Filmed at Willow Springs, the latest episode of Cammisa’s Drag Race Replay pits three super sport utility vehicles against each other. Two rely on internal combustion, whereas the Rivian R1S is a four-motor affair.
Starting off with the heaviest of the bunch, the three-row sibling of the R1T pickup truck weighs a whopping 6,970 pounds (3,162 kilograms) in this configuration. It also happens to be the most powerful and torquiest of the three, belting out 835 horsepower and 908 pound-feet (1,231 Nm).
The Rivian is let down as it launches off the start line by its mud-terrain tires, which feature a treadwear grade of 640. The government-required number indicates a tire’s relative wear rate. For example, a 640-grade tire will wear much harder than a 100-grade tire. The Aston Martin DBX 707 is rocking 280s, and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT flaunts 80s. In other words, the Porsche-branded utility features the fastest-wearing tires.
Speaking of which, the coupe-styled utility vehicle also happens to be the least powerful, least torquey, and lightest of the bunch. The relevant numbers are 631 horsepower, 626 pound-feet (850 Nm), and 4,980 pounds (2,259 kilograms). The AMG-powered British SUV boasts 697 horsepower, 663 pound-feet (900 Nm), and 5,130 pounds (2,327 kilograms). Care to guess which is the quicker utility vehicle from a dig?
Not surprising anyone, that would be the Cayenne Turbo GT thanks to its lower weight, more aggressive tires, stupidly good launch control, and perfectly calibrated transmission supplied by ZF Friedrichshafen. While it may not be as quick on the upshifts as the dual-clutch setup that Porsche refers to as PDK, the 8HP impresses for a torque-converter automatic.
On the long main straight at Willow Springs, the Cayenne Turbo GT needs 11.1 seconds and 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) to finish the quarter mile. The DBX 707 makes do with second place at 11.3 seconds and a slightly higher top speed, and the R1S is dead last. It clocked 11.8 seconds at 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour).
(Jason) Cammisa’s Drag Race Replay doesn’t end here, though. A white-painted Maserati MC20 lines up on the other side of the track, challenging the Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT to another dig race. But first, let’s remind ourselves of the numbers that make the Maserati Corse 2020 a bonafide supercar: 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet (730 Nm) from a twin-turbo V6, all wrapped up in a 3,760-pound (1,706-kilogram) package.
The exterior design may not be to everyone’s taste, and the force-fed V6 isn’t a 100-percent Maserati design either, but it’s a supercar through and through. Equipped with an eight-speed transaxle à la the C8 Corvette, this fellow is badly outperformed by the Porker at the start. It eventually hooks up, and subsequently crosses the finish line in 11.1 seconds at 131 miles per hour (211 kilometers per hour) compared to the 120-mph Cayenne.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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