Advertisement

Can a 1,400-HP Porsche 911 Turbo Outrun an F1 Car and Moto GP Bike?

porsche 911 turbo vs red bull f1 car
Can a 1,400-HP Porsche 911 Turbo Outrun an F1 Car?CarWow / YouTube

Take a stock 991.1 Porsche 911 Turbo and build it out so it makes double the original power and you have one of the quickest accelerating gasoline-powered street cars on Earth. However, Formula One race cars and Moto GP bikes exist solely for going fast. In a new drag race video from Carwow, we see if a Porsche built to those specs can keep up.

In this new video, the Porsche Turbo has been modified by ES Motor, and in top tune, it can pump out 1,400 hp. However, due to the damp conditions, the car has been dialed back to produce a mere 1,200 hp. The 911 also has all-wheel drive which will help it launch on a damp track and a 7-speed PDK that fires off lightning quick shifts. Lined up next to the Porsche is the Red Bull RB8. The RB8 won the Formula One World Championship in 2012. The car is powered by a 2.4-liter naturally aspirated V-8 making 800 hp. Also, the car weighs only 1,550 pounds. As if the RB8 was not daunting enough of an opponent, the Porsche must also face the Red Bull KTM RC16 Moto GP bike. It makes 270 hp and is a feather-light 350 pounds.

The finishing order of the race might not be that surprising, but the gap between the vehicles is. From a standing start, the bike wins with a quarter-mile time of just 8.6 seconds. The RB8 was second at 9.3 seconds, and the Porsche finished last with a time of 9.6 seconds. Making a 9-second car seem slow is not easy. But remember with the Porsche you can take your significant other out for a nice dinner with you. Taking a Formula One car out to dinner is not only illegal, but far less comfortable.

For the roll race, the bike drops out and it is just the RB8 and 911 going at it. At the quarter-mile mark, the RB8 has a sizable lead, but the 911 begins to reel it in. By the half-mile mark, the RB8 stays in front, but by less than a car length. The final test of the day is a brake test from 100 mph. The Red Bull wins this contest as well and stops at about two car lengths shorter distance than the 911.

It would be easy to dismiss the Porsche as the loser here. And yes, technically, it did lose every contest. But it was within shouting distance of a Formula One car. And if the Porsche could have used the full 1,400 hp, the results may have been even closer.

With the Porsche, you can daily drive the thing, or take it for a drive across the country if you would like. It is a streetcar with near Formula One levels of performance. And it could be had for about $220,000, before modifications, of course. Tough to call a car like that a loser.

You Might Also Like