autoevolution
 

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Drag Races Tuned AMG G 63, Someone Gets Blown Away

We don't know about you, but we're fascinated by this type of drag race a bit more than we probably should. Yes, it's pointless, but it's also hard to predict which way it'll go, and that's always the recipe for an exciting encounter.
Mercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag race 7 photos
Photo: Shmee150 / YouTube thumbnail
Mercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag raceMercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag raceMercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag raceMercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag raceMercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag raceMercedes-AMG G 63 Vs. Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 drag race
Nobody likes to watch a sporting competition where the result is a foregone conclusion, so why should drag racing be any different? It's one thing to guess the winner when one of the cars has all the advantages going for it (horsepower, torque, transmission, weight), and completely another when the two competitors are so different, that interpreting all these specs becomes slightly less complicated than figuring out how alchemy works.

Right here, we're in the latter scenario. On the one hand, we have the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, a track-focused RWD car with a big wing, a manual gearbox, a big (by Porsche standards) 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six slotted at the back, and a Tim Burton (aka Shmee) sitting in the driver's seat. That's a seriously fast car, though going straight might not necessarily be its strongest point.

On the other hand, we have the Mercedes-AMG G 63 behemoth, sporting the ubiquitous 4.0-liter twin-turbo AMG V8 well know and love, except instead of the 585 hp it normally makes, Shmee decided 730 hp would suit it better. Add the 790 lb-ft (1,070 Nm) of torque, the AWD system, and the nine-speed automatic transmission, and suddenly its weight and lack of any aerodynamic consideration stop looking like such big obstacles to overcome.

We're not big fans of counting at the start of a drag race, but at least this time it's a third person doing it, and not one of the drivers. As a result, the two cars set off with inch-perfect synchronization for the first race, giving us the best and most unaltered view of the massive amount of air between the two cars as they cross the finish line.

However, the GT4 actually puts on a very good performance and, as the V-Box numbers confirm, later on, there's not really that much separating the two. We're looking at less than 0.4 of a second, which means any alteration of the setup in the GT4's favor might produce a different result.

We're thinking of either removing the G 63's tune and reverting it to factory settings or getting a seven-speed PDK GT4 to give it the best possible launch, shorter ratios, and quicker shifts. The Cayman should be able to blip the big SUV in any of those two scenarios, and possibly even give it a good spanking if both of them came true. As it stands, though, it's the loser, albeit after a perfectly honorable performance.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)

Editor's note: Were you hoping we'd say something about Christian, the guest driver, calling Shmee's GT4 his "slippery snake"? No, thank you, we know better than to do that

About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories