The Fast and the Furious

I was cruising along C5, enjoying the Mitsubishi Lancer MX’s sequential-shift Sport Mode gearbox when I saw the headlights in my rear view mirror. It was 2 p.m. and the sun was blazing. This guy must have left his lights on or probably has daytime running lights, I thought to myself.

But the lights grew stronger and bigger much sooner than I had expected. Before I knew it, the car – an imported late-model Honda Civic hatchback – was alongside me and blew past in an impressive display of mechanical fury and sheer speed.

Welcome to the world of the fast and the furious.

The silver Civic must have been doing 150 kph – on a sweeping curve. An emblem on its rear said "Type R", signifying that it was one of a rare breed of Hondas powered by 180-plus horsepower twin-cam engines.

But the car that overtook me had obviously been given the "tuner" treatment. It was sitting impossibly low to the ground, its wheels unmistakable black touring car-inspired 17-inches. Its exhaust pipe could swallow an anaconda. And the high-pitched engine note could only be reached at 7,000 rpm or higher.

I had come across a similar car before. It had a near 300-hp, 1.8-liter engine modified by Honda racing specialist Mugen of Japan. That’s enough to give it a power-to-weight ratio that would embarrass a Porsche 911.

These Civics, as well as cars of their like – such as the Lancer Evolutions, TRD and TOMS Corollas, Subaru Impreza WRXs, Mazdaspeed Familias, Nismo Sentras, etc. – are fast gaining cult levels of popularity (or is it notoriety?) not just here but also in Japan and the United States. So much so that Hollywood decided to put culture to film in the high-octane action yarn The Fast & The Furious, a movie about high-stakes drag racing in the West Coast involving incredibly fast Japanese cars.

Many of these cars could exceed 200 kph without breaking a sweat. But more than top speed, these cars are meisters of the quartermile.

Only this month a heavily modified Lancer Evo V driven by Redline Racing’s veteran drag racer Dondi Montecillo broke the elusive 8-second mark in the legal quartermile races held at the drag strip of the Manila North Harbor. The car is quicker than any production Ferrari sold on the planet.

On the other side of the law, a weekend visit to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City or E. Rodriguez Avenue in Libis in the wee hours of the morning will make one witness some of the most exciting, albeit illegal, forms of drag racing. Same cars, same rules, but the stakes are higher. So high that the participants interviewed for this piece were unwilling to have their names published.

Bernard Laxamana, one of the regular spectators (but not a participant) in the drag racing scene, says that friends of dueling cars would pool their funds together and come up with a pot that could reach as much as P50,000, sometimes even higher.

"This amount would either double or disappear in less than 10 seconds," he says, referring to the typical quartermile elapsed time of a Japanese muscle car.

But that is nothing compared to how much the drag racers spend in making their cars go fast. A new Lancer Evo costs upwards of P2 million. An unassuming-looking Civic hatchback may carry a potent Type R engine which, with modifications like racing pistons or turbos (not to mention the usual array of body, brake and suspension kits), can bring its total price to over a million bucks. No expense is spared in the search for quartermile glory.

Ultimately, these people bond together for the sheer love of cars and speed – and all the excitement that come with it. So whether you’re in downtown Tokyo, on a deserted stretch of highway in Los Angeles, or in the unpoliced streets of Manila, close your eyes and feel the tremble of the tarmac as the fast and the furious go at it hammers and tongs.