Not often in Hot Version‘s videos are there battles that finish as closely as this one. Facing off are Takashi Ohi’s EG6 Civic, modified by famed tuner Spoon, and a mildly-fettled S14 Silvia from Keiichi Tsuchiya’s shop, Kei Office. Tsuchiya also happens to be driving the Nissan, putting his company’s reputation and his ego on the line. Not that that prevents him from his usual gloating, but the ensuing battle between these two well-matched machines extracts some praise from Tsuchiya.

Tsuchiya’s S14 boasts 300 horsepower, but an additional 700 pounds of weight. This trade-off makes for an intriguing battle which puts the two drivers consistently within inches of each other’s bumpers. Never content to concede a corner, the exchange lasts the entire race and never once is a victor obvious.

This Civic’s all-around performance made it a regular on the Best Motoring series.

Thanks to its trim figure, the Civic’s acceleration is not far from that of the Silvia, and its high-speed balance makes it slightly quicker in the fastest corners. Where it occasionally suffers is in the off-camber and slowest corners, where its layout is a hindrance. Making up for this deficiency is the ability to brake slightly later and harder than the Nissan, keeping the two incredibly close. However, the Drift King is known to be a tough competitor – bordering on reckless – and his performance here demonstrates he’s not going down without a fight.

Tsuchiya rates the S14 as one of the best cars to learn rear wheel-drive control in.

After forcing Ohi into the dirt, Tsuchiya begins to wilt, ever so slightly. With level-headedness and deft precision, Ohi manages to nip ahead in the final chicane – but only by the narrowest of margins. Typically, Tsuchiya is not an easy driver to impress, but on this day, he had nothing but respect for Ohi’s patient, precise drive and the performance of the nimble, athletic Civic.