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Here's a recap of our favourite 2023 drag race comparisons - Carwow edition.
HERE'S A RECAP OF OUR FAVOURITE 2023 DRAG RACE COMPARISONS - CARWOW EDITION.
Drag races are cool for sorting out who has the fastest car over a standing quarter mile. It’s the best way to test the acceleration of a car, and with modern cars and the way the transmissions work, great results can be had even with a novice driver. The cars sort of take away from the skill of it, but even with modern technology you do need to know how to launch the car properly for the best results. Too much power and you can lose traction off the line handing the win to a less capable car, too little power and the car can bog off the line. Some cars need a few seconds to activate launch control and if the opposing car doesn’t need it, it will have the holeshot. They’re still massively entertaining either way, and some of the best matchups we’ve seen in 2023 have come from the crew at Carwow in the UK. What makes their drag races cool to watch is the kinds of cars they find to match up. Oftentimes the drag races do well to answer drunken pub car talk. Like which car would be faster? A Ferrari F40 or a Bugatti EB 110? With the cars being super-rare and stupendously expensive, questions like this are usually answered by checking magazine archives or searching for original test data online that someone added to a car specs website. With Carwow having a whopping 8.76 million subscribers gained from posting nearly 2,500 videos, a fair amount of those videos answer these nagging automotive questions. We know that we’re not the only ones who want these answers because the video they uploaded that pits the F40 up against the EB 110 received over 1,700,000 views in just two weeks. Sure other channels do drag race comparisons, and some of them are also properly entertaining but they don’t seem to have access to the same kinds of cars that Carwow does. Here are seven of our favourites from Mat Watson and his crew that we watched during 2023, starting with the aforementioned F40 vs EB 110...
The M TwinPower Turbo inline-6-cylinder powerplant is rated to produce a healthy 375 kW with a very healthy 650 Nm of torque. Mated to the lightning-fast 8-speed M Steptronic transmission with Drivelogic and the associated M xDrive all-wheel drive system with the Active M differential, BMW techs claim the car can reach 100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds and 200 km/h in 12.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 280 km/h if the M Driver’s Package is optioned. The car tips the scales at 1 865 kg. Pretty impressive. The longroof from Audi, the RS4 Avant is equipped with a 2.9-litre V6 that’s also fed boost via a pair of turbochargers, and in the case of the four rings the setup is rated at 331 kW with 600 Nm of torque which is less than in the BMW rival, but the Audi does come in 120 kg lighter and that’s like having a Fourways Boet riding shotgun. Does the power difference make up for it or not? That’s what this test has been set to determine, which longroof is the boss. The RS4 Avant is claimed to hit 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed limited to 250 km/h in stock form.
The petrol-powered R8 GT features a normally aspirated 5.2-litre V10 mated to an 8-speed transmission that feeds 456 kW of power and 565 Nm of torque to the rear wheels. It’s good for a 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.4 seconds and tops out at 320 km/h. It’s the lightest of the lot with a weight of 1,570 kg. The RS e-tron GT features an 84 kWh battery with a pair of electric motors totalling 475 kW with 840 Nm of torque. It weighs a hefty 2,345 kg but can still do a 3.3 second 0-100 km/h dash and it tops out at 250 km/h. The S1 Hoonitron features a pair of motors, one on each axle that combine to produce 500 kW with 640 Nm of torque, and it's ok in the weight department with a 1,620 kg. Cool match-up.
With Audi retiring the much-loved TT nameplate this year, any TT content has been great to see. There have only been three generations of the Audi TT, but the Mk1 had two great powerplants to choose from so both are included here. One has the 1.8-litre 20-valve lump with 180 kW and the other has the normally aspirated 3.2 V6 powerplant with 185 kW. Representing the Mk2 is the range-topping TT RS with a turbocharged 2.5-litre 5-pot with 254 kW and 450Nm. Representing the Mk3 is the Iconic Edition TT RS rated at 300 kW with 480Nm of torque.
There's a range of awesome new modern sports cars, and these drum up loads of debate, so a drag race to settle the talk will always rack up the views. This one lines up the new BMW M2 with 338 kW with 550Nm of torque, the new Audi RS3 with 294 kW with 500Nm, the new Mercedes-AMG A45 S rated at 310 kW with 500 Nm and the Porsche 718 Boxster GTS rated at 294 kW with 430 Nm. On paper, they're pretty close, but paper doesn't mean much in the real world.
This one is very cool if you're a Porsche fan. It features some of the coolest Porsche models available and does a good job of showing how the performance differs between the range-toppers. There are two Caymans, the base GT4 with 420 hp and 430 Nm while the RS has 500 hp and 450 Nm. The 911 GT3 is rated at 510 hp with 470 Nm and the RS is rated at 525 hp with 465 Nm. All the cars in this Porsche test session have power sent to the rear wheels only and use the 7-speed PDK transmission.
The OG BMW E30 M3 featured a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder with 192 hp when launched, not much for such an iconic car. The 2nd-generation E36 M3 was powered by a 3.0-litre inline-6 that produced just 240 hp. The 3rd-gen E46 M3 featured a bigger capacity 3.2-litre inline-6 with 333 hp of power available. The 4th-generation E90/E92 M3 was powered by a 4.0-litre V8 with 414 hp to exploit, while the 5th-generation F80 M3 featured a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-6 producing 425 hp. The latest version, the G80 M3 has a twin-turbocharged inline 6 too but has 480 hp on tap. Of course, on paper, the latest gen is the best of the lot, as it should be.
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