This Civic flips the script as a rear-wheel V8 drift machine

Whatever you say about the 5th gen Honda Civic EG, the venerable hatchback has gained a cult following the world over. Light, agile, economical and practical, the EG hatch has become the go-to platform for those getting their feet wet with car modification. Such is its charm that today, rare parts can go for hundreds of thousands of pesos for one part or a piece of the interior.

The following for Hondas in general are strong, but to the rest of the automotive world it doesn’t come with its weaknesses. Enter the argument of front-wheel drive vs rear wheel drive.

The Honda Civic is, first and foremost, an economy car. With efficiency, costs, and targets in mind, Honda didn’t sell these cars primarily for racing - hence the ‘inferior’ front wheel drive platform. Any sports car purist will tell you that the true driving experience rests on a true front-engined, rear-wheel drive powertrain - and this is exactly what has been done to the EG civic we have here.

Built by a Thai drift team, the EG’s chassis has been extensively modified to adapt a full rear-wheel drive powertrain. One thing we can certainly tell you is this endeavor is not a bolt-on affair. Complete re-engineering of the underbody, suspension, and a lot of math must have been involved to execute this flawlessly, and it must be so if they expect the car to go sideways for the rest of its life.

Sticking to a tried-and-tested drift car formula, it appears the VTEC powerplant has been ditched for a Toyota 3UZ, a 4.3-liter V8 motor you would normally find on Lexus LX/GX/LS models from the mid 2000's. That said, our guess would be that the transmission is probably a full sequential piece adapted to the V8.

In an ideal world, everybody would have access to a rear-wheel drive Civic hatch. But in a world of “common” front wheel drive cars, this Honda Civic drift car certainly stands out in a class of its own.