Under absolutely perfect conditions, we’ve seen the McLaren 720S out-accelerate almost every other vehicle with four wheels. Can the Porsche 918 Spyder be added to that list?
Brooks from DragTimes recently brought his orange 720S to a half-mile drag racing event in Florida to see how the British supercar would stack up against a well-used Porsche 918 Spyder.
The half-mile event was held on a runway and although a lot of rubber had been left by cars at the start line, the track had a lot less grip than a normal drag strip. In fact, it took the McLaren 5.1 seconds to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) during the first test pass because of wheel spin.
When it came to face off against the all-wheel drive German hypercar, Brooks launched the McLaren perfectly, but still, sending roughly 700 hp to the rear wheels will always have its limitations.
Consequently, it was the 918 that had the edge over the 720S off the line. Interestingly, the trap speeds of the two were within roughly 1 mph of each other, showing that once the McLaren gets going, it can keep up with hypercar royalty.