WRX STI With 862 HP Takes on 1,300 HP Altima in Unusual Drag Race
Travis Pastrana’s WRX STI proves that it doesn’t matter how much power you make if you can’t get it to the ground.
The Hoonigan series This vs. That has featured quite a few strange yet interesting drag races between just about any kinds of vehicles one might be able to think of. Thus, they’re changing things up a bit with the new “Flying Finish” edition of This vs. That, which pits Travis Pastrana‘s Gymkhana veteran 2020 Subaru WRX STI against various vehicles in a drag race, after which Pastrana jumps the car off a ramp at 100 miles-per-hour, just because.
In this installment, Pastarana’s rival is drifter Chris Forsberg and his Nissan Altima that’s no ordinary family sedan. The Altimaniac, as he calls it, has been fitted with a GT-R powerplant with twin Garrett turbos to produce a clean 1,300 horsepower, though the car is capable of 2,000 ponies, according to its owner. The only reason they keep it dialed back is the Altima simply won’t hook with that much juice, which is believable.
Of course, this Nissan sedan doesn’t look much like itself any more thanks to all-new wide bodywork and a gutted interior fitted with a roll cage, though it does still have four (racing) seats inside. It also has a lot more power than Pastarana’s WRX STI, which makes around 862 horsepower at the wheels, but is rear-wheel-drive only, while the Subbie is of course all-wheel-drive. So will that extra grip make the difference in a real-world drag race?
The only way to find out is to line them up. And in round one – a 1,000-foot race – traction wins as the Altimaniac simply smokes the tires immediately off the line, while the Subaru hooks and goes. The lengthy burnout certainly looks cool, but Forsberg’s dreams of a win go up in literal smoke. But this is a best of three drag race, so it isn’t over yet. “I got throttle happy as soon as he started going, I think,” Forsberg said in the understatement of the year.
So for round two, Pastarana gives Forsberg the hit and the two agree to a longer, 1,500-foot race. Regardless, the results are, well, exactly the same, as the Altima immediately goes up in smoke right off the line. Even with the longer distance, there still isn’t enough room for him to catch up, either. Thus, the pair does a bonus roll race to see if that makes a difference. And it does, as the Altima easily pulls away for the win.
Once again proving that no matter how much horsepower you have under the hood, it will simply vaporize, inefficiently, into the air if you can’t effectively get it to the ground. But for a car built to be a drifter and not a drag racer, Forsberg’s sedan is undoubtedly impressive, however.
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