1000 HP ‘Street’ AWD EK Hatch Kills the Competition

By Daud Gonzalez - March 9, 2020

He might not daily it, but this car drives to and from the track. Does your Civic run 8s in the 1/4 mile?

Every day it seems we are pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a “street” car. We think the only standard nowadays is that as long as it’s registered, it’s a “street” car. Because I don’t think I’ll be the first to say that I would not be driving a Civic built like this one on the street. Considering this little 1996 EK Hatch makes somewhere in the range of 1000 HP, you might understand why.

The owner of this car is Ryan Chin and as you might imagine, it is far from a standard EK. This little Midori Green (one of the best Honda colors ever) Civic is not only powered by a K20 turbo setup, but is also 100% AWD. That Racing Channel on YouTube has a little feature on his car and shows us some great footage of this thing killing it at the drag strip. We couldn’t resist watching after seeing the crazy thumbnail and description!

1000 HP 'Street' AWD EK Hatch Kills the Competition

According to the owner, he initially owned this particular car 10-12 years ago. He then sold it and it went through a couple of owners. They managed to keep the car in good condition throughout all those years, so he decided to buy it back. His initial goal was to build “a nice street car.” Obviously, most of us will agree it’s come a long way since then.

Currently, this EK is the fastest drag radial-powered Civic anywhere. However, Chin isn’t done yet. He states that, after they finish this season, they “will be going back to the drawing board and building a better motor…then come back harder, trying to find low 8s and maybe a 7.” That is insane speed for a car running a street tire (even if it’s drag-specific). The car is definitely running well as is. Chin feels one of the keys to their success is the AWD system from an EF Hatch. He states that “now that the car is AWD, I would say I will never own another Honda that isn’t AWD.” That’s high praise of the effectiveness of the platform in drag racing.

Considering that the car managed to run a 9.196 at 172 mph on its first run since being built, the team was beyond impressed. The third run out, the car ran an incredible 8.607 at 171 mph. Now that’s just insane. Chin let us know in the video that his wife is to thank firstly, because “building these type of cars does take a lot of money.”

So why is this a “street car”? Well, Chin thinks because it features “all off-the-shelf parts, nothing special.” Curious about the parts list powering this Civic? We have most of the build listed right here!