1,500-HP Audi R8 Drag Races 240-HP Harley With Nitrous

Going into this race I was pretty excited to see what the outcome would be. We've seen how fast an R8 can be going down the quarter-mile (402 meters), especially with some top-notch Sheepey Race products on it. And even though the Harley looks kind of heavy, it's packing a serious punch as well. It's always difficult to predict the outcome between machines like these, but if there's one thing for certain, grip levels may be crucial in determining a winner.

Going into the race, we get to see the spec sheets for both contenders. The Audi is a 2017 model, packing the 5.2-liter V10 that's been twin-turbocharged. It weighs in at 3,800 lbs (1,723 kg), but it's also capable of delivering 1,500 horsepower to all four wheels, via a DCT transmission, and that makes for a very serious combo indeed. With this kind of setup, this car should be capable of doing low 8-second runs at the dragstrip.

The Harley Davidson is a 2007 model, with an S&S 126 cubic-inch engine that is rated at 240 horsepower. It uses an OEM air-shifted transmission, and while it only weighs a mere 915 lbs (415 kg), it may have a hard time going off the line due to this being a non-prepped surface. At this point, with the information collected so far, you'd be tempted to bet your money on the Audi, but then again you should always gather as much information as possible before making a hasty decision.

The R8 is being driven by Will Coley from Sacramento. As we get to see more of the car before the race, there's one major aspect that stands out, which may determine the outcome of the race. This Audi is in full street trim, and that includes the wheels and tires. With 1,500 horsepower on tap, driving on street tires is going to provide anything but optimum grip. And with that in mind, all that horsepower may amount to nothing, at least up until around 100 mph (160 kph).

On the other side of the fence, Eddie Reed is the man riding the Harley, and he has been doing 6-second runs down the quarter-mile, albeit not on this bike. But that means he is highly experienced in what he's doing, and if you consider the fact that he's running a drag radial tire on the back, the R8's chances are starting to diminish. So it doesn't come as a surprise that most of the people that came out to see the race are betting on the motorcycle.

For the first run of the day, the Harley jumps the start, but the Audi gets back into the game real quick. Just moments after we get to see proof that it's not ideal to be running street tires on a car that powerful, as the R8 almost loses it in an attempt to keep up with its opponent. For safety reasons, they decide to switch to a rolling race format, but once again Eddie gets over-enthusiastic on the bike and takes off earlier than he should have.

A rerun is in order, and this time they get the starting procedure right. The Harley starts picking up speed as it takes control of the race, but the Audi is not that far behind. By the end of the day, it's the motorcycle that takes the win, but if they had opted for a quarter-mile run instead, the result may have been different. Also, if the R8 would have been driving on proper tires, the bike would have probably been crushed from the get-go.