MotorTrend's World's Greatest Drag Race 8

[Sticky]

Another year another World's Greatest Drag Race from MotorTrend. This year the competition has some very fast cars but again it takes place on a non-prepped airport tarmac. That is fine as how else will you do a 12-wide drag race?

It does give an advantage in traction to the all wheel drive cars. In a 1/4 mile race, launch is everything and without some serious drag rubber and a burn out vehicles like the ZR1 will be at a huge disadvantage.

This is MotorTrend so they try more for Youtube entertainment than hardcore test data.

So what is the lineup?

McLaren 720S
Porsche 911 GT2 RS
Honda Civic Type R
Lamborghini Huracán Performante
BMW M5
Ford Mustang GT PP2
Alfa Romeo Stelvio Q4 Quadrifoglio
Kia Stinger GT
Audi TT RS
Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Mazda MX-5 Club
Aston Martin Vantage

Based on just looking at the list the McLaren should win this followed by the GT2 RS and then the ZR1. The M5 has an opportunity for a strong showing thanks to its all wheel drive so it would not be surprising to see it edge cars it shouldn't. The ZR1 being a prime candidate.

So how did the cars do?

1. McLaren 720S - 10.1 @ 141.5
2. Porsche 911 GT2 RS - 10.3 @ 139.3
3. Lamborghini Huracan Performante - 10.4 @ 134.5
4. ZR1 - 10.8 @ 133.1
5. BMW F90 M5 - 11.1 @ 126.7
6. Aston Martin Vantage - 11.7 @ 120.2
7. Stelvio Quadrifoglio - 11.8 @ 116.1
8. TT-RS - 12.0 @ 114.6
9. Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 - 12.1 @ 115.0
10. Mustang GT - 12.6 @ 113.5
11. KIA Stinger GT - 13.1 @ 106.9
12. Civic Type R - 13.7 @ 105.9

Things went about as they should with the dusty tarmac not helping the ZR1 show well and all wheel drive providing a nice advantage as the Huracan Performante shows. That is how it goes sometimes and in the real world you rarely have ideal conditions.

The McLaren 720S is the quickest and fastest which should surprise nobody at all.

Now, normally that is where things end but MotorTrend does something cool and decides to do a longer 1/2 mile race where the cars can really stretch their legs and grabs a ZR1 without the massive drag inducing wing. They then bring in a Hellcat Redeye.

The slower cars are dumped so we are left with the McLaren 720S, GT2 RS, Huracan Performante, ZR1, and Hellcat Redeye.

And what happens? Well, they force you to their subscription page. Well played MotorTrend but we're not paying you.

[crapinternet]

I don't think I like these standing starts with no prep. This just emulates racing from a red light

but I guess for some of these cars, that's where the majority of their challengers will come from.

Nice to see what a Naturally aspirated v10 can do against the competition. That lambo is pretty stout and claims to be like ~3100 lbs (more with gas and driver). I bet the 5.2L V10 sounds wondrous near its 8,000 RPM redline.

[Eleventeen]

I don’t understand why they would put a Kia Stinger and Honda Civic R in this lineup. There are plenty of better matched cars they could have chosen. Also, if you’re going with a Mustang and a Challenger, why not go with a GT350 and a Hellcat or Demon? We already knew the bottom 4 cars were slow, so thanks for nothing...

It’s obvious they had trouble procuring better cars, and just took whatever companies / owners would lend them.

[93siro]

I don’t understand why they would put a Kia Stinger and Honda Civic R in this lineup. There are plenty of better matched cars they could have chosen. Also, if you’re going with a Mustang and a Challenger, why not go with a GT350 and a Hellcat or Demon? We already knew the bottom 4 cars were slow, so thanks for nothing...

It’s obvious they had trouble procuring better cars, and just took whatever companies / owners would lend them.

The cars should be new for 2018 i guess so that's why the list isn't as comprehensive as you'd want.

[BlackJetE90OC]

I don’t understand why they would put a Kia Stinger and Honda Civic R in this lineup. There are plenty of better matched cars they could have chosen. Also, if you’re going with a Mustang and a Challenger, why not go with a GT350 and a Hellcat or Demon? We already knew the bottom 4 cars were slow, so thanks for nothing...

It’s obvious they had trouble procuring better cars, and just took whatever companies / owners would lend them.

It is all the cars from Best Drivers Car competition. All cars that compete in each years Best Drivers Car are cars released that year, except for the returning champion from previous year.

[Eleventeen]

It is all the cars from Best Drivers Car competition. All cars that compete in each years Best Drivers Car are cars released that year, except for the returning champion from previous year.

Gotcha, that makes sense. Looks like they wanted to put a Ford GT in the BDC competition, but Ford pulled out for some reason.

[Sticky]

I don't think I like these standing starts with no prep. This just emulates racing from a red light

They have more than enough room to throw in a roll race. Not sure why they don't.

[Sticky]

but Ford pulled out for some reason.

Probably sick of losing.

[Bowser330]

In case anyone missed the previous comments I made about these videos I will clarify how it’s done.
they run the cars multiple times down by themselves or in groups to determine by average which is quickest/fastest.
they then do a few runs all together to make it appear as if that’s the race you’re watching when it’s not, it’s a mashup of several shots taken at different times.
does the quickest/fastest car win, sure, 720s is a monster, it’s just not as it seems in the video, like it’s a drag race between them all one race winner take all...

[Chris1284b]

Considering that the gt2 rs is on sport cup 2s and the 720s does this on junk p zeros is pretty amazing too.

[Markblackwell]

Considering that the gt2 rs is on sport cup 2s and the 720s does this on junk p zeros is pretty amazing too.

P-zeros are junk but they will hook up better at a drag race then cup 2's there couldnt be a worse tire for a drag race than cup 2's If you were able to run them around a track for 5 minutes then go straight to a drag race whey would work great as you have to get lots of heat in them to get sticky