Sam Krahn 
YouTube loves a good drag race, but they typically feature cars you’d expect to be paired together. Mustang vs Camaro vs Challenger. Ferrari vs McLaren. You get the idea. But it’s not too often that you see a classic Camaro race against a Toyota Corolla, especially when it’s a 850 hp drag Camaro and a 900 hp pro drift Corolla. But that’s the weird world we live in, and the geniuses over at the Hoonigan YouTube channel have made this wacky drag race a reality. Headphone users beware.
The Camaro muscle car in question is (loosely) based on the inaugural 1967 model, and features a naturally aspirated 850 hp big block V8 hooked up to a two-speed power glide transmission. It’s a purpose built racer, so you’ve got massive rear drag radials, a wheelie bar, a completely stripped out interior, and a wild hood scoop.
Similarly, the Corolla has little to do with the economy hatch it’s based on. The biggest difference is the swap to a rear wheel drive drivetrain, and the small matter of 900 hp. In the video, the engine is running at an 850 hp tune. The engine is pushed rearward for better weight distribution, and fitted a five speed sequential manual transmission. Finally, the Corolla has an aggressive widebody, suspension, wheel and tire setup made specifically for drifting.
And that is why the Camaro comfortably wins the drag races in the video. Despite being 50 hp down, it walks away from the Corolla. The entire focus of the Camaro build is to dominate a drag race, whereas the Corolla was intended for drifting. Flip the event to a drift off, and the Camaro couldn’t come close to the Corolla.
While this race has a rather expected result, and these are certainly some odd cars to put head to head, it’s an entertaining match of two cars with similar power specs. Plus, both sound rather fantastic at full chat.
