Once upon a time, speed was relegated to something small with barely enough room for a driver and perhaps a couple of passengers. These days, there’s no restriction when it comes to going fast in a factory-stock vehicle. In case you needed a reminder of that, The Fast Lane Car lined up a trio of SUVs for some side-by-side drag racing. Yes, we’ve seen plenty of fast SUVs in the past, but this race is noteworthy because only one of the vehicles is a dedicated go-fast model.
The contenders for this matchup are luxury SUVs, and ironically, the least expensive is also the only one with a significant focus on speed. The 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 wields a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 making 469 horsepower (350 kilowatts) but in this instance, least expensive still equals around $84,000 as equipped in this video. Next up is the Tesla Model X, but it’s not the range-topping Performance edition with Ludicrous mode and as such, its price tag is approximately $87,000. Blowing them both out of the financial water is a 2020 BMW X7 M50i with an as-tested price of $114,000. BMW doesn’t offer a full-blown M edition for the X7, but the M50i still gets some hefty firepower in the form of a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 making 523 hp (390 kW).
Gallery: Luxury SUV Drag Race Screenshots
To address the elephant in the room, yes, the big X7 isn’t really a competitor to the Model X, and especially the GLC 63. However, on paper these people movers all have surprisingly similar 0-60 times in the four-second range as listed by each automaker. Going strictly by the numbers, the AMG should rule them all and in its initial race, the X7 is indeed left staring at Mercedes taillights. Despite having the most power, the Bimmer also carries the most bulk and frankly, the outcome against the considerably smaller AMG isn’t a surprise.
SUV Showdown:
As for the Model X, that’s a different story. How does it fare against GLC 63? We’ll not spoil the fun but we will say this – it’s a very close race.
Source: The Fast Lane Car via YouTube