Any time you have two supercars that pack outputs of well over 1,000 horsepower, the idea is to get these two exotics in one location to see who could outpace the other in an extreme high-powered race.
Recently, such a thing happened when a 1,600-horsepower, Underground Racing-tuned Lamborghini Gallardo matched wits with a 1,500-horsepower Nissan GT-R.
It was, as the video calls it, an "epic battle".
We’re not going to spoil the fun because this drag race deserves your full attention. The Gallardo and the GT-R have not only become tuning favorites in their own right, but the two models have been pitted against each other in a lot of similar races.
Of course, we can’t remember the last time both cars carried in excess of 1,500 horsepower when they duked it out for racing supremacy, so consider this a lucky treat for all of us.
It’s the Gallardo versus the GT-R all over again. Only this time, both come with enough power to put other exotics to shame.
When a car is considered the fastest of its kind, people usually stand up and pay serious attention.
Well, that’s what folks are saying about this 2013 BRZ, which belongs to drag racing driver Ali Afshar. If beefed up is a description for this Japanese sports car, then consider that a massive understatement.
As an 18-time NHRA champion, Afshar knows full well the value of having a monster engine under the hood of his team’s racecars. That’s precisely why this BRZ comes with a staggering 1,400 horsepower, all packed in the car’s 2.5-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine. The usual amenities of a racecar have also been added, including the full-on roll cage, the enormous rear wing, the wheelie-bar, and the wide slick wheels.
But the real highlight of this BRZ is that engine that has been tuned to deliver some otherworldly output. All in all, that much power should bode well for the Afshar, as he attempts to race the BRZ down the strip of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway later this week in 7 seconds.
It’ll be interesting to see if Afshar is successful in his attempt, which will be a record, should he achieve it. Whatever happens, it’s going to make for an extremely entertaining show.
So when you’re left with a dearth of choices, you opt for the next best thing: an Airbus A320.
We’ve seen supercars engage aircrafts in some friendly drag strip races over the past few years. This time, the F12berlinetta took a crack at an Air Malta Airbus 320 in a race for charity.
The actual race was actually held last December 9th at the Malta international Airport with the proceeds being sent to the Paqpali Ghall-Istrina charity. Circumstances were far from ideal as a little precipitation cast some dark clouds over the venue.
But in the end, the race went ahead as planned and while the F12berlinetta was clearly no match against the Air Malta Airbus 320, the event did succeed in raising an impressive €178,820 for the Paqpali Ghall-Istrina charity.
All in the name of a good cause; the race eventually played a secondary role with the money raised for charity. But that can’t stop us from watching how it unfolded, right?
The guys over Drag Times magazine had the chance to take a McLaren MP4-12C supercar to the Palm Beach International Raceway for some quarter-mile testing. The car tested was a 2013 model year that delivers a total of 616 horsepower and comes equipped with reprogrammed transmission logic.
The model also features carbon-ceramic brakes, a sport exhaust system and super-light wheels, which help deliver a total weight of just 3,118 pounds when fuel tank was just a quarter full. All these updates dropped a weight-to-power ratio to 5.06 pounds per horsepower.
The results were pretty amazing, as the 12C ran the 1/4-mile in 10.55 seconds at a speed of 134.56 mph. These numbers make the MP4-12C faster than the Lamborghini Aventador, but also the second fastest-stock production car in the world, after the Bugatti Veyron. We are just waiting for some official confirmations from McLaren before getting too excited.
Have you ever noticed that the most impressive tests aren’t being made by the automaker itself? For example, Tesla never published enough information to show us what a truly amazing car the Model S Performance is. The folks over at DragTimes.com, however, put it to an extreme test at the Palm Beach International Raceway.
The result was pretty astounding, as it ran the quarter-mile in just 12.371 seconds at a speed of 110.84 mph, making the quickest production electric vehicle in the quarter-mile. The result was booked by the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA), so this is as official as it gets. Additionally, DragTimes.com clocked the model S from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds – 0.5 seconds faster than Tesla’s published time.
To add a little flavor to the mix, the above video shows said model S laying the beat-down on a Dodge Viper. Sure, the person driving the Viper likely needs to go back to racing school to learn how to correctly launch from the starting tree, but it still beat a Viper...
The Model S put to test was equipped with a special set of 21-inch wheels that weigh more than the standard 19-inch rims offered by Tesla, making the results doubly impressive. Under the hood, the electric car has an AC induction motor that delivers a total of 416 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque.
As a reminder, DragTimes is the same site that put the Tesla Model S Performance on the dyno and obtained a pretty monstrous 388 horsepower at the rear wheels.
This video, or pair of videos, just goes to show the thrills and perils of getting involved in drag racing, especially when you have a 2013 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet that’s just itching to pounce off of that starting line.
The muscle car flexes its insane muscles in the beginning, performing a scintillating wheelie as soon as the lights drops to green. After that visual spectacle of power, the driver suddenly loses control of the Mustang Cobra Jet, sending it careening into the barricades of the Cecil County Dragway in Northeast Maryland.
The ABM Nationals was the scene of the wheelie turned crash and fortunately for the driver of the Mustang Cobra Jet, the resulting chaos didn’t come with any injuries for him. We can’t say so much for the Mustang, as it took some serious damage.
Check out the video of the wheelie and crash from inside the Mustang Cobra Jet after the jump.
After watching this video, we strongly believe it is time for us to relocate. Where exactly? Well...Poland! Because this is where all the amazing action from this video took place.
What followed after the cars’ presentation is beyond any imagination. We can all describe it in just one word: FUN!
Even with a collection of cars such as these, as winner had to be chosen, and it looks like it was a Chevrolet Corvette tuned by Lingenfelter with a time of 12.138 seconds. At the opposite end of the spectrum - the losing side - was the Lotus Exige with a time of 13.797 seconds.
If anyone knows of a better video than this, please let us know!
Of the four vehicles that are set to take part in the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge, NHRA Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown’s Sequoia Family Dragster Concept is just about the most ridiculous of the bunch. And we mean ridiculous in a good way.
This SEMA-bound project, aptly nicknamed the "DragQuoia" was built with one goal in mind: straight line speed.
So Antron Brown went to work to make sure that no stones were left unturned in making this vehicle the fastest of the four in the competition. The first and most important order of business was to give the Sequoia a TRD-supercharged engine with nitrous, netting an insane output of over 650 horsepower. From there, Brown and his team fitted a new set of 21.5" rear tires and worked on customizing the chassis fabrication to remove well over 1,600 lbs in what they describe as "non-essential" weight.
From there, the team took the interior to fit the Sequoia with four individual racing seats, each coming with its own five-point racing harness. There’s also a child-size version with its own harness in the back for the little one, further illustrating the massive irony of this build. Finally, to enhance the vehicle’s safety credentials, Brown added a full custom roll cage and a tail-mounted parachute.
"It’s...a special vehicle with a little hint of NHRA twisted all the way in it, with a lot of horsepower,” Brown said. “It’s fast…from my house to the grocery store!”
The man isn’t exaggerating.
The DragQuoia will be one of four vehicles that are part of the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge. Fans will get the chance to vote once per day on their favorite model via Toyota Racing’s Facebook page from October 20 to 29. The winning vehicle will take home $50,000, which will go to the driver’s charity of choice.
UPDATE 11/03/12: The Toyota Sequoia Family Dragster didn’t take home the hardware of the Toyota Racing Dream Challenge, but it did walk away with the Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Gran Turismo Award for Best Truck or SUV at the 2012 SEMA Show. Big ups to the "DragQuoia" for the achievement!
Seemingly every day another tuner is upping the ante on the potential-filled Lamborghini Gallardo. The latest one we have for you is a 2008 Gallardo Superleggera tuned by Total Race out of Russia. The guys at Total Race installed custom-built CP pistons, Carillo connecting rods, ferrea valves and springs, custom valve guides and seats, custom camshaft, CNC-ported head, billet lower intake, dry sump and custom oil tank on the 5.0-liter V-10 engine. Then they bolted up a pair of Precision 7175 turbochargers that pump 35 psi of boost into the intake.
All of those modifications get the V-10 engine up to an eye-popping 2,000 horsepower – only 1,730 horsepower was measured, due to wheel slip on the dyno. The internal modifications and balancing allows the engine to reach a peak speed of 10,000 rpm.
Total Race then installed a new billet front differential, custom transfer case and electronics, which allows straight rear-wheel drive or 50-50 all-wheel drive. The final addition to the driveline is a set of custom gears inside the Lambo’s 6-speed manual transmission.
The car hasn’t been run on the track since it has hit 2,000 horsepower, but at 1,500 horsepower it ran a quarter mile in just 9.5 seconds at 270 km/h (169 mph) and it rips off a full mile in just 22.18 seconds – a world record — at 395 km/h (245.44 mph). At 2,000 horsepower, Total Race estimates a 7-second quarter mile and 20 seconds to hit a full mile.
There are two videos of this impressive Gallardo, the one above is of the car on the dyno and the one after the jump is of its world-record 1-mile run. Enjoy!
So, we have already had a quick look-see at the Red Katana GT-R a few weeks ago and we were pretty impressed at how it looked on paper. Now we actually get a good look at it in action, as it runs down the quarter mile boasting all 1,000-plus horsepower when on pump gas and 1,300 horsepower on race gas.
This monster rips off an impressive time at an unthinkable speed from a street car. To boot, this car is a whopping 300 lbs heavier than the model you can pick up at the local Nissan dealer. It’s hilarious and impressive to watch the above video for two key reasons. The first reason is that a more “street-friendly” car is in the lane next to the Red Katana and takes off well before the Katana does. Within a blink of an eye, the Katana takes off and reels in the other car like it was stopped. It is simply astounding.
The second part, which carries even more weight, is the slip delivery. An older gentleman that probably delivers 10-second slips all day every day and likely is not too often impressed, was overwhelmed by the numbers this beast pulled. The driver then alerts the man that the car is not only street legal, but also weighs 300 lbs more than a stock GT-R. The slip delivery man has a few choice words of astonishment for the driver’s efforts.
You may want to make sure the kids are out of the room, the ending has a little salty language. By salty, we mean a few Eff-bombs…
