The McLaren 720S is one of the pillars of British automotive engineering. It’s a gorgeous looking car, but also a top-of-the-line performer.
Although drag racing doesn’t fully reflect the nature of the vehicle, the 720S has been kicking ass at drag strips all over the world. It’s taken down an impressive number of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and even a Chiron.
With quarter mile times into the 9-second category, the McLaren rarely loses a race.
Well, in this Drag Times video, we see just that. Brooks drove the 720S hard, but had the victory claimed by an unlikely competitor – a custom EV Porsche 944.
Yes, the old school sports car is nothing but a shell for an entirely custom DC power train that generates close to a 1,000 hp and 1,500 lbs/ft of torque.
Let’s look at the stats side by side
| McLaren 720S | Porsche 944 Custom EV | |
| Power plant | 4.0-liter, Twin Turbo V8 | Two 11-inch DC motors |
| Transmission | 7-speed DCT | – |
| Drive | Rear wheel | Rear wheel |
| Horsepower | 710 hp | 960 hp |
| Torque | 568 lbs/ft | 1,500 lbs/ft |
| Weight | 3,180 lbs | 2,450 lbs |
Is this a fair matchup? Not even close. Is it any less entertaining? Absolutely not!
The Porsche has numerous advantages beyond just the power to weight ratio. All of the 1,500 lbs/ft of torque is available instantly on pressing the pedal. The lack of transmission sheds further time by not having to shift and keeping power output to the wheels at max the whole time.
Last but not least we have to mention that the McLaren runs on a set of street tires, while the Porsche has drag slicks on.
Brooks reaction after hearing the numbers is pretty conclusive. He knows he’s going to lose, he just doesn’t know how much.
At 10.156 seconds, Brooks could have made a better run. Previously he’s gotten the 720S down to 9.9 seconds for a quarter mile. However, the Porsche 448 was still half a second quicker at 9.411. There is simply no way for a stock McLaren 720S to go that fast.