Porsche 911 Turbo S Needs All 640 HP To Beat Cybertruck In Drag Race

All that horsepower is great for getting off the line, but unlike other Teslas, the Cybertruck isn't what you'd call aerodynamically efficient.

Photo by: YouTube

By: Christopher Smith

Feb 14, 2024 at 1:48pm ET

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We've all seen the Cybertruck production launch video where the electric pickup races a Porsche 911 while towing a Porsche 911. The truck won, but the circumstances of that victory have been the subject of considerable debate. Thanks to the crew at Throttle House, we can finally see how the Cybertruck and a new 911 stack up against each other without any camera trickery.

This side-by-side race brings the Cybertruck together with the undisputed king of YouTube drag racing, the Porsche 911 Turbo S. It comes packing 640 horsepower from a rev-happy 3.7-liter twin-turbo flat-six, driving all four wheels. Porsche says it can rip to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds and continues to a top speed of 205 mph. Meanwhile at Tesla, the Cybertruck is listed with the same 60-mph time in 845-hp Cyberbeast trim. The truck's top speed is considerably lower at 130 mph, but that doesn't matter in a quarter-mile drag race.

You know what does matter? Aerodynamics. That's made abundantly clear in this race. The first of two runs begins with the weighty pickup shooting off the line with surprising gusto. It immediately jumps a car length ahead of the 911, an impressive feat considering the Turbo S is among the quickest accelerating production cars on sale today. And the Cybertruck holds that position — for little while, anyway.

If this were an eighth-mile drag race (as Tesla's notorious Porsche-towing video was), the result might be a dead heat. As the speeds rise, however, the 911's slippery shape wins it the upper hand. Despite having over 200 less hp than the Cybertruck, it cruises to an easy win. A second race from a rolling start delivers the same result – advantage Cybertruck at the start, advantage Turbo S at the finish.

It's a win for Porsche, but there's no denying the big Tesla has some serious performance chops at slower speeds. Put it up against any other pickup, and it'd take an easy victory. But the Cybertruck has nothing on the true king of acceleration.