Some Geniuses Are Swapping Honda CR-V Parts Into Civics And Going Crazy Fast

It’s no secret that the Honda Civic is a byword for front-wheel-drive performance. From SCCA autocross to the CarDomain era to Tsukuba to drag strips across America, insane Civic are still out there doing crazy stuff, thanks to can-do attitudes and the biggest aftermarket support this side of a small-block Chevy.

However, seriously fast front-wheel-drive Hondas have limitations, and one of the biggest drag strip limitations is weight transfer in a front-wheel-drive layout. The harder you launch when the light turns green, the harder weight shifts from the driven front axle to the dead rear axle.

So, what if you could send power to the rear axle as well as the front axle? Well, some people are doing just that, using the five-speed manual transmission, driveshaft, rear differential, and axles from a first-generation or second-generation CR-V to make their EG or EK (1992 to 1995 or 1996 to 2000) Honda Civic an all-wheel-drive warrior.

I know what you’re probably thinking — where on earth does the driveshaft actually go? Well, there’s space for it, because Honda actually made all-wheel-drive Civics, and I’m not just talking about the Wagovan. The fifth-generation Civic RTSi and sixth-generation Civic Ferio RTi 4WD featured a power transfer unit, a driveshaft, and a rear differential, all in a normal-looking Civic. Just take a look at this underbody shot of a Civic Ferio RTi 4WD that sold on Bring A Trailer in 2022. Those models never made it to North America, and even in Japan they were primarily saddled with automatic transmissions, but the same sort of all-wheel-drive technology came to America in the CR-V, and an arguably better version came to America in the fourth-generation Civic Wagon.

1996 Honda Civic 42c763f4 5bbe 4c96 8930 3ff83446c21e Scaled Copy

See, the first-generation and second-generation CR-V, along with the Honda Element, used two hydraulic pumps to engage the all-wheel-drive system in proportion to slip at the front axle, meaning that the more the front wheels slipped, the more clamping force was applied to clutches in the drivetrain, meaning more torque would be transferred to the rear axle. However, the old Civic Wagon’s available four-wheel-drive system used a stouter viscous coupling that’s more consistent. The solution if you’re dealing with higher horsepower and CR-V AWD components? A little bit of modification.

Ramp Up Prod 59038 76450

Yes, several companies sell parts to increase engagement force and shorten the time needed for CR-V AWD components to engage, and some of these kits are shockingly inexpensive. For instance, Famspec sells a $49 kit for the CR-V rear differential to increase fluid pressure, which might come in handy if you’re pushing serious horsepower.

Hcp Honda AWD Kit

Alright, so now you have the rear differential, drivetrain, axles, and transmission from a CR-V. Now what? Well, you’re going to need to order an AWD conversion kit. Several vendors offer solutions for fitting these parts into a Civic, but they all include trailing arms, camber arms, toe links, and a way to mount the differential in the car, be it a mount set or a complete subframe. One of the more advanced kits out there is from FCS Race, and while it is expensive at $4,197.95, it includes a full subframe, new hubs, and a full Wilwood brake setup. Some slight clearancing of the stock body is required, but for the most part, we’re talking about a bolt-in installation. If you’re looking for something more grassroots, the Honda community’s seen massive success with the Hub City Performance kit, pictured above, which stickers for between $2,405.27 and $2,757.14, depending on which bushings, finishes, and hubs you’d like.

The result is a game-changer in high-horsepower Honda drag racing. Let’s do a little comparison. Back in 2022, Kevin Aleman’s front-wheel-drive 1,500-horsepower Civic became the second-fastest SFWD Civic in America with a quarter-mile ET of 7.803 seconds at 187.86 mph. On that pass, Honda Tech reports that Aleman set a class 60-foot record, meaning the quickest time to the 60-foot marker. That’s cooking with gas, right?

Two years earlier, That Racing Channel on YouTube highlighted an all-wheel-drive Civic built by P-Racing. Although it uses a vastly different formula to achieve an estimated 1,500 horsepower than Aleman’s front-wheel-drive car (K-series versus B-series, AWD vs FWD), it clicked off a 7.45-second pass at 186 mph. That trap speed tells us that all of the time found happened basically in the launch, and in the world of seven-second quarter-mile passes, 0.35 seconds is huge.

So, if you want to go crazy stupid fast in a Civic, all-wheel-drive parts from a CR-V, Element, or Civic Wagon might be just what you need to break through the edge. Oh, and even if you aren’t spending tens of thousands of dollars to pump out hypercar horsepower, all-wheel-drive can improve the launch consistency of a heavily turbocharged Civic.

FCS Race AWD Honda Civic kit

So, if you’re looking for a next-level project car, an all-wheel-drive Civic is definitely a possibility. However, if weight and height-to-track-width aren’t huge factors, you could also just build a terrifyingly quick boosted CR-V. These small crossovers were available with B-series engines for their first generation and K-series engines for their second-generation, and they have the potential to be serious sleepers simply by mixing and matching Honda parts bin components, then bolting on a turbocharger and necessary aftermarket supporting mods. Either way, the winner is you.

(Photo credits: Bring A Trailer, Famspec, Hub City Performance, FCS Race)

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