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Twin-Turbo C8 Corvette Challenges Porsche Taycan EV To A Drag Race: Video

In case you’ve had your head under a rock for the last few years, it’s a pretty wild time to be a car lover, with the modern crop of go-fast equipment bringing the heat in all flavors. Want your speed with batteries? You got it. Want it old school with a boosted V8? Sure, you can get it like that, too. Now, we’re taking a look at what happens when gasoline challenges electricity thanks to the following drag racing video between a twin-turbo C8 Corvette and Porsche Taycan EV.

Coming to us from the fine folks over at the Hoonigan YouTube channel, this video is part of the channel’s This vs. That web series, and gives us a surprisingly good matchup between two very different machines.

Let’s start with the C8 Corvette. Owned, modified, and raced by YouTube star Emilia Hartford, this eighth-generation rocket ship is now sporting a pair of Precision 6466 turbochargers, which are mounted under the rear bumper to provide the mid-mounted 6.2L V8 LT2 engine with gobs of boost. Thanks to a little help from Texas Speed, the engine is running an auxiliary fuel system, as well as several piggyback engine management systems to make it all run right.

Put it all together, and this thing is making about 750 horsepower in the current setup (no nitrous for today). The transmission was upgraded with new clutches to help hold the power, while Forgeline beadlock wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson rubber help put it to the pavement.

This particular car is framed as the fastest C8 Corvette in the world, but it’s up against some high-tech competition in this race. In the other lane is a 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo, which despite the name, doesn’t actually have a turbocharger. What it does have is 670 all-electric horsepower running through a two-speed automatic transmission and AWD. And while the Taycan is quite a bit heavier than the Vette, the instant torque delivery and AWD grip should make it a force to be reckoned with on the un-prepped drag race surface.

Will the modified C8 Corvette have what it takes to best the futuristic Porsche Taycan? Hit play to find out.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. Great to see the C8 beat the electric

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    1. Funny (without the nitrous), the Porsche Taycan EV (AWD) having to or needing to jump the gun to get the win. Can’t imagine how quick EV’s will be when or if air batteries ever come to market!

      Bottom end tune appeared a little off, was that due to no nitrous, turbo lag, maybe both, or maybe traction control?

      Good show Emelia!

      Reply
  2. The corvette is really limited with not being AWD off the line, but unlike the Porsche its a true track car. beating electric is super easy in the 1/4. Eletric’s only advantage is not having to deal with gear switches or TQ converter lockup. Eletric motors torque curve really does suck. You get everything at the bottom end and then nothing at the top. Then there is the factor that as your batteries start to heat up, the resistance builds and you loose power. Gas engines maintain their rated power regardless. Also, I’m assuming that 750HP is at the wheels, not the EV’s calculator of eletric motors P=IR^2, which manufactures use because it makes them look better than saying they loose 10-12% in their drivelines. Id like to see this again with the Vette not letting the porsche get a headstart

    Reply
    1. I thought the Taycan has a transmission, unlike the Tesla??

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  3. I’m a fan of EVs (and have one as my daily driver), but I love seeing the C8 take down the Taycan, which I regard as one of the most over-rated performance-category vehicles in the market. Obviously, the C8 as tested is hardly “stock,” which arguably would have been a fairer test of the Vette. But I’m also getting a little annoyed by the “EV-Is-Always-The-Answer” crowd.

    Reply
  4. So, who won?

    I cut off the video full of a lot of irrelevant talk when I saw it is 15 minutes long.

    Reply
  5. I look forward to the day when competitions aren’t laced with the amount of machismo bravado this video has. Pretty obnoxious. Nostalgia for ICE cars will be softer and kinder as we continue repairing the damage fossil fuel wreaked on our environment. We’ll all be older then too, and our kids and grandkids will look at our current passions with love and forgiveness. We hope.

    Reply
    1. What a sexist comment. I know plenty of gals that have fun with good natured verbal sparing. It’s a useful life skill for both genders…Deal with it. And those fossil fuels you don’t like…Just what do you think has led mankind out of the dark ages and has improved the quality of human life on this planet more than any other single factor? Maybe try spending more time studying history and less time posting on car sites.

      Reply
  6. The Taycan is Porsche’s first effort at manufacturing an all electric car and it isn’t too bad. A bit over priced but they always have been. The Taycan just took the electric version record of the Cannonball coast to coast speed record from Tesla. When Tesla’s are manufactured correctly they have made some fine cars. Tesla is the EV standard of electric cars but they got beat on Porsche’s first try at an EV. I’ll probably receive a lot of hate mail responses but in 10 years the Worlds fastest Corvette is going to have its bell rung by an electric car. Who knows it may even be an electric corvette? Deal with it.

    Reply

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