If you enjoy watching drag racing content, chances are Carwow is a staple in your YouTube algorithm. The UK-based online market place for buying and selling cars has been on fire lately, pitting all sorts of cars against each other in some of the most exciting drag races to hit the internet.
One of its latest videos is a spectacular crossover between three worlds: high-performance electric hypercars, MotoGP, and custom performance motorcycles. That's right, in this video, Carwow's Mat Watson drives the Rimac Nevera and puts it in a drag race against a KTM MotoGP bike and a supercharged Suzuki Hayabusa.
Diving right into the specs of the machines at the starting grid, the Rimac Nevera is an electric hypercar that's pretty much the embodiment of excessive performance. It has a total output of 1,914 horsepower and a whopping 1,740.6 pound-feet (2,360 Newton-meters) of torque. It's powered by a 120-kilowatt-hour battery pack, and tips the scales at a hefty 5,060 pounds (2,300 kilograms). It's also eye-wateringly expensive with a price tag of about £2,000,000, or approximately $2,524,810 USD.
As for the two-wheelers, the Red Bull KTM racing machine is piloted by none other than the lovable Dani Pedrosa. With 270 horsepower and 84 pound-feet of torque on tap, and tipping the scales at a mere 345 pounds (157 kilograms), the MotoGP race bike's power figures are clearly overshadowed by the Nevera. Meanwhile, the third contender is a supercharged Suzuki Hayabusa, but not just any supercharged Hayabusa. It's the TTS Performance Superbusa, with 380 horsepower and 238 pound-feet of torque. The bike was piloted by none other than Bike World's Chris Northover.
Clearly, when it comes to drag races like this, the launch is key, and having four wheels and all-wheel-drive is a clear advantage. On top of that, the instantaneous power delivery afforded by the Rimac Nevera's electric motors means that it launches at an instant, and makes peak power all across the rev range. Needless to say, it's obvious which one of the three took the win.
Right from the start, the Rimac Nevera and Red Bull KTM MotoGP bike were neck-and-neck, with the Hayabusa struggling to put the power to the ground. The Superbusa pretty much did a burnout for the entire quarter-mile, with the Nevera ultimately taking the win.
The second race saw the tables turn for the hypercar, with Dani Pedrosa eking out a win. The Nevera finished second, and the Superbusa put on a better performance than the first time, but still finished last. To settle the debate, a third race was held, and was pretty much a repeat of the first, with the Nevera taking the win just ahead of the MotoGP bike. Once again, the TTS Superbusa struggled to put the power to the ground.
The video concludes with Dani Pedrosa hopping into the cockpit of the Rimac Nevera and racing Chris Northover on the TTS Superbusa on the quarter-mile. It goes without saying that the MotoGP racer along with Mat Watson riding shotgun took the win yet again. Just goes to show how insane the performance of EVs can be, besting even the best race bikes in the world, and the most heavily modified road bikes, in a straight line.
