‘MotorTrend’ Greatest Drag Race 9: 12 Stunning Cars with 6,946 Total Horsepower
While the untouchable McLaren Senna claimed top spot, we’re more interested in the midfield results.
What happens when you need to test the straight-line acceleration of 12 different vehicles side by side at the same time? You find an Air Force Base willing to let you use their space. This is exactly what the good folks at MotorTrend did to cap off their annual Best Driver’s Car Awards. This 2019 edition of the event marked some stiff competition, ranging from limited-production hypercars to entry-level luxury sports coupes. The concept is not necessarily what is the most expensive or performance figure shattering of the bunch, but what gives the driver the most rewarding experience.
However, this test is a little bit less subjective. It doesn’t matter how the cars drive or make you feel, all that matters is that they go fast in a straight line. Thanks to 15,000 feet of runway and 6,946 total horsepower, we get to see one of the biggest drag races of the year. While the pack might be diverse, the average horsepower of all 12 vehicles is 579, so we are working with heavy hitters. Seven of these vehicles have 0-to-60 times of 3 seconds or less. We get to see who managed to dominate the field thanks to MotorTrend‘s YouTube channel.
For the sake of simplicity we assembled a list of the 12 cars participating in this race:
- Toyota Supra
- McLaren Senna
- Ford Mustang GT350
- 992 991 Carrera S
- Jaguar XE SV Project 8
- Mercedes-AMG GT 63 4MATIC+
- BMW 850i xDrive
- Bentley Continental GT
- BMW M2 Competition
- Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
- Lamborghini Urus
- Dodge Challenger Hellcat Red Eye Widebody
As you see, the grid is just as diverse as you’d imagine. However, there is one thing none of these cars are lacking and that is horsepower. The vehicle with the least is the Toyota Supra with 335 HP. The one with the most is the McLaren Senna with just about 789 HP. You might be thinking, why the hell is the $2 million Senna included in this race, isn’t it just going to win? Well, if you thought that, you’d be right. Not really fair to put a $50,000 sports car up against a multi-million dollar one. We didn’t say the race was fair, but for all intents and purposes, we’ll keep the Senna out of our analysis.
Eight of these cars ran 11-second quarter-mile times, meaning the majority of the pack were neck and neck at the finish. However, considering how much power these cars had, a quarter-mile is simply not enough. Thus, they also ran them to the half-mile point. Here the Aston Martin, Mercedes, and 992 Porsche 911 really shined. Consider the fact that the Aston has 715 HP, the AMG has 630 HP, and the Porsche only has 444 HP. We are stunned by the Porsche’s performance in a straight line. Host Jethro Bovingdon attributed this success to the Porsche’s “brilliant traction, perfect launch control logic, and relatively lightweight build.”
Cars such as the Dodge Hellcat and GT350 Mustang were unfortunate disappointments. Even though power was on their side (707 HP for the Hellcat), both cars’ inability to generate traction off the line severely limited their overall time. It seems that its not just about having power, but being able to put it down. If there is anything this test was able to prove, it was that Porsche always seems to be one step ahead of the competition.
Screengrabs: MotorTrend / YouTube
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