my intercooler to wagner and it will not happen again, in general the Type R is beating new Ford Focus RS 0-200 so I can truly say the issue here was the hot.

Quite a lot of aero on the civic slowing it down past 100mph. Civic for me please!

The clubsport s for me magnifies the brilliance of the standard GTI. Yes it is great you can get a car with over 270hp. The choice of cars for this is vast. But the Golf has always been about doing everything brilliantly without doing anything to the extreme. The looks for example are neither ugly nor exciting. If you want something that looks 'exciting' then get the disgusting ugly new Toyota Prius. Then you get to the engine that is quite low on power compared to many of its rivals but it neither super fast nor super slow. It hits the middle mark between good performance and economy. Of course you get this balance with practically and comfort that rivals even Audi and Mercedes.

1:11 Nooo!!! Monica!!!

What colour is that Golf? Is it Indium Grey?

After my uncles 3 month old, Gen 7 Golf broke down twice in the week i visited him, I suspect the Honda will be around a lot longer and the cost of having a reliable vehicle will be a lot less.

cool vid! now try cupra 290 sub8 vs clubsport s

Ford did this nearly 7 years ago didn't they with the mk2 RS? 300bhp? And my old St with a good launch wasn't far off them times

doesnt the civic have more HP?

The VW has boost by gear. You don't hit full boost until 4th in the USDM GTI's which is why you see the result here.

guys forgot the cupra 290!!!!!!

VW

Dear Auto Express, could you do a comparison of the standard Golf GTI and co. with the 308 GTi. I know it only has a 1.6 liter engine, but it is very light 1.2 tonnes and almost never gets featured. Best regards

but is the vw fast in the nurburgring ;P

1 Mile is not a race, it is a whole trip... 1/4 is a race for me

Now tell me, who does a 1 mile drag race? Because all the drag races i've heard about before this one were 1/4 mile............

So £32,300 for the Type R is $42, 870. Ridiculous pricing, you can get a V8 Mustang or Camaro for that much.

At higher speeds wings and downforce is a drag (pun intended)

Can we please get a video of the current Type R vs the Clubsport S.

Golf > Civic

The Civic has much more downforce, and because of that, much more drag... This result is no surprise.

How about Seat Cupra? It's FWD only and beats even Golf R.

Which one has back seats????

This is the only video where the VW Golf beats the Civic Type R. Something in this video seems cheesy . The Type R sounds like it isn't trying to it's full potential. Is James May behind the wheel using his 5hp foot?

Fastest FWD car??? I guess the seat leon cupra 290 is a SUV

well, its true that vw likes to produce cars with slightly more hp than declared and thats better not like older renaults that had about 20hp down then declared...

Very close between the two, amazed the golf pulled top end though!? Thought type r was quicker?

Word on the street is Honda could have made the type R more powerful. they didn't because of competition trying to catch up... they already said if anyone beats thier record they would take it back... watch out 2017 Type R is coming 👀

I would love to see how the Cupra 290 fairs over the standing mile against these 2, or even for curiosity sake the new Focus RS, because over a mile after the hard launch both the civic and golf will claw it back and maybe beat it?

Why so much hate on VWs

The difference is aero and downforce, The honda has it and therefor it creates drag, The VW very limited downforce and is therefor more slippy in the wind. I have an CTR, and raced plenty of VW GTI`s chipped to 300 plus and I won everytime. So perhaps this CTR is not making the claimed power. Mine made 308 hp on the dyno, but I know others have only around 290 hp.

There is a limited edition, 2 seater with sticky tires vs a standard trim. That's not fair to me.

This commentary is like a wildlife documentary

I echo Dee Jay's comment. The Civic and cars like them are too shouty. The VW is deliciously understated, like my partner!

It would be interessing to compare those cars with Focus RS 500 mk2 which is still the most powerfull car ever made (stock I mean).

Probably is aerodynamics, the civic creates a little bit more downforce hence more drag.

what happen to type r 2016 ??so weak...

would be interesting to see these against a MK2 focus RS. Be a good comparison 2nd hand vs new 300bhp fwd hot hatches

I thought that CTR was AWD... hmmmmm... but as I watched this video, this is reminiscent of the match up between the GOLF R vs the FOCUS RS, how u may ask?? the VWs off the line stall out as u dump the clutch(the GOLF R has DSG and after u release the brake it stalls) go back and look if u don't believe me. right @ :51

Volkswagen golf um carro surpreendente. a várias vertentes. o grupo Volkswagen dono de 13 marcas inclusive a Bugatti. É óbvio que o Honda type r era fácil..

If it weren't for the looks, I'm more inclined towards the Honda. In the real-world, with traffic and lights and streets with 20mph speed limits, shorter gearing is always more fun than what meaningless mile-long drag races tell you. But that's just my opinion.

VW has 2/3 doors, but honda has 4/5. Additionally honda has rear couch and is for 4 person but golf is for 2. Every Golf with 4/5 doors and with rear couch is solwer than this CTR.

I thought that a drag race is suppose to be a quarter mile.

Put them on the dyno..

i guess the civic has higher downforce and therefore higher drag...?!

Fake! The golf has a dsg gearbox hence why it starts to creep away due to faster gear changes. Look at 1.23 in the video you clearly see the display change from 3rd to 4th gear. I thought auto express were the experts??

Heyyyyy, the GTI has launch control... Traction off, sport mode, brake on mash the accelerator and go.

nismo gtr vs Lamborghini huracan or vs porsche 991 turbo.... this is an interesting drag races.....

ill have to remember this next im out on the public road with a clear straight mile ahead of us. 1 mile drag race? this really doesnt matter......

We need a CSS vs FK8 CTR review please!

Sad when a car that cost 10k less before mark up is faster when they are both made to for the same purpose.

Was that a GTI or the R

I've always been a fan of German metal....:)....Interesting comparisons though....

Golf ftw!

When it comes to a rally race Civic wins. It's faster on corners. (based on time 0-60) But when it comes to drag race Golf wins.

Wow I thought the civic won because it's a a medium car but idk for the golf gti big or medium

The golf beat the type r because a very simple reason. The golf peak hp starts at 5800 rpm while the type r peak at 6500 rpm.

VW is stepping up

now to all you VW fanboys :) , this clubsport S , 1st of all has better tires , 2nd : it has no backseat and stripped interiour . and 3rd u wont get your hands on it anyway since there are only 400 made of these. so really . not impressed

I would buy the type R and swap all the boy racer parts(esp. that wing!)with a kid with a base hatch

295 hp Beat 320 hp thats true German Power !!!

this vid makes no sense. the R tops out 270km/h, out accelerating the competition and even reeling in the 4wheel drive ones...

This video illustrates that you don't need a golf R to take on a Honda R. A gti would be able to take the cake.

German cars are underrated in power

Golf club sport destroyer of Hondas

LOL, the clubsport S costs more than 28k pounds.

Actually not one of them did run on the ring oficially so they are not fastest,megane RS is

Mighty Clubsport S

the technology behind

I subscribed to this channel because of Steve Sutcliffe. The rest of the reporters Ive seen and this sponsored content is certain to have me unsubscribe. Anyone running this channel?

Give a FWD mk2 Focus RS 2,5T as stiff suspension as these two have got and the same modern sticky rubber, it will eat them alive.

Who in their right mind would pay more for a Civic than the equivalent Golf!?

o disign do Civic type r é muito máo.

The agressive aero creates drag on the Civic past a certain speed that is why the Golf got away with it

1378kg civic with full list of options, full 4 seats and 500L boot 10 000 made where clubsporst s 1360kg 400 made, 2 door, 2 seats, no a/c. All that for what ? Beat the type-r with 1 second on a circuit with 150+ turns. VW are hilarius I'm dying laughing at them.

Impressive. Although the Civic has been measured to do a quicker 0-60.

VW could not accept the defeat the civic type r put on gulf r, so they went ahead and made a club sport s 😂 thanks to the Japanese cars are getting so good

A Golf without rear seats is pointless. Also It will be beaten by the Type R facelift, which will probably have 4 seats

over boost clearly worked for the golf.

this test is stupid...this civic was never made for drag racing. it's too heavy, what a shame

Suddenly every person here has families and the gti clubsport S with no rear seats makes it the loser in the end........

more aggressive aero on Honda slowing it down after 100mph.

Im a Honda fan, and i don't really care. Infact im laughing on this one because its just a drag race. It doesn't prove a thing. Watch every other drag video on the type r vs the golf and the results are the same. But, watch videos on the type r vs the golf on the track, the golf gets owned big time by the type r. Not to mention that the aftermarket support that will be coming soon. Volkswagens are nothing but luxury pieces of shit, track wannabe cars with premature sensor failures.

The clubsport was built with the Nurburgring in mind and has the record of fastest front wheel drive there, this was a no brainer..

The Civic is a like breath of fresh air. For some odd reason, i kinda like the GTI but then i had a trip to Frankfurt. I tell you man, every way you turn the head there's GTI or GTD. Germans have no fucking imagination. How about a Type-R once in a while. Even a Trophy R would be nice. I get that premium sedan wise, german cars rulz but in the hatchback segment you have a tone of cars to choose from.