Chevrolet Corvette C8 Drag Races Turbo Hayabusa-Powered Rally Car, Gets Schooled

The inspired company that lent it to them is Mobil 1, the oil giant that also happens to be the official supplier for the C8's engine oil - a special decoct thanks to the dry-sump nature of the non-force-fed unit. Inspired, yes, but someone there still messed up because they delivered the car without running in the engine first, so Hoonigan's Brian had to take a late-night trip to put some miles under the car's belt or face the awkward situation where they would have to drag race below 4,500 rpm.

That would be ridiculous under any circumstances (maybe except for diesel drag racing, but 4,500 is a tad too low even for that type of engine), yet its opponent for the day made it doubly so. We're looking at a custom-built racecar that uses a Suzuki Hayabusa engine with an added turbocharger.

We may not know much about motorcycles, but we do know that Hayabusa stands for way too much power. That 1.3-liter engine makes about 200 hp, which not that long ago used to be a lot for most cars, let alone for a bike. These days, it's in the lower end of the industry, which is why the makers of this build - which they call Sierra Alpha - installed the turbocharger.

With that thing blowing air into the cylinders with a vengeance, the Hayabusa motor makes a maximum of 450 hp. Not only is that insane for a vehicle weighing 1,350 lbs (612 kg), but it's also just 45 hp less than what its full-bodied opponent puts out. Does the C8 even stand a chance?

Well, apparently it might since the Sierra Alpha also has tons of downforce that kick in after 80 mph (130 km/h), so the longer the race goes on, the slower the higher the chances the Corvette will catch up. How much downforce? Cole Powelson, the racing driver doing the introduction, says that at 120 mph, the bottom will be scraping against the asphalt as the four to five inches of ground clearance and the opposition from the springs would have been nullified by the air pushing the car down. Does that mean it could easily drive on the ceiling of a tunnel at even lower speeds? Guess so.

Believe it or not, despite sitting on this little rocket, Cole has never drag raced it before (too busy doing actual racing - whoops, did I really say that out loud?). Seriously, though, the pair of him and Alpha Sierra have managed to drop below the 10-minute mark at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which is no mean feat.

Unsurprisingly, it turns out the Alpha Sierra is a pretty competent drag race too, even though its clutch does show signs of fatigue after just two runs. Luckily, there was a second car in the trailer - this one's called RX3 and, as the name suggests, looks much more suited for rallycross competitions - so the racing can resume. Also, it can do hands-free donuts, which, even if you can't get them with chocolate glazing, are still the best kind of donuts.