Probably the best Ultimate Drag Race Replay episode thus far, this clip is a mechanical symphony of four-, five-, and ten-cylinder powerplants. Jason Cammisa starts off with a couple of compact luxury sedans from the four-ringed automaker from Ingolstadt, namely the S3 and RS 3.
Twinned with the Volkswagen Golf R, the S3 rocks 306 horsepower and 295 pound-foot (400 Nm) of torque compared to 401 horsepower and 369 pound-foot (500 Nm) for the slightly heavier RS 3. Both feature dual-clutch trannies and quattro all-wheel drive, and obviously enough, the better-sounding car launches slightly better and crosses the quarter-mile finish line first.
Next up, the RennSport faces a rather unassuming opponent in the form of an Audi 200 quattro 20V. It may look fully stock, but it’s actually boasting 800 tuned ponies as opposed to 217 original ponies. Not bad for a car as old as Operation Desert Storm. A white-painted Lexus LFA is lined up next to it, and you can already guess which is the faster car of this motley crew.
The 200 shoots off the line as if it’s a Tesla Model S Plaid or something and keeps pulling strong through every gear, ultimately running the quarter mile in a simply insane 10.5 seconds at 135 miles per hour (217.2 kilometers per hour). Zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) is dealt with in 2.8 seconds.
Before the grand finale, Jason and his sound engineer decided to compare the loudness of the V10-engined Japanese icon against its closest rival. The Porsche Carrera GT features a slightly larger V10 with motorsport roots, and that glorious-sounding powerplant also happens to be mounted behind the driver’s ears rather than in front of them, thus minimizing wheel spin.
108.8 versus 103 decibels pretty much settles it, but the question is, can the automated manual of the LFA make a difference against the good ol’ manual of the Carrera GT? Unfortunately, the answer to that is no. Lighter, more powerful, and torquier to boot, the CGT takes the win in 11.2 seconds at 132 mph (212.4 kph) versus 11.8 at 124 mph (199.6 kph) for the LFA.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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