- 2 days ago
It’s time for the ultimate Germany vs Japan showdown!
We’ve got our hands on the exceptional Porsche Carrera GT, and it’s facing off against one of the most famous Japanese exports of all-time - the Lexus LFA!
The question is, which of these legendary V10s will come out on top? Let’s check out the stats…
Starting with the Porsche, it’s powered by a 5.7-litre naturally-aspirated V1- that delivers 612hp and 590Nm. This power is sent to the rear wheels only via a 6-speed manual gearbox, and the car weighs in at 1,380kg. When it was first released, it cost around £330,000, but as of today, it’s valued at about £2,000,000!
Next up, we have the Lexus LFA. It’s powered by a 4.8-litre naturally-aspirated V10, and this creates 560hp and 480Nm. Power is sent to the rear wheels only via a 6-speed auto gearbox, and the car tips the scales at £340,000. As new, it cost around £340,000, but as of today, it’s valued at around £750,000.
So how will this play out - will the auto gearbox of the LFA power it to victory? Or will the extra power in the Porsche propel it to the finish line first? There’s only one way to find out for sure… LET’S RACE!
Thanks to everyone who helped set up this race:
Porsche Carrera GT: / the.peggcollection
Lexus LFA: / dkengineering
We’ve got our hands on the exceptional Porsche Carrera GT, and it’s facing off against one of the most famous Japanese exports of all-time - the Lexus LFA!
The question is, which of these legendary V10s will come out on top? Let’s check out the stats…
Starting with the Porsche, it’s powered by a 5.7-litre naturally-aspirated V1- that delivers 612hp and 590Nm. This power is sent to the rear wheels only via a 6-speed manual gearbox, and the car weighs in at 1,380kg. When it was first released, it cost around £330,000, but as of today, it’s valued at about £2,000,000!
Next up, we have the Lexus LFA. It’s powered by a 4.8-litre naturally-aspirated V10, and this creates 560hp and 480Nm. Power is sent to the rear wheels only via a 6-speed auto gearbox, and the car tips the scales at £340,000. As new, it cost around £340,000, but as of today, it’s valued at around £750,000.
So how will this play out - will the auto gearbox of the LFA power it to victory? Or will the extra power in the Porsche propel it to the finish line first? There’s only one way to find out for sure… LET’S RACE!
Thanks to everyone who helped set up this race:
Porsche Carrera GT: / the.peggcollection
Lexus LFA: / dkengineering
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:06What will win in a drag race between a Porsche Carrera GT and a Lexus LFA?
00:12Are we going to find out by racing them over the standing quarter mile?
00:15I am so excited.
00:16This is my dream car.
00:17I've always wanted to drive one.
00:19I haven't until now.
00:20I'm going to drag race one.
00:21Very first time.
00:22Though I am super nervous because these cars have a notoriously tricky clutch and they're
00:27expensive to brake, but easy to brake.
00:33Let me tell you about this wonderful Porsche Carrera GT.
00:38So it's got a 5.7 litre naturally aspirated V10 engine driving the rear wheels by a six
00:43speed manual gearbox with a lovely wooden gear knob.
00:46We've got 612 horsepower, 590 newton metres of torque and this car weighs 1,380 kilos.
00:54New back in 05, this was £330,000 and Porsche struggled to sell them.
00:59However, today this particular car is worth about £2 million.
01:04I've got to be very careful, but I'm not good at being careful.
01:07Next to me is the Lexus LFA.
01:10It has a 4.8 litre naturally aspirated V10 with 560 horsepower, 480 newton metres of torque,
01:17driving the rear wheels by a six speed automatic gearbox.
01:20That car weighs in at 1,480 kilos and back in 2010 it cost about £340,000.
01:26Today that car's worth £750,000.
01:30Here's a quick recap of the car's stats side by side.
01:32Now let's quickly talk to its driver.
01:34His name is Martinez from DK Engineering.
01:37Martinez, how are you?
01:38Keeping well, thank you.
01:39How are you?
01:40I am excited and nervous.
01:42I mean, you've got an easy job, you've got an automatic.
01:43I've got a manual, one of the trickiest manuals known in a production car.
01:48Ah!
01:49And a very expensive production car.
01:52But the thing about these cars is the sound, V10 engines, reminds me of Formula 1 back in the day.
02:00Which car do you think sounds the best out of these two?
02:02I might be biased, but I think it's mine.
02:04Yours looks the loudest in that yellow paint, but I think mine might be the loudest and the best sounding.
02:10Let's do a sound check.
02:11I'm going to go first and I'm going to just load my window a bit so I'll get induction and
02:14exhaust.
02:15Here we go, everybody.
02:24Oh, look at the way that revs.
02:27Ah, go on then, beat that.
02:28Let's give it a go.
02:35Sounds wicked as well.
02:36So that engine and exhaust was actually tuned by Yamaha.
02:38Their music division, not like their bike division.
02:40That's why it sounds mwah.
02:41But which do you think sounds the best?
02:43Let me know in the comments.
02:44I'm going for this.
02:45Sounds like a Formula 1 car.
02:49What do you do at DK Engineering?
02:51I do a bit of sales and a bit of quality control, but it's a small team.
02:54We do a bit of everything.
02:55If you drive that car and it performs badly, it's not going to do well for sales, is it, Martinez?
03:00No pressure.
03:01Fortunately for us, it's already sold.
03:02Does the person who's bought it know that it's actually going on this drag race?
03:06We'll find out when the video's live.
03:08You've told them.
03:10You must have told them.
03:11Have you told them?
03:12I think we have, yeah.
03:13They know.
03:14I think, oh dear.
03:15Well, if you just bought a Lexus LFA in yellow, it's been drag race on car.
03:19Wow, you can see it right now.
03:20How's that, though, for like, you've bought a car, a bit of posterity.
03:24You've got a video of it competing against the Carrera GT.
03:26What an amazing matchup.
03:28Now, do you know what?
03:28I've never driven one of these cars, so I've got to drive it down the runway for the very first
03:32time.
03:32If you want to warm up your car as well, we're going to go up and down, get a feel
03:35for them.
03:36No problem.
03:36Give it a go.
03:37The clutch is a bit like on my 911ST, so you don't apply any throttle.
03:41You just lift off the clutch.
03:43Once it's fully engaged, then you go.
03:44Here we go.
03:45Do not stall.
03:45Do not stall.
03:46Do not stall.
03:47Do not stall.
03:47Do not stall.
03:49There we go.
03:49Now I'm off.
03:54I've waited for this moment for 20 years.
03:5920 years.
04:01I wanted to see my eyes, actually.
04:02I'm going to take these off because I'm, like, a little bit emotional about it.
04:06That, as a kid, I say kid, I wish I was a kid, but as a younger motoring journalist,
04:11writing news stories, never got anywhere near cars like this back in the day, here I am.
04:16I'd better put these back on because they've got prescription lenders in them.
04:19I can't see bugger all without them.
04:26That is lush.
04:33Wow.
04:34What a special moment.
04:36Thank you to the chap that led me this.
04:38You know who you are.
04:39You're a legend and you've made one motoring journalist's dream come true.
04:44When people ask me, what car could you have if you could have any?
04:46I do sometimes get stuck because I've driven so many, but, yeah, it's going to be this.
04:50So, Martinez, how's your car feeling?
04:52Feels amazing, Matt.
04:53Super comfortable.
04:54Everything's reliable.
04:55It's a Lexus.
04:56Do you have launch control?
04:57I do, yeah.
04:58I don't.
04:59And back to that expensive clutch.
05:01I'm not going to launch this.
05:01I'm not going to actually do it from a standstill because I'd have to dump the clutch and that
05:06could destroy it in one go.
05:07And we want some racing.
05:08And I don't want to destroy someone's car.
05:10What's the point?
05:11So, what we're going to do is we're going to do a rolling.
05:13So, I'm going to engage the clutch and we're just going to, like, chug along to the start
05:16line and the starter will start us.
05:18As soon as his hands go down, we go and we race over the quarter mile.
05:22We'll see which is the quickest.
05:23Here we go.
05:25Three, two, one.
05:27Three, two, one.
06:02Martinez, you got done.
06:04Stood up, unfortunately.
06:05Maybe I slept on the launch.
06:06I'm not sure.
06:07Yeah, I think so.
06:08Because once we were going, I wasn't increasing the gap.
06:11I think you can do a better job than that.
06:12Have a little practice there.
06:14Just have a little practice.
06:25There it is.
06:26I knew it was going to happen.
06:27A stall.
06:28And that guy's filming it.
06:32All right, Martinez.
06:33You reckon you can do it this time?
06:34Watch out.
06:35Here comes the LFA.
06:36I'm not convinced by this.
06:39Three, two, one.
06:46This is just it for always day.
07:09Oh, it's as close as it's going to happen, mate.
07:16Oh, he's got a smile on his face this time.
07:19Photo finish.
07:20You had me there, didn't you?
07:21Hair, basically.
07:22Yeah, I'm being careful with the gear changes that I want to money shift.
07:25Because that will cost a lot of money.
07:29All right, all right, all right.
07:30So, it's one each.
07:32See you back down there.
07:33Right, what I'm going to do, I'm just going to float the throttle this time.
07:35I'm going to bleed it in because the traction control comes in.
07:37And because this car is, like, 2005, the traction control system is pretty thick.
07:43It just cuts the power.
07:44So, I'm just going to be smoother.
07:47Hopefully, that'll work.
07:50Progressive with the power, Watson.
07:51Progressive with the power.
07:52Gun on the gear shifts.
07:53You can do it, man.
07:54Three, two, one.
08:02Better gear shift.
08:10This one needs to shift well.
08:17Come on, Carrera.
08:19You can do it, my darling car.
08:20I love you.
08:29Hey, we got him.
08:34And that, my friend, is that.
08:37Good shifting.
08:40So, then, what exactly happened?
08:42Well, the Porsche one.
08:43It completed the rolling quarter mile in 12.1 seconds.
08:46The Lexus took 12.2 seconds.
08:49All right, and let's do a rolling race.
08:51But let's go for a bit longer because that seems to pick up speed at the top end.
08:55Both of these cars are 200 mile an hour cars.
08:56So, let's see what happens when we go a bit faster.
08:59Things could change.
09:00We're going to roll in second gear, 30 miles an hour,
09:02and then race over the half mile.
09:04Right, Martinez.
09:05Second gear.
09:06Roll in.
09:07Copy.
09:07Three, two, one, go.
09:11That was actually 40 miles an hour.
09:19Come on, my darling.
09:22GT, it's close.
09:42I didn't bother changing up.
09:44I didn't want a money shift going from fourth into third.
09:46That would have just been so expensive.
09:51So, I was just like, oh, just, that's it, red.
09:54We'll just cross the line.
09:55Don't need to change.
09:55I don't think I'll put this into fifth gear yet.
09:57It was really, really close, and then this just started to gap, didn't it?
10:00I didn't have a chance, I think.
10:02I mean, that might be due with the fact this is lighter, and it has more torque.
10:05But let's try it in a different gear.
10:06Let's try it in third from 50.
10:09I had to do that.
10:10Don't stall, don't stall, don't stall, don't stall.
10:14Oh, there it is.
10:16This is harder than the ST.
10:17Ever so slightly harder, and ever so slightly more expensive.
10:20My concern with these cars, if I owned one, was the delivery drivers knowing that.
10:24Because delivery drivers having to get the car up on a ramp on a truck,
10:27if they don't know what they're doing, they're going to be applying throttle.
10:30And that is not good.
10:31Let's practice fifth gear, because I'm probably going to have to use it now.
10:34Fourth.
10:37Fifth.
10:38It's pretty clear.
10:40All that, though.
10:44Oh, I think this sounds better than the LFA.
10:48The LFA, you can tell it's been tuned to sound good.
10:54This just sounds the way it sounds, because the engine is doing its job,
10:59the exhaust is doing its job.
11:00It doesn't sound like it's been artificially tuned to sound good.
11:04It just is.
11:05That is a load of waffle, but I think you understand what I'm trying to say.
11:09Right, now we're going to do a third gear roll on, 50 miles an hour over the half mile.
11:11Before we do, if you're thinking about changing your car, you can do it through CarWOW.
11:14You can sell your current car through CarWOW, have dealers all across the country bid on it,
11:17or you can buy your next car through CarWOW, either used, new, or lease your car.
11:22Head to CarWOW to check it out.
11:24Oh, there's a link in the description, or scan the QR code on screen now.
11:26OK, let's do this, third gear.
11:28Down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall, down, stall.
11:33Yeah, good.
11:34OK, get level, Martinez.
11:36Three, two, one, go.
11:38Oh, he's ahead.
11:45Not anymore.
11:46Good change, Watson, good change.
11:48Yeah.
12:01It's the torque and the weight.
12:16Right, let's just face facts.
12:18This Carrera GT is faster and superior to the LFA.
12:21I wouldn't say superior, but it's definitely faster.
12:23It is super, it's bloody super, it is.
12:26OK, which one would you rather have?
12:27Ignore the money.
12:28Which would you rather have?
12:29Porsche Carrera GT hypercar or an LFA supercar?
12:32I'd have this in a heartbeat.
12:33I think it's easier to use and live with, despite the CGT being a convertible, which makes it tough to
12:38choose, but it's still the LFA for me.
12:40Let's do a brake test.
12:41Here we go.
12:42Here's the cones.
12:53That wasn't great.
12:54That wasn't great at all.
12:55The LFA destroyed this.
12:56There's a lot of ABS going on.
12:58Absolutely smashed me.
12:59Well, at least I can do something which is stop if I can't beat you at sheer pace.
13:04Oh my God, that was a little bit worrying, that was.
13:06Maybe the tyres are a touch old.
13:07Old cars don't tend to brake so well.
13:09That is one thing you really notice with modern cars.
13:11Braking performance in the ABS, the way it works, is massively improved.
13:15Likewise, the fact that the Carrera GT is quicker, despite being older, and braking performance is irrelevant.
13:21You'll still slow down on those carbon brakes.
13:24Oh, it's coming round to it now, isn't it?
13:26It's coming round to it.
13:27But is it really the best all-round hypercar?
13:31Maybe something slightly later, like the Porsche 918 Spyder.
13:33Or maybe a Ferrari.
13:34Or maybe it's actually the McLaren P1.
13:37To decide, watch the video on screen now.
13:38We drag race them.
13:39Anyway, listen, I hope you'll enjoy the video if you did give it a like.
13:41Let me know some other cars you'd like to see race in the comments below.
13:44Thanks for watching, and I'll see you very, very, very soon.