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800+ HP Dodge Demon Loses Drag Race Against Tuned 414-HP Volkswagen Golf R

With its huge engine, huge amounts of power, and huge rear tires that can make the most of it, the Dodge Demon is nothing but a factory-built drag racing machine.
Dodge Demon Vs Volkswagen Golf R Vs BMW M2 12 photos
Photo: CS Panda / YouTube screenshot
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Then what in the world is it doing wasting its time by racing a hot hatchback and a small coupe that's best known for its superb handling rather than anything to do with power? Surely that's got to be similar to Usain Bolt competing in a 100-meter sprint against two random—albeit athletic—dudes from the street.

Let's just look at the horsepower figures. The Demon makes just shy of double what the Golf R's 2.0-liter unit puts out (over 800 hp on regular gas, compared to 414 hp for the German), and that's with a bit of tuning on the German's part. The M2 is slightly more powerful than the Golf at 444 hp, but it only spins its rear wheels, which is a massive disadvantage in a standing race.

But so does the Demon, and this is when we get to the American model's greatest undoing. Since it's a vehicle designed for drag racing, it's meant to reach its maximum potential on a drag strip, prepped surface included. On anything other than that, despite the massive size of the rear tires, their contact patch is still too small for the waves of power coming from the engine, so finding traction becomes an issue.

Since this race takes place in the UK, we should probably be grateful the track surface is dry and roll with it. Still, between the traction issues and the notorious difficulty of launching a Demon properly when you're not experienced with this sort of cars, you should expect the Dodge to struggle for grip in the first part of the race.

The power gap, however, should be enough to beat the Golf R, even if its AWD system and pretty good DSG transmission are going to propel it in front early on. You would certainly hope so, especially considering all the attention-grabbing noise the Demon makes: its supercharger sounds like it has a police car with its siren on chasing it at all times, while a drive-by is reminiscent of a WWII fighter plane.

All this doesn't scare Mat, the Golf driver. He is pretty confident his 414-hp hatchback is up for the task, and he'll be proven right. However, he does get a bit deluded saying you shouldn't race a Golf R at the lights unless you're in a (McLaren) 720S. Well, first of all, you shouldn't race on the street regardless of the car you're driving, but if, for some reason, you feel like you must, there are plenty of stock cars that will smoke the R, even this R.

His confidence is perfectly understandable, though. After all, he had just beaten an 800-hp car that was built specifically for drag racing. Oh, and a BMW M2, though the Bimmer feels like a little bit more than an extra in this clip. But that was just the standing race, and we all know how these YouTube videos go: a standing start is usually followed by a rolling race. Will Mat get his piece of humble pie? Why don't you see for yourself?

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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