World's Greatest Drag Race 7!

MotorTrend

As part of MOTOR TREND’s annual Best Driver’s Car competition

Transcript

00:00 (dramatic music)

00:02 (alarm ringing)

00:05 (dramatic music)

00:08 (dramatic music)

00:10 (dramatic music)

00:13 (dramatic music)

00:16 (dramatic music)

00:33 - Hey Josh.

00:42 - Hey Johnny.

00:43 - How's it going man?

00:44 - Good, how are you?

00:45 - Thrilled to be here.

00:46 And you want to tell everyone watching

00:47 why you're wearing this fancy outfit?

00:49 - Absolutely.

00:49 I represent the United States Air Force

00:51 here at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

00:52 - And we're here at Vandenberg Air Force Base

00:54 'cause of your beautiful runway.

00:55 But what do you guys do in Vandenberg?

00:57 - We launch rockets.

00:58 - Okay, I can't compete with that.

01:01 But at Motor Trend, we launch cars.

01:03 And we're here at Vandenberg

01:04 because this is World's Greatest Drag Race 7.

01:07 (engines roaring)

01:10 (dramatic music)

01:12 (engines roaring)

01:15 (dramatic music)

01:19 (engines roaring)

01:21 (engines roaring)

01:32 (dramatic music)

01:47 (engines roaring)

01:50 - Welcome to 30th Space Wing, Johnny.

01:54 - Could you tell me about this fantastic runway

01:57 that we're standing on?

01:58 - You're at the Vandenberg Air Force Base runway.

02:00 It was built in the '70s for the NASA space shuttle

02:02 to actually land here.

02:03 And it's 15,000 feet long.

02:05 - So it's the runway of my dreams.

02:07 Well, let me ask you this.

02:08 These days at Vandenberg, what's your mission?

02:10 - It is to land, launch, and also test

02:13 any missiles or downstages that we need to.

02:16 Today, at least, our mission is to launch these 12 cars

02:19 down your runway as quickly as possible

02:22 and figure out which one's the winner.

02:23 Which one of these 12 do you think's gonna win?

02:25 - I think the AMG will win.

02:27 - Solid choice, big, powerful car.

02:29 - I'll tell you which one won't win, though.

02:31 That's the Mazda down there.

02:32 - That's a very good point.

02:34 Hey, can we get that Miata out of here

02:36 and replace it with the four-door,

02:38 five-passenger family sedan?

02:39 (engines roaring)

02:42 (dramatic music)

02:45 As you can see, there's no one in the car.

02:50 Okay, Tech Sergeant, would you do us the honor

02:53 of starting the launch countdown

02:54 for the world's greatest drag race?

02:55 - Absolutely.

02:57 - But first, let's meet this year's contenders.

03:00 Here's the first great Lexus coupe in a very long time,

03:03 the new V8-powered LC500.

03:05 This is the four-door, four-cheese Alfa Romeo Giulia

03:10 with a heart from Ferrari.

03:12 Aston Martin reinvents itself for a second century

03:16 with the lovely EB11.

03:18 AMG's beast from green hell is also known as GT-R.

03:23 McLaren returns with a luxurious,

03:27 glass-roofed, grand touring car, the 570 GT.

03:30 Marinello is in the house with the manic,

03:34 obviously red, Ferrari 488 GTB.

03:39 The Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous Plus

03:42 is the quickest car we've ever tested, 260 miles an hour.

03:46 Let's see how it does in the quarter mile.

03:49 The Porsche 911 Turbo S launches so hard,

03:52 the front wheels nearly come off the ground.

03:54 Godzilla has long been considered king of the quarter.

03:58 Let's see how this year's Nismo GT-R performs.

04:01 The Camaro ZL1 1LE is one of the most powerful cars

04:05 in the race, but can it put the power down?

04:08 The Porsche 718 Cayman S only has 350 horsepower,

04:12 though the quick-shifting PDK should help.

04:15 Somehow, someway, with only 460 horsepower,

04:19 the Corvette Grand Sport feels underpowered.

04:22 However, it is light.

04:24 Let's see how it does.

04:25 (dramatic music)

04:31 (engine revving)

04:34 Begin launch sequence.

04:43 T minus seven.

04:46 Six.

04:48 Five.

04:50 Four.

04:52 Three.

04:54 Two.

04:56 One.

04:59 Go.

05:00 (dramatic music)

05:02 (engine revving)

05:07 (dramatic music)

05:10 (engine revving)

05:12 (dramatic music)

05:15 (engine revving)

05:21 (dramatic music)

05:26 (engine revving)

05:30 (dramatic music)

05:35 (engine revving)

05:40 (dramatic music)

05:43 Just like that, America is on top.

05:58 A California-built P100D, the heaviest car in the race,

06:02 wins it all, once again demonstrating

06:04 the inherent advantage of electric motors

06:06 when it comes to acceleration.

06:09 That said, the Porsche Turbo S and the Ferrari 488

06:12 were charging hard.

06:14 Had the race gone longer than a quarter mile,

06:16 they both would have beaten the Tesla.

06:18 Also coming fast was the McLaren 570 GT,

06:25 just a tick off the podium.

06:26 The GTR shootout ends with the fifth-place Godzilla

06:32 just edging out the sixth-place AMG,

06:35 thanks primarily to the Nissan's all-wheel drive advantage.

06:38 The 350-horsepower Cayman ties the 650-horsepower Camaro

06:43 to 60 miles an hour, but then the Chevy's

06:46 massive power advantage begins to take over.

06:48 The Grand Sport nearly loses the race,

07:00 illustrating how badly it could use more power.

07:05 The Lexus is last, and that's just fine.

07:08 In the 68 years that Motor Trend's been testing cars,

07:27 the all-electric Tesla Model S P100D

07:31 is the hardest accelerating car we've ever tested.

07:34 It's a brave new car world out there,

07:36 and Tesla is the drag strip king.

07:38 Until next year.

07:41 - All right, driver's ready, driver's ready.

07:49 Driver's ready, let's roll camera and sound.

07:52 - Ooh!

07:53 - And test.

07:54 - And.

07:55 (whooshing)

07:57 you

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