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McLaren 765LT Takes On Porsche 911 Turbo S and Immediately Regrets It

Over the years, the car community seems to have become obsessed with specs and what car sounds the best on paper. But numbers are only one part of the bigger picture, and that’s where drag races come in, providing a battleground for closely matched cars to duke it out and find the victor.
McLaren 765LT Vs Porsche 911 Turbo S Drag Race 11 photos
Photo: YouTube / Shmee150
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And it does not really get more closely matched than this drag race, which pits the McLaren 765LT Spyder against Porsche’s mighty 911 Turbo S down the Triple F Raceway in La Rue, Ohio. This is a battle between two titanic forces in the car world, as everybody knows what the 911 is capable of.

That being said, nobody doubts McLaren’s performance either, as it feels like it was only yesterday that the 720S was gapping modified Lamborghini Huracans. So, a drag race between these two cars is not only closely matched but puts their reputations on the line.

Starting with Porsche, the 911 Turbo S does not need much of an introduction, as there are many drag racing videos showcasing what it can do. This car is absolutely insane when it comes to putting the power down from a standstill, somehow managing perfect launches every single time courtesy of its AWD system and PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission. And once it gets going, it keeps on pulling, thanks to the 641 hp (650 ps) and 590 lb. ft. (800 Nm) of torque coming from its 3.7-liter twin-turbo flat-six engine.

But just because the Porsche is fast, that does not mean it won’t have a hard time battling the McLaren, as the latter sports the LT badge. If you don’t know what that means, it stands for Longtail, and it’s McLaren’s way of saying track-focused.

McLaren 765LT Vs Porsche 911 Turbo S Drag Race
Photo: YouTube / Shmee150
This naming convention came about a while ago, mostly as a way of distinguishing the vehicles in McLaren’s lineup and marketing the top-spec versions. The first car to wear this badge was the 1997 F1 GTR, also called Longtail due to its stretched bodywork. Following McLaren’s hiatus from manufacturing street cars, the Longtail name made a comeback in 2015 with the 675LT, a higher-performance version of the 650S.

But the LT badge means more than just an elongated body with better aerodynamics. The 765LT still follows the trend of being based on an S-badged McLaren, specifically the 720S, and kicking things up a notch. It is more powerful, wider, sits 20 mm (0.8 inches) lower, has a stiffer suspension, better brakes, and most importantly, it’s lighter.

The 4-liter V8 that sits behind the driver dishes out 755 hp (765 ps, hence the name) and 590 lb. ft. (800 Nm) to the rear wheels. That bump in power from the 720S is coupled with a decrease in weight of about 175 lbs. (80 kg). The lightest version of the 765LT has a dry weight of just 2,709 lbs. (1,229 kg), although that's only if the owner can live without music or air conditioning.

What this means is that once the cars involved in this race get going, the ball is firmly in McLaren’s court, as there is no power loss within the drive train and the power-to-weight ratio is better. But it’s still going to be playing catch-up as the Porsche 911 Turbo S is almost guaranteed to get a perfect launch every time, so the RWD McLaren will struggle to put the power down off the line.

And that’s exactly what happens in the drag race, as the Porsche shoots off the line like a rocket, immediately leaving the McLaren behind. But once the McLaren gets enough traction, it starts reeling in the 911 at a rapid pace.

In the first of the three drag races, however, that was not enough, and the Porsche managed to beat the McLaren to the quarter mile. The second race was different, as the 765LT nailed the launch, and although still slower to get moving than the 911 Turbo S, it reached the finish line first.

That left the drag race in a best-of-three scenario, with the 911 claiming victory over the 765LT in the final battle. It seems that no matter how quickly a car can accelerate, it’s still an uphill battle trying to fight against the 911’s monster launch control.

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About the author: Bogdan Bebeselea
Bogdan Bebeselea profile photo

As a kid, Bogdan grew up handing his dad the tools needed to work on his old Citroen and asking one too many questions about everything happening inside the engine bay. Naturally, this upbringing led Bogdan to become an engineer, but thanks to Top Gear, The Fast and the Furious series, and racing video games, a passion for automotive entertainment was ignited.
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