What happens when you pit an Aprilia RSV4 RF against a Toyota Supra Turbo in a drag race? Of course, before you answer, you may want to respond with a few questions of your own. Important things like: Are either or both of these vehicles modded? What kind of power do they make? Who’s racing them, and what experience do they have?
In the bike corner, we have James Navarro, who started out holding just the frame from a 2013 Aprilia RSV4 RF. Then, he built it into the Aprilia dreams are made of, with help from his neighbor. Using body pieces, an instrument cluster, and various bits from mostly 2016 and 2017 versions, the completed bike now absolutely flies—though he also says that the engine is unmodified. You can clearly see an SC Project can on his bike.
In the car corner, we have Moe Kahn of Petrolwerks, rolling his heavily modified 1994 Toyota Supra Turbo. (That’s totally not an intake; it’s just missing a headlight! Honest!) Both these guys are hanging out with the Hoonigan crew, and Moe has been here before—so the jokes are flowing free and fast. Kahn is based in New York, so the main joke is that every stat he gives about his Supra should be doubled, because he’s clearly understating what it can do.
Navarro says he’s never drag raced before, while Kahn, of course, is an old hand at it. However, Kahn says he’s only raced against cars before, and never bikes—so if you believe both of them, it’s a whole new experience. What will happen?
It’s a best-of-three setup, and the first run is from a standing start. Kahn went on two instead of waiting for the count—but even though he clearly jumped it, the race was still pretty close. If it had just been a tiny bit longer of a run, Navarro would totally have had him. In the end, Kahn won this one by approximately one Supra bumper.
For the second run, the pair agreed to a rolling start. Now, no one in the Hoonigan crew bet on Navarro and his RSV4 RF to begin with—and here, they clearly thought Kahn had the clear advantage. We should note that Kahn’s Supra has a manual transmission, not an automatic—which Kahn said was because it wasn’t built for quarter-miles, but for having fun out on the street.
If Navarro lost this race, it would be game over for the RSV4 RF—but of course he didn’t. The third run was taken from another rolling start—and the look of disbelief on Kahn’s face when Navarro passes him like he’s standing still is just a sight to see. You know that shocked Pikachu meme that’s been going around for ages? Picture that, only in a helmet, inside a silver Supra. Nice work.
