Spoiler alert: this is one of the closest drag racing videos we’ve ever seen. And that’s impressive, when you consider that the Honda S2000 went out of production more than a decade before the second-generation Toyota GR86 was introduced.
On the other hand, neither of these cars was designed primarily to be pushing the limits of what is possible with engineering. Instead, they were designed to push the boundaries of how much fun their drivers can have, and this race is no exception.
Both Honda and Toyota (and Subaru) landed on pretty much the same formula. Small car, small engine, and rear-wheel drive, so it should perhaps not come as a surprise that the race is close.
Read: Can The 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Beat The Honda Civic Type R In A Drag Race?
For the Honda, that meant a 2.0-liter, inline four that made 237 hp (177 kW/241 PS) and 153 lb-ft (207 Nm) of torque when new. The car in question, though, is quite a bit older, though, which means that it has traveled roughly 46,000 miles (74,000 km) since it left the factory, and undoubtedly lost a few horses along the way.
The Toyota GR86, meanwhile, is still likely to have all of the 233 hp (174 kW/236 PS) and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) of torque that its 2.4-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine can muster. What is perhaps more impressive than the S2000 having more horsepower than the GR86, though, is that the new car weighs exactly the same amount as the older one, at 2,756 lbs (1,250 kg).
So the Honda has a little more power, the Toyota has more torque; the S2000 revs a little higher, the GR86 has revved a lot less; and they both weigh exactly the same amount. If that’s not the makings of a good drag race, I don’t know what is.
And indeed, the first two races are neck and neck, with the cars trading a victory back and forth, leaving it all to a final, winner-take-all drag race to see which is the best (once) affordable sports car. Watch the video below to see which one wins.