Subaru WRX STI, Porsche Cayman Line Up for the Standing Mile Drag Race

More challenging than your typical quarter-mile drag race, the Standing Mile factors in many aspects of the car’s design such as its aerodynamics and gear ratios. For this Automobile Magazine pits a pair of Boxers up against one other with each car having something to prove. The Cayman is trying to come out from the 911’s shadow, while the WRX STI tries to ditch its boy-racer stigma.

In the blue corner weighing it at 3,367 pounds, the 2015 Subaru WRX STI is powered by a 305-hp, 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-four engine powering all four wheels through Subaru’s advanced Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. With its bright WR Rally Blue paint and its massive rear wing, the Subie might be the flashier of these two cars, but it’s also the more affordable of the two with an as-tested price of $38,190

In the white corner weighing in at a svelte 3,059 pounds, 2014 Porsche Cayman uses a mid-engine 2.7-liter flat-six that sends its power to the rear wheels. Being a base Cayman, this engine is limited to 275 hp, but the upcoming Cayman GTS can deliver 340 hp if you need more power. The Cayman does come with a hefty price premium over the WRX STI with this model having an as-tested price of $70,160, but if you sit down in both cars back-to-back, you’ll see where all that extra money went.

Not surprisingly, the added power and the all-wheel drive give the WRX STI a massive advantage out of the gate, and if this was a quarter-mile race, it would have smoked the Porsche by 1.4 seconds. But with another three-quarters of a mile to go, the Cayman really makes this an exciting race. So who won? You’ll have to check it out for yourself in the video below, but Automobile Magazine said this was the closest results yet for its Standing Mile.