Even with this heavily modified Acura Integra getting a jump on the start, the 4,500-lb. Dodge Charger runs it down and blows it away.
The video above comes to us from the Street_Sweeper510 YouTube channel and it shows a drag race between a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and a built Acura Integra. The Acura is clearly far more modified than the Charger and it appears to get a bit of an early jump on the start – but the supercharged sedan still makes short work of the boosted import.
The Competitors
When it comes to performance oriented cars, the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and the Acura Integra are about as different from each other as it gets. The Integra is a front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder coupe with less than 200 stock horsepower and a curb weight in the area of 2,700 pounds. The Charger is a rear-wheel drive, supercharged V8 sedan with 707 stock horsepower and a curb weight over 4,500 pounds.
In stock form, the Hellcat Charger would annihilate the Integra, but neither of these cars are stock.
The Charger has a cold air intake, a cat-less mid-pipe, a new lower pulley (adding some boost) and a tune. The We don’t get much of a mod list for the Acura, but in the comments we learn that it has been fitted with a 60mm turbocharger. We can also see that has a huge front-mount intercooler, wide tires that stick way out of the wheel openings, body colors that don’t match and no front fascia. You know an import racer is serious when the owner leaves the front fascia off and has mismatched body colors.
In any case, the Hellcat is making a bit more than 707 horsepower and the Integra should be making way more than the sub-200 horsepower stock figures.
The Race
After a shadowy walk-around of each car, we head off to the race. The footage begins with the Integra doing a massive burnout and for a four-cylinder car, it sounds pretty good. When the Charger does its burnout, we realize that the Acura really doesn’t sound all that great.
As the camera swings around behind the cars, we can hear the engine of the Acura scream as anti-lag system is engaged. The starter walks around and flips on the light on his phone, signaling both cars to go.
The Integra gets the clear starting line advantage, but when the boost compact runs into traction issues, the supercharged Charger quickly takes the lead and walks away.
The video ends with a few different angles of the Hellcat Charger beating the boosted Acura on the top end of the track.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
