Ever since the Tesla Model S debuted in 2012, we’ve witnessed electric vehicles break the laws of physics and outperform the day’s very best vehicles with internal combustion engines. This one, though, warps our brains. During the world premiere video of the new Cayenne Electric, Porsche demonstrated its performance by staging a drag race between it and the brand’s legendary 918 Spyder, one of the first hypercars ever built. Watch the video yourself to see the Cayenne Electric Turbo not only keep pace with this icon of performance, but even beat it off the line.
Of course, since the drag race was staged and performed by Porsche itself, we should take it with a grain of salt. We all remember the shenanigans that were discovered when Tesla drag raced its new Cybertruck against a Porsche while towing another Porsche. Call us crazy, but we have more faith in Porsche that its display of the Cayenne Electric’s awesome performance is on the up and up.
How The Cayenne Electric Turbo Can Beat Hypercars
While the base Cayenne Electric produces 402 horsepower normally, it can generate 435 hp and 615 pound-feet of torque with its launch control activated. The Cayenne Electric Turbo, however, is in another league with 844 horsepower to start. Drivers can access another 173 horsepower with a Push-to-Pass function and reach a towering 1,139 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet of torque in launch control mode. Its specs on paper read like this: 0-60 mph in 2.4 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 9.9 seconds, and a 162-mph top speed.
The Porsche 918 Spyder, meanwhile, needs no introduction. It’s technically a plug-in hybrid with a 4.6-liter V-8 and two electric motors that make a combined 887 horsepower and 940 pound-feet of torque. It’s a tiny thing, weighing just 3,692 pounds compared to the Cayenne Electric Turbo’s curb weight of – cough, cough – 5,860 pounds, but somehow it manages to be less aerodynamic than its new brethren. Blame it on downforce, but the 918 Spyder has a drag coefficient of 0.36 while the Cayenne Electric slips through the air with a rating of just 0.25. Both vehicles also manage airflow with active aerodynamic elements around their bodies.
When the Cayenne Electric Turbo and the 918 Spyder pull up to the line in Porsche’s video, the latter is being driven by legendary F1 racer and Porsche brand ambassador Mark Webber, while the former is piloted by Gabriela Jílková, who is a simulator and development driver for the Porsche Formula E team. After both drivers activate their vehicles’ respective launch control mode, and the Cayenne Electric Turbo’s cool-looking aero blades extend out the back, the race starts, and immediately the SUV is in the lead.
Porsche claims it reaches 100 kph, or 62 mph, in 2.4 seconds compared to the 918 Spyder, which is right behind at 2.5 seconds. The vehicles swap places as they reach 200 kph, or 124 mph. The 918 Spyder makes it there in 7.3 seconds compared to the Cayenne Electric’s time of 7.4 seconds.
At this point, Jílková recognizes she’s beaten and makes a hard left onto some grass knowing that Webber and the 918 Spyder can’t follow. The Cayenne Electric actually offers an impressive maximum ground clearance of 9.6 inches thanks to its air suspension, though it’s no off-road warrior. It does its best work on pavement, as the video attests.
TopSpeed’s Take
This is how you do it, Tesla. After viewing Porsche’s video, our minds immediately went to the aforementioned video published by Tesla in which a Cybertruck raced a Porsche while towing another Porsche. Engineering Explained debunked Tesla’s video and proved the vehicles never completed a full quarter mile as the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, had claimed. If they had, the Cybertruck towing the Porsche would not have won. It was a silly controversy at the time that blunted the impact of the Cybertruck’s debut. It also made Tesla look like it was lying to meet the outrageous claims made by its CEO during the oft-delayed gestation period of the truck.
Porsche, however, didn’t say anything at the time when Tesla tried to use it as the Cybertruck’s punching bag. What does the old adage say? “Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.” Porsche must have learned from this, because for the Cayenne Electric’s reveal, it didn’t choose another automaker’s car to embarrass, it chose its own. And smartly, the 918 wasn’t really embarrassed – just humbled, perhaps. It’s still the hypercar it was always and can beat the Cayenne Electric Turbo in every performance metric except a race to 62 mph. That feat, however, now belongs to this SUV, which is the quickest Porsche of all time off the line… quicker than the 918 Turbo, 911 Turbo S, and Taycan Turbo GT.
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