Photo: carwow
There's nothing like the age-old question, "Can a German supercar defeat a World Championship-winning Formula 1 car in a standard quarter-mile drag race," to give you that inquisitive boost only a car enthusiast can appreciate. Well, today, we'll all find out together. But be wary! For the stars foretell of a major letdown fot one of today's tarmac warriors. Which machine will win, and which will break down?
Before heading into the great British horizon where all this spectacle took place, let's first see and hear what our 4-wheeled contestants have to say for themselves.
First, we have the shiny metallic Porsche 918 Spyder. This baby packs a rear-mounted 4.6-liter NA V8 engine and an electric motor on the front axle. Together, their powers can output 875 horsepower or 887 ps with 944 lb-ft or 1,280 Nm of torque. Weight-wise, the scale puts it at around 3,690 lbs. or 1,674 kg if you're not from the US of A.
There's no denying the car is impressive, even with Mat Watson from the "carwow" YouTube channel behind the wheel, but the most spectacular thing about it is the price tag. It's dangling heart-stoppingly heavy, at around £1,300,000 or nearly $1.6 million.
As for the 2006 action-starved Bugatti Veyron, it comes with a mouth-watering 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbo powerplant that can output 987 horsepower or 1,001 ps, with 922 lb-ft (1,250 Nm) of torque. The Veyron weighs in at 4,162 lbs. or 1,888 kg. This historical artifact costs 950,000 British pounds or close to 1.2 million dollars.
Why did I call it "action-starved" earlier? Well, because, according to its keeper, it's been planted in a showroom for the past year, so it's been basically vegetating, for lack of a better word. If it has atrophied or not, we shall see in just a bit.
Finally, there's the menacing Red Bull F1 car driven by Liam Lawson, the company's spare driver. This beauty isn't without its award-winning history, winning the 2012 World Championship with Sebastian Vettel in the cockpit.
It has a 2.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine that can deliver up to 789 hp (800 ps) but weighs just 1,543 lbs. or 700 kilograms. Unfortunately, we didn't get a torque count, but we know it has sticky-soft tires if that rings any bells.
Now that we're acquainted with our contenders let's see how they match up.
During the first race, the Veyron acted like it was forced to participate and slowly started rolling off the line. But the other two went for it like their lives depended on it. The Porsche gained a lead initially, leaving the F1 car behind, but after a few seconds, the latter caught up and won the race by a metaphorical mile.
The second time, the Veyron didn't fare any better and simply refused to put in any effort. As for the other two, it was a rerun of the first race. Now for the funny part!
The Bugatti tried to pull one over on the others and jumped the start, but sadly, it still refused to gain serious speed. The F1 car obliterated the Porsche 918 Spyder again. So what was wrong with the Veyron?
Remember how I mentioned it was parked in a car salon with a silver spoon in its tailpipe for the last year? Well, apparently, because it wasn't used very much, it had problems with the air intake system.
The final results are as follows: the Red Bull F1 finished the 1/4-mile in 9.1 seconds, with the Porsche in second place with 10 seconds on the clock. The poor Bugatti did it in 12.2 seconds.
First, we have the shiny metallic Porsche 918 Spyder. This baby packs a rear-mounted 4.6-liter NA V8 engine and an electric motor on the front axle. Together, their powers can output 875 horsepower or 887 ps with 944 lb-ft or 1,280 Nm of torque. Weight-wise, the scale puts it at around 3,690 lbs. or 1,674 kg if you're not from the US of A.
There's no denying the car is impressive, even with Mat Watson from the "carwow" YouTube channel behind the wheel, but the most spectacular thing about it is the price tag. It's dangling heart-stoppingly heavy, at around £1,300,000 or nearly $1.6 million.
As for the 2006 action-starved Bugatti Veyron, it comes with a mouth-watering 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbo powerplant that can output 987 horsepower or 1,001 ps, with 922 lb-ft (1,250 Nm) of torque. The Veyron weighs in at 4,162 lbs. or 1,888 kg. This historical artifact costs 950,000 British pounds or close to 1.2 million dollars.
Why did I call it "action-starved" earlier? Well, because, according to its keeper, it's been planted in a showroom for the past year, so it's been basically vegetating, for lack of a better word. If it has atrophied or not, we shall see in just a bit.
Finally, there's the menacing Red Bull F1 car driven by Liam Lawson, the company's spare driver. This beauty isn't without its award-winning history, winning the 2012 World Championship with Sebastian Vettel in the cockpit.
It has a 2.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine that can deliver up to 789 hp (800 ps) but weighs just 1,543 lbs. or 700 kilograms. Unfortunately, we didn't get a torque count, but we know it has sticky-soft tires if that rings any bells.
Now that we're acquainted with our contenders let's see how they match up.
During the first race, the Veyron acted like it was forced to participate and slowly started rolling off the line. But the other two went for it like their lives depended on it. The Porsche gained a lead initially, leaving the F1 car behind, but after a few seconds, the latter caught up and won the race by a metaphorical mile.
The second time, the Veyron didn't fare any better and simply refused to put in any effort. As for the other two, it was a rerun of the first race. Now for the funny part!
The Bugatti tried to pull one over on the others and jumped the start, but sadly, it still refused to gain serious speed. The F1 car obliterated the Porsche 918 Spyder again. So what was wrong with the Veyron?
Remember how I mentioned it was parked in a car salon with a silver spoon in its tailpipe for the last year? Well, apparently, because it wasn't used very much, it had problems with the air intake system.
The final results are as follows: the Red Bull F1 finished the 1/4-mile in 9.1 seconds, with the Porsche in second place with 10 seconds on the clock. The poor Bugatti did it in 12.2 seconds.
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