Ram Truck Uses Nitrous to Beat AWD RX-7, Race Ends in Gaps as Big as Airplanes

Yes, we do mean airplanes with an “s,” because using anything less to visualize the gargantuan gap in this race simply would not suffice. In one corner, we see a 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 R/T: a surprisingly quick pick-up making upwards of 400 horsepower thanks to its thirsty 5.7-liter V8 Hemi engine. With a 0 to 60 mph time in the mid-fives, the standard R/T-spec'd fourth-generation Ram is more than capable of leaving many sports cars half its weight behind it in a straight line.

What separates this particular racing Ram is that, on top of its 450-horsepower engine, it allegedly generates 700 horsepower when given all the beans. When we say 'beans,' we mean nitrous – two 10-pound bottles of Nitrous Express, to be exact. This big truck will certainly need all that oomph, considering it's up against not just any lightweight sports car but a rather monstrous AWD Mazda RX-7.

In stock form, the RWD RX-7 FD runs on a 1.3-liter rotary twin-turbo engine rated at 236 horsepower. However, the one we see here is nothing like its stock counterpart, and unlike the claimed 700 horsepower of its opposition, this menacing Mazda actually made over 1,300 horsepower on the Dyno. Since March, this modified RX-7 competed against all sorts of vehicles on the drag strip but had some bad run-ins with heavy yet deceptively fast vehicles.

A (Frankenstein's) monster in wolf's clothing

We've heard this story before; a heavier truck with untested horsepower claims shows up and then outright destroys the thousand-horsepower RX-7 on the drag strip, or at least gives it a hard time. When the same custom RX-7 drag-raced an alleged 850-horsepower Jeep Trackhawk, the AWD coupe barely managed to eke out a victory.

Meanwhile, when the souped-up JDM icon faced a Ford F-150 claiming similar figures, it was basically obliterated on the drag strip. What happened? Well, the custom four-rotor RX-7 can be finicky given its internals are comprised of a hodgepodge of non-OEM parts sourced from various makes. This includes a differential and water pump from BMW, an AWD system from Nissan's GT-R Skyline, and suspension based on the iconic Hoonicorn Mustang RTR, among others.

This specific set-up allows the RX-7's driver to direct as much power as needed to the front or rear ends of the vehicle, making for one quick-launching machine. Of course, with great power comes potential instability, and this RX-7 seems to struggle to maintain consistency in its performance without breaking something internally. This is where the much more stable 8-speed automatic Dodge Ram comes in and takes advantage of such inconsistency. Will the Ram's secret sauce be enough to get the job done though?

Ram meets Dahm

Little did this big truck know that its chances of winning the race would only end in tragedy. Rob Dahm – the RX-7's owner – evidently made some spicy tuning and improvements to his beastly four-rotor screamer this time around. The Ram might be a truck, but its drag race against Dahm's custom RX-7 makes it seem like it was hit by one instead. We're talking about taking the competition to Gap-lapagos airlines instead of Gapplebee's.

Despite the Ram jumping too early in the first round, it was still outpaced by the menacing Mazda by the length of three airplanes – about 30 cars. While the result in the second round showed some improvement, it did not change the outcome at all. Even when the Ram was given the advantage of starting earlier a whole car length ahead, it was still beaten by a plane length; so much for the secret sauce.

To be fair, Dahm claims he was doing 12 launches the night before in an attempt to maximize his RX-7's performance on race day. In his YouTube channel, Dahm also explained how his custom ride previously struggled against heftier vehicles such as the Jeep Trackhawk and Ford F-150. The RX-7's literal breakdown was apparently the result of numerous consecutive races occurring on the same day. By the time it faced the Ford pick-up, the RX-7 was no longer running in tiptop shape, ending in bogged-down shifts, stunted speeds, and poor overall performance.

However, this wasn't the case when it raced the nitrous-chugging Ram, as the RX-7 can be seen firing on all cylinders without a hitch. Dahm's RX-7 now has two wins and two losses in the drag racing series, but his journey of increasing this JDM spectacle's peak performance is far from over. The last time the AWD tuner lost was against an Audi TT RS sporting big turbos, along with a shot of nitrous. It seems like Dahm's taking extra precautions to ensure that loss doesn't happen again.

The auto enthusiast, who insists he's “not a racer,” says he plans to give the RX-7 a bigger turbo next time in hopes of increasing its power output to a mind-blowing 1,600 horsepower. If that's the case, this insanely modified racing machine might soon require better competition. That is, if this Franken FD manages to keep itself from falling apart until then.