When the Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck was finally released to the public during a live-streamed keynote on November 30 last year, CEO Elon Musk made a daring claim that he supported with supposed video proof: the Cybertruck "can tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself."
In the infamous video, we supposedly see a Cybertruck meet up with a green Porsche 911 at a drag strip, where not only does it beat the sports car across the finish line – it does it while towing an identical green Porsche.
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Skeptical YouTubers sought to challenge the validity of Musk's claim. In a January video, Jason Fenske, the face of the channel Engineering Explained argued using his signature whiteboard full of math calculations that the big stainless-steel towing the 911 is not only slower than the Porsche, but that the race was also conducted over an eighth of a mile — half the distance of a traditional drag race.
In a video published on February 14, Canadian automotive YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelsman — better known as Throttle House, raced a Porsche 911 Turbo against Tesla's Cybertruck Cyberbeast (sans trailer with Porsche) in two quarter-mile drag races on a closed course where the Porsche won two out of two times.
Though it seemed that the claims were taken to bed for good, the ever-challenged claim made by Musk was finally settled once and for all. In a new video, auto authority MotorTrend brought out Fenske to test out Musk's claims against his in a real world challenge.
The Race:
The auto authority set out to recreate the video Musk showed at the November launch down to a T, borrowing a Tesla Cybertruck Cyberbeast from a private owner, as well as gathering a trailer and two Porsche 911 Carrera Ts for the sake of accuracy.
The outlet was very through about the test. According to the writeup by Eric Tingwall, the testers even found the exact same trailer used in the infamous video — a Futura Club Sport aluminum trailer; which happens to be the lightest car hauler on the market.
However, in parts where either MotorTrend couldn't find the exact details, they attempted to give as much slack to the Tesla. The Porsche 911 Carrera T that the Cybertruck raced against was not only slower, but also 35 pounds heavier, than the one on the trailer. Additionally, they assigned the lighter driver; Fenske, to pilot the big, heavy Cybertruck across the drag strip.
With all the conditions set and the cars set to its optimal electronic sport modes, the result that came out is that Fenske was right, and Elon Musk was wrong. In fact, very wrong. In a traditional quarter-mile drag race, the manual-transmission Porsche 911 Carrera T beats the Tesla Cybertruck towing a similar Porsche 911 Carrera T in a very consistent manner.
MotorTrend's video only showed the results of three races, but in the full writeup, they revealed that they ran a total of six races. In the best race (Race 4), the result showed that the Cybertruck towing the Porsche went across in 12.7 seconds at 104.7 miles per hour, while the Porsche alone beat it to the line in 12.4 seconds at 116.2 miles per hour.
Even in the eighth mile — the argued "actual distance" shown in the infamous Tesla launch film — the Porsche won over the Cybertruck more consistently. In its full run of six races, the Cybertruck towing the Porsche managed to beat the Porsche just once, tied twice, while the Porsche beat it to it three times.
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Results aside, the fact that a heavy vehicle like a Cybertruck was able to lay down a sub 13-second quarter mile time is pretty impressive, especially considering it was towing something the whole time.
"I was impressed every run," Fenske said in the video. "It felt fast, it didn't feel like I was towing; that's what I didn't get. It's stable, it never felt sketchy even at speed, it didn't feel sketchy braking."
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