- 2 days ago
It’s time for the craziest Carwow drag race ever!
Mat’s teamed up with Porsche over in America, and he’s about to race the most powerful Porsche production car (the Cayenne Turbo Electric) against one of the largest planes in the world - the Stratolaunch Roc!
There’ll be a series of two races - one against the plane as it takes off, and another as it lands! This race is fraught with danger, as this plane is absolutely massive, and any wrong move could be disastrous! So let’s check out the two contenders.
The Stratolaunch Roc has the largest wingspan of any plane in the world, at 117 metres - longer than an American football field! It’s powered by six engines from a Boeing 747, weighs over 220 tonnes, and has a top speed of 460 knots (530mph)!
As for the Cayenne Turbo Electric, it’s powered by dual electric motors, and these combine to produce 1,139hp and 1,500Nm. As for the weight, it tips the scales at 2,645kg.
So how’s this one going to play out? Stick with Mat to see for yourself!
Mat’s teamed up with Porsche over in America, and he’s about to race the most powerful Porsche production car (the Cayenne Turbo Electric) against one of the largest planes in the world - the Stratolaunch Roc!
There’ll be a series of two races - one against the plane as it takes off, and another as it lands! This race is fraught with danger, as this plane is absolutely massive, and any wrong move could be disastrous! So let’s check out the two contenders.
The Stratolaunch Roc has the largest wingspan of any plane in the world, at 117 metres - longer than an American football field! It’s powered by six engines from a Boeing 747, weighs over 220 tonnes, and has a top speed of 460 knots (530mph)!
As for the Cayenne Turbo Electric, it’s powered by dual electric motors, and these combine to produce 1,139hp and 1,500Nm. As for the weight, it tips the scales at 2,645kg.
So how’s this one going to play out? Stick with Mat to see for yourself!
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MotorTranscript
00:00Whoa, this is nuts.
00:07I'm about to drive under the wing of the biggest aircraft ever built.
00:12I'm going to be driving the most powerful Porsche ever made, the new Cayenne Turbo.
00:16But there are some major problems.
00:19Number one, the weather is turning and we could lose our opportunity to do this.
00:23Number two, a Hollywood A-lister may steal my seat, which means I could actually have to do an even
00:29more dangerous death run.
00:32And finally, I've messed up, which means that any delays could mean I miss my flight home.
00:38I'm Matt Watson and you're watching Car Wow.
00:44I knew today was going to be absolutely stupid crazy.
00:48I'm at this airfield with more rules than a school swimming pool.
00:51I've actually got my own mind today, she's keeping an eye on me.
00:54That's because we're at the Mojave Air and Spaceport.
00:57Yeah, space, as in rockets.
00:59Because this is the USA's first horizontal launch site for real spaceships and hypersonic test planes.
01:06Here they get fired into the heavens directly from purpose-built aeroplanes, like this one.
01:10It's operated by Stratolaunch and it's nicknamed ROCK.
01:14Not after Dwayne Johnson, but after the mythical bird of prey that could supposedly carry an elephant.
01:19It's bonkers.
01:20Because I'm going to basically be drag racing a flying multi-story car park.
01:26And that's not the worrying bit.
01:27You see, if the wind picks up, it could cancel the whole chute.
01:31ROCK has two giant fuselages and six massive engines from a Boeing 747.
01:36They produce around £340,000 of thrust.
01:40And the pilot steers the whole thing with the help of two huge tail fins, which are 15 metres tall.
01:45But in high winds, these act like cells and they can blow the whole plane off course.
01:50That would mean the pilot would have to make a sudden correction and I could end up like a Porsche
01:54-shaped pancake.
01:55And then I met someone who didn't care about these risks at all, nor the fact that they were stealing
01:59my job.
02:01That was Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom.
02:03What happened was I was supposed to be doing this shoot for Porsche on their channel.
02:07He found out about it.
02:08He's a Porsche ambassador.
02:09He said, can I come along and take part?
02:10And obviously they said, oh, we'd love you to feature in our video on our channel.
02:14So yeah, I'm not doing it anymore for them.
02:16But I am getting the second run, which is the more dangerous run, because the wind's going to pick up
02:19later in the day.
02:20So thank you, Orlando, for not only taking my seat in Porsche's video, but for putting my life even more
02:26at risk.
02:28I guess Porsche just wanted an A-list celebrity for the hot seat.
02:31Apparently having a guy who reviews cars and talks about cup holders doesn't quite cut it.
02:35I just hoped I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of this huge crew when it was my turn to drive.
02:40But then Porsche delivered even more bad news.
02:43There's a possibility that you might get one run with the plane, but we do have a backup plan.
02:49So the problem is that, like, because I'm going to get the run after Orlando.
02:52Yep.
02:53So the wind might have picked up by then.
02:55Exactly.
02:55So that's why we have a backup plan.
02:57Okay.
02:57The cars are en route now.
02:58This is really like kind of, everything's converging at one point just because of the weather.
03:03There's the takeoff and there's the landing component.
03:05What?
03:06Yeah, so there's the takeoff.
03:07Yeah, I knew about that.
03:09And then there's a landing.
03:10What would you mean to?
03:10So as the plane lands, we'll come up behind it and chase the plane down on the ground.
03:17That's pretty crazy.
03:18My driving would have to be absolutely perfect.
03:21If I accelerated too fast, I would end up beneath the plane.
03:24I'd be invisible to the pilot and I could be crushed by the huge landing gear.
03:28If I was too slow, my car could be flipped by the jet wash coming off the six massive engines.
03:32There was a genuine risk that someone could actually be injured today or worse.
03:37And this meant I would have to do something I really didn't want to do.
03:41So this is one of the most scary documents I've ever had to sign.
03:44So it details all the stuff about like the hazard with the wind blowing the plane into the car,
03:49the car dropping back too much and getting flipped.
03:51It's all very, very worrying.
03:53It's less of a waiver, more of a goodbye letter.
03:58I'm a little bit nervous, but here we go.
04:00Now let's go and see where I'm actually going to be driving.
04:03And I've got a feeling it's going to be even scarier than it seems in this document.
04:08Porsche had just taken Orlando out for a test run,
04:11which gave me enough time to rush back to the plane and get to grips with what lay in store
04:15for me.
04:15It's massive, especially the 117 metre wingspan, which is larger than any plane ever built.
04:21It's almost 1.5 times wider than an Airbus A380.
04:25And fully loaded, this plane weighs almost 600,000 kilograms.
04:29So I've got to drive between these two fuselages, roughly 30 metres, which seems like a lot of space.
04:37However, I need to stay well away from the wheels.
04:41So I've actually got to stay driving just within this bit,
04:47which is about, I don't know, one and a half car's width.
04:51And I've got to stay slightly back from the wheels.
04:54So about here, which means I need to maintain this space while going at high speed down a runway.
05:03Anywhere outside of this is in the danger zone.
05:06Now it was my turn to learn the ropes, because Orlando had just finished his test run.
05:11And is annoyingly good.
05:13But I wouldn't be on my own.
05:14This is Patrick Long.
05:15He's a Porsche factory driver, and he's won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice.
05:20Now he's going to teach me how to race the most powerful Porsche road car ever against the largest plane
05:25in the world.
05:26And because this Cayenne Turbo has 1,156 horsepower and 1,500 newton metres of torque,
05:32we're going to start with the basics.
05:33Firstly, how fast should I accelerate so I don't overtake the plane?
05:37And secondly, how do I hit the exact braking point so I don't crash off the end of the runway?
05:41We're going to simulate the aircraft's departing.
05:44And what it does is it kind of just, it's like a slow roll through a stop sign for about
05:50two or three seconds.
05:51And then Rock will tell us that it's, you'll hear a call.
05:54What do you guys say when you get on the power?
05:56They'll say sticks up.
05:57Sticks up.
05:58And then that means you can pretty much jam as hard as you need to, to maintain that distance to
06:03the back of the plane.
06:04All right, we're good to go.
06:06Audio, audio.
06:07All right, whenever you're ready.
06:11Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
06:13Full speed.
06:28All right, you can roll out of it.
06:31Start lightly braking.
06:33That's your four.
06:35Approaching your three.
06:36So more brakes.
06:37Nice.
06:39Patrick's feedback wasn't exactly Oscar winning, but I was feeling confident.
06:43However, I then found out the hardest lesson was still to come.
06:47For the landing, what we're going to do is we're going to stage up over here and we're going to
06:51be aimed onto the runway.
06:53We're going to launch from here as hard as we can.
06:56And the airplane's going to be touching down and we're going to try to catch it.
06:59Hey.
07:03Do you want to launch control?
07:04You can.
07:05Just be aware that you've got some work to do to make that corner.
07:10Yeah.
07:10So the plane will be coming from the right.
07:12Yeah.
07:13We will get a call from John.
07:14Yeah.
07:15And he'll tell us to hammer it.
07:17We're good.
07:18Everyone's ready.
07:19At your call, John.
07:20So here comes the plane.
07:23Planes to our right.
07:24Coming in.
07:24We see how much red to go.
07:26Patrick, we're ready on you.
07:28Go, go, go, go.
07:30Jesus Christ.
07:31Make your turn.
07:32Look at that center line.
07:34Stay after it.
07:35Now the plane's in front of you.
07:36Remember, it's going to be decelerating this time.
07:39Okay, so what?
07:39So you're going to get to 100 feet from it.
07:41Yeah.
07:42It's going to be decelerating now.
07:43So you are backing off.
07:46And then it's going to be slowing down, slowing down.
07:49It's going to come to a stop.
07:51So go ahead and slowly brake.
07:55That was a good one.
07:56It goes.
07:56Yeah.
07:57I might have lost my place as Porsche's number one driver to a Hollywood hero.
08:01But I was about to get a message that really lifted my spirits.
08:04I'd like to try that one more time if you wouldn't mind.
08:08I had a bad run.
08:09I got a time of better.
08:10The reaction time of that is much better than Orlando.
08:13So I was already back by 200 yards by the time you got it.
08:17We won't tell Orlando.
08:20Yeah.
08:21Another attempt will give me a chance to raise the bar even higher.
08:24But all that praise must have gone straight to my head.
08:26Nice.
08:27Because I pushed too hard and I made a mistake.
08:39I have some understeer on that one.
08:40Yeah, I know.
08:41Just the push.
08:41So I thought it was wise to dial in more steering angle.
08:45No, I was fine.
08:46You corrected.
08:48So that's it then.
08:49End of day one.
08:50Practice complete.
08:51Successful.
08:53I am nervous, especially.
08:54I don't know if you can tell.
08:55The wind is definitely picking up.
08:58Things could be sketchy tomorrow.
09:00It's pitch black, freezing cold, and I've never felt more awake.
09:04But there's a problem.
09:05I still have no idea if today's flight will go ahead.
09:09So I went to talk to the one man who might be able to save this whole operation.
09:12So John, you're flying the plane.
09:14A little bit worried about the weather.
09:16What's the chances of that second sortie taking place?
09:19Right now, chances are probably 50-50.
09:2150-50.
09:2250-50 on the second sortie.
09:24But if we limit the time of the first one, then we might be able to make up some time
09:28and beat the weather.
09:29Okay, so we're not sure yet.
09:31And is it likely that if you go for the second sortie anyway, it's going to be a little bit
09:34more sketchy anyhow than the first one?
09:35It will.
09:35The crosswinds will start to pick up.
09:37The gusts will start to hit.
09:38So it'll be even more critical that we're on center line so that we don't deviate left and right.
09:46Okay, so I don't think you wanted to say the word dangerous, did you?
09:49No, no.
09:50We always mitigate danger.
09:53Good.
09:53Right, so I'm a bit nervous.
09:55Okay, so maybe I'll go ahead.
09:56Maybe it won't.
09:57We're going to find out.
09:57I'm a little bit scared.
09:58You'll be good.
09:59Okay, good.
10:00Stay between the fuselages and you'll be good.
10:01Okay, I trust it.
10:03I trust it.
10:04But the Mojave Desert had other plans.
10:07So you can probably hear that the plane has started up its engines to warm off.
10:10And you're probably noticing this as well.
10:12The wind, it's picking up.
10:14It's getting worse.
10:15I'm not sure I'm going to get the chance to fly.
10:17We were already seeing 20 mile an hour crosswinds and they kept getting faster.
10:22Yesterday, these gusts were just a paragraph in my waiver.
10:25Today, they were strong enough to keep a 600 tonne aircraft pinned to the ground.
10:29Bad news.
10:30Chase plane is coming back.
10:32Okay, they just called it.
10:33Cancelled.
10:34Today's off.
10:34Too windy.
10:35Question is now though, are we going to run tomorrow or Friday?
10:39And can I even do Friday?
10:40Supposed to be going home.
10:41I really feel for the guys at Porsche.
10:43All this planning.
10:44Yes.
10:46Me, slightly relieved.
10:48I really, really want to do it.
10:49But I was a bit nervous.
10:50But for them, this idea or the effort they put in must be so gutting.
10:54If we can't fly again before Friday, this whole video would be a bust.
10:59And nobody will get to race this incredible Porsche against an even more spectacular plane.
11:03If later this afternoon, things are shaping up like today is, my recommendation would be, you know, just skip Thursday,
11:12go with Friday, get all the pieces lined up.
11:14If the forecast starts to trend better, and I say let's send it and let's go tomorrow.
11:19Copy that.
11:19And that decision gets made at 3.30 this afternoon?
11:22I think that's when we have to make it, yeah.
11:23And that afternoon, my worst fears came true.
11:26The weather forecast hadn't improved.
11:27The only day they could fly was Friday, but that meant I had to face another big problem.
11:33I was due to fly back to the UK early that afternoon.
11:35If Rock had any further delays, I might end up missing my plane home.
11:39But it turns out, I wasn't the only person at risk of missing a very important flight.
11:44It doesn't look like Orlando is going to be driving for the first takeoff because Rock's over there.
11:50Orlando is over there.
11:52What's happened is that Porsche just wants to be doubly sure that it's safe on the takeoff.
11:56That is very risky, the takeoff, because of the downdraft.
11:58So their pro driver is going to do the first run.
12:02I don't know if that means then that Orlando will do a landing and then the takeoff, which
12:06was going to be my takeoff, and I'll just be doing a landing.
12:09Everything keeps changing, and I also need to sort my flights out.
12:13What's going to happen next?
12:15Orlando and I were left standing on the tarmac like two kids who'd just been told they weren't
12:19allowed to go down the big slide at a water park.
12:22And despite the team's best efforts, there was still no sign of Rock.
12:26Taking off.
12:27I was getting seriously worried I'd have to leave before I could do my run, and I wished
12:31I could take Orlando's place for the first takeoff.
12:33That way, I'd have just enough time to race back to LA, ditch the high car, check in, and
12:37just about catch my flight home.
12:40But a Hollywood A-lister like him always gets first dibs, and that gave me a choice.
12:44Miss my run with Rock, or potentially miss my flight home.
12:48OK, so takeoff is 7.50, which is 20 minutes behind schedule, which really puts me under
12:54pressure to be able to catch that flight back to the UK.
12:58I don't think I'm going to make it.
12:59I mean, if anything gets pushed further back, it's game over for me.
13:02I've come all this way.
13:03I'm not going to have a go at driving against that plane.
13:06And then, after three days of waiting, we finally got word that the flight could go ahead.
13:10But, but, there was a catch.
13:12We'd only get one shot at this, and the conditions still weren't perfect, which made it too dangerous
13:17for Orlando, or me, to drive.
13:19I was gutted, but then I remembered the understeer I'd felt in practice.
13:23That happened on a calm day with no crosswind, no plane, and no jet engines trying to blow
13:27me off course.
13:28So, maybe the professionals had a point.
13:30And as soon as we headed out onto the runway, I realised the scale of this whole operation.
13:35Porsche had definitely made the right choice.
13:38Here we go.
14:02We're at 110 mile an hour.
14:05It's going to start rotating soon.
14:16It's lifted.
14:21Wow, look at that.
14:34Wow.
14:41that was amazing just watching that lift off that's the heart rate do you know what i think
14:47that's better from the passenger seat because you're not having to faff about trying to keep
14:50level yeah it was so cool that was a great view the whole thing watching that lift off
14:55good job that the car's got the full length sunroof so if you're ever buying a car and
15:01thinking yeah maybe one day i'll i'll be underneath the world's biggest plane make sure you tick that
15:06box for the optional moonroof it's very important but that's just the easy part because now rock
15:13was coming into land patrick had practiced his launch that morning but he'd been too slow off
15:17the line so i had to count him in to make sure we timed it absolutely perfectly this was far
15:23more
15:23dangerous than the take-off if i got the countdown wrong we could be crushed by the plane's under
15:28carriage or flipped by the wake from its six engines legolas might end up legless and it
15:33would all be my fault tarmac no whoa this is nuts
15:43i'm in the tunes are we good yeah i keep going
15:51they're slowing down
15:54whoa
16:01they're breaking hard
16:10i'll tell you what when we were going into that that was close you nailed that patrick
16:18no no you were fine you actually got in between the tails that was more difficult than take-off
16:25way more
16:29that was utter chaos i thought we're going to crash into the plane for one moment
16:35but now i need to move because i've got to get my flight this is going to be so tight
16:41so it takes off at 3 30 which means i need to be at the gate by three o'clock
16:45the sat nav is
16:46currently saying i'm going to get to the airport just before 20 to 3 so 20 minutes to get through
16:53security and immigration maybe i could do it but there is one major problem it's this car
17:00i've got to return to a parking lot squeaky bum time somehow i made it to the gate on time
17:06done
17:06but was i disappointed about not getting the chance to race rock myself no not really and here's why
17:12i got to spend the day with a lando bloom and it was really cool plus actually being there as
17:17a
17:17passenger watching the plane just come low level over the top of us looking through the glass roof
17:22of the cayenne was incredible and i actually think that if i'd have been driving i wouldn't
17:26have got that view and it was amazing best day ever
17:30without a doubt that was the most incredible thing i've experienced in the back seat of a car
17:35well actually it's the second most incredible but i can't explain that here because youtube
17:39will probably demonetize this video now if you want to see what else i got up to with
17:43this amazing porsche click on the video window appearing to watch me challenge orlando bloom
17:47to a cayenne face-off we launched three of the most powerful porsche suvs ever to find out which
17:52one is quickest petrol hybrid or pure ev and we'd find out who's the better driver once and for all
17:58orlando or me the stakes were huge but to see what happened you'll have to watch the video
18:03and make sure you subscribe to this channel because i've got some amazing drag races coming soon
18:07with the cayenne turbo ev which you definitely don't want to miss thanks for watching and i'll see you
18:12next time
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