On the outside, it just looks like a gray 2014 Honda Civic Si with a crooked front license plate and some stickers on the trunk lid. But under the hood sits a heavily-built 500-horsepower beast that makes Matt Farah, the host of The Smoking Tire, laugh uncontrollably. Watch the video of this “super sleeper,” and you’ll understand why.
This 2014 Honda Civic Si has been modified by its owner, Mark, to produce at least 450 horsepower and 370 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. As our more astute readers will recall, those wheels on a Civic Si are located at the front—you know, where power over about 300 HP often goes to die.
But this Civic isn’t about logic, it’s about utter ridiculousness and maximum sleeper-ness. Mark took the stock 2.4-liter K24Z7 inline-four, built up the shortblock, slapped in new pistons and rods, bolted on a big-ass Comp 5862 ball-bearing turbo, put in a different clutch, changed out the springs, and filled the tank with an ethanol-blend fuel.
The result is—well, just watch. Pay special attention to about 4:50 to 5:00, where Matt Farah produces a hilarious diabolical laugh while unleashing the car’s 500 ponies worth of front-drive madness:
The Civic has a “low boost” (12-13 pounds) and a “high boost” (18-19 pounds) mode, which drivers can flip between with a dash-mounted button. The whole thing looks just hilarious and fun, running just over 12 seconds in the quarter (with plenty of potential to run quicker), and chirping the tires in far too many gears, despite the limited slip differential and Michelin Pilot Super Sports.
I remember driving the last-generation Honda Civic Type R in rural Bavaria last year. As the most powerful front-drive car I’d ever driven, that thing made me laugh my ass off as I slammed through the gears, trying to get those front tires to claw at the asphalt. I can’t imagine how much of a riot 500 horsepower must be, but Matt’s laugh tells me the answer is “a shit-ton.”
And for a Civic that powerful to not have carbon fiber Everything, or to even have aftermarket wheels or a bigger wing, puts it—as Matt says— “deep into sleeper territory.” And that’s just awesome.