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Porsche 911 vs. Audi RS5 Sportback Drag Race Is Surprisingly Close

This weekend's Carwow drag race is between just two cars, both of them German, but put together in entirely different ways. In the grey suit, you have the Audi RS5 Sportback, and its rival is a red Porsche 911.
Porsche 911 vs. Audi RS5 Sportback Drag Race Is Surprisingly Close 3 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot/Carwow
Porsche 911 vs. Audi RS5 Sportback Drag Race Is Surprisingly ClosePorsche 911 vs. Audi RS5 Sportback Drag Race Is Surprisingly Close
In case there's something nostalgic or familiar-feeling about this matchup, that's because back in September 2018, Carwow raced a grey Audi RS4 Avant against the Porsche 911 GTS, which was also red. So it's a very similar matchup, but the fact that we're dealing with a brand new generation of the 911 makes it non-repetitive.

The specs are quite similar. The RS5 Sportback sports the same 2.9-liter V6 as the RS4. It sits right over the front and makes 450 horsepower and 600 Nm of torque, going to a permanent all-wheel-drive system. Even though the 911 is a Carrera S model, which sits lower in the range than the GTS, this fresh model got a power update - 450 hp and 530 Nm of torque, 30 more than the old Carrera S and on par with the previous GTS. The only downside is its RWD nature, but the weight of the engine sits right over the wheels with traction.

Porsches are famous for being quicker than their specs would suggest, and the fact that the RS5 is a four-door makes it seem like it's at a huge disadvantage. But the Audi does boast a traction advantage.

Surprisingly, the Porsche loses the initial part of the race but it has the legs on the Audi after that. It finishes the race with a quarter-mile time of 11.9 seconds, two tenths ahead of the RS5. Even that strange how both cars have supposedly the same power and the 911 gets less torque, yet it's the one catching up?

It's a similar story in the rolling race. We're pretty sure that the new 911 has more power than the manufacturer claims because weight or aerodynamics can't have that big of an impact.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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