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McLaren 720S Drag Races 1,150 HP Viper, Domination Established

The McLaren 720S has already proven it can take down tuner cars with four-digit outputs, but this part of its rock carbon fiber-solid reputation of the Woking animal was monstly built while drag racing Nissan GT-Rs. But what if a Dodge Viper packing a twin-turbo kit decided to take on the Macca?
McLaren 720S Drag Races 1,150 HP Viper 6 photos
Photo: Drag Times/YouTube
McLaren 720S drag races 1,150 hp ViperMcLaren 720S drag races 1,150 hp ViperMcLaren 720S drag races 1,150 hp ViperMcLaren 720S drag races 1,150 hp ViperMcLaren 720S drag races 1,150 hp Viper
Well, we can now deliver the answer to that question, since the two supercars got together during a recent sprinting event. The velocity gathering we're talking about involved half-mile brawls, so the two go-fast animals had enough space to stretch their mechanical legs.

The British supercars came to the battle in factory form, meaning that while its official output sits at 720 horses, independent dyno runs have shown the number is actually at 750 hp or above.

Now, as we mentioned above, the Gen V Viper we have here had been fitted with a TT kit. As always with such hardware, the output of the engine depends on the level of boost. And for this race, the pair of turbochargers delivered about 8 lbs of boost, which meant the 8.4-liter V10 made 980 ponies at the rear wheels (this explains the crankshaft output estimation we dropped in the title above).

The slab of America and the British toy duked it out on three separate occasions. The first two races involved standing starts, while the last one brought a rolling takeoff.

Both supercars had trouble putting the power down, but, as you might've guessed by now, the Viper struggled more than the 720S. Then again, this only made the battle between the two go-fast monsters even more enticing.

Note that the piece of footage below, which documents the races, also includes scenes captured from inside the Dodge, so you'll get to see the aficionado in the driver's seat wrestling the steering wheel.

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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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