Photo: screenshot from Youtube/edited by autoevolution
Thought power is everything in a drag race? Well it's only part of the equation. You can have like 12,000 horsepower and still loose the race if your car weighs as much as a locomotive. In drag racing, ‘power-to-weight ratio’ along with its friend ‘traction’ are stars and you'll see why.
To better illustrate the idea, here’s the perfect example - a smart fortwo racing a Shelby Mustang. However, this is not your average Smart as its power-to-weight ratio is far away from the initial factory setup.
That small lid in its trunk hides a modified Toyota Paseo 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine which uses a Sprintex blower to sweeten the pot. The unit gets mated to a 3-speed automatic transmission sending all the power to those rather small rear wheels.
Since the fortwo has such a short wheelbase and most of its weight lies in the back, the car can do some of the best wheelies you can get using a non-muscle car.
It looks nice compared to the planted Shelby Mustang, but it’s also highly inefficient and the Smart actually lost the first run. In the second run though, the matchbox on wheels managed to stay closer to the ground and sent the stallion to its stable with a 12.53 second run versus 13.21.
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