What better way to spend time in 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius) December weather with clear skies than by being in the cockpit of a Ferrari SF90 Stradale or a McLaren 765LT Spider? Just like Brooks Weisblat from the DragTimes YouTube channel did just two days before the end of the year. He took both of these cars out to a Florida-based airstrip and drove them one at a time.
In case you were wondering why the race wasn't side-by-side, like in a standard 1/2-mile race, Brooks didn't mention it exactly. However, he did say that the vehicles were driven under the same conditions. Theoretically, everything should be right as rain. Now, let's meet our contestants.
In the mean green machine corner, we have the famous McLaren 765LT Spider. It's rocking a 4.0-liter V8 that can deliver up to 769 hp (780 ps) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque. It has rear-wheel drive, a seven-speed DCT transmission, and weighs 3,160 lbs (1,433 kg).
Its opponent, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale is a bit heavier, at 3,920 lbs. (1,778 kg), according to the measurements said in the video. It has a 4.0-liter V8 engine capable of outputting 986 HP (1000 ps), with 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque.
Now, this being a PHEV, out of that total horsepower, 770 ponies (780 ps) come from the ICE, and 217 hp (220 ps) from the three electric motors it has. Two of them are in charge of powering up the front wheels, while the third one likes to hang out with the V8 at the rear wheels.
The McLaren went first for the 1/2 mile "unorthodox" race. The 1/8 mile measurements showed that it got there in 6.79 seconds at 117 mph (188 kph). It got to a 1/4 mile in 10.13 seconds at 147 mph (236 kph). Finally, it managed to finish in 15.62 seconds with a top speed of 176 mph (284 kph).
The SF90 followed soon after. It reached the 1/8-mile mark after only 6.56 seconds at a top speed of 116 mph (187 kph). Then, it did a quarter mile in 9.92 seconds, at 147 mph (236 kph). It finished in 15.37 seconds at a top speed of 178 mph (286 kph).
Clearly, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale won the day. But given the fact that the time difference between it and the McLaren 765LT Spider is undetectable by the naked eye, it makes you wonder if there really is a clear winner when we use phrasing like "it won by 0.25 seconds."
However, depending on who, or better put, where you ask, the SF90 Stradale cost can start at $566,000. Whereas the McLaren is a bit "cheaper," rated at $445,000. But joking aside, you have to factor in more than "lap times." A Ferrari is a different beast than a McLaren, and at the end of the day, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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