People seem to love watching drag races, and Top Gear has something very special in store for its Christmas Eve episode. They gathered racing cars from the WRC, Formula 1 and Formula E to see which is the fastest straight ahead – at least under the wet road conditions that are so common in Great Britain at this time of the year.
M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta WRC felt more at home on wet asphalt thanks to the all-wheel drive layout. The racing car is equipped with a 1.6-liter turbo engine with 375 PS (280 kW / 308 PS), which is coupled with a sequential six-speed gearbox that delivers power to all four with the help of mechanical front and rear axle differentials and an active center differential Wheels forwards. . Notably, this is the group’s only non-electrified race car since plug-in hybrid powertrains will hit the WRC in the 2022 season.
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The Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power + in the middle was built in 2019 and brought both Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton their sixth F1 title. However, this particular car has some additional details from the 2020 Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance and sports the team’s newer black paint job. Of course, it is by far the strongest of the trio. The 1.6-liter V6 with turbocharger is combined with an electric motor that produces almost 1,000 PS (746 kW / 1,014 PS) for a car that weighs only 743 kg. The downside is that the eight-speed sequential gearbox only transfers power to the rear wheels, making it difficult to get enough traction on such a damp surface.
Last but not least, the single-seater DS E-Tense FE21 from this year’s Formula E championship stands for the electric future of motorsport. The electric motors deliver 338 PS (250 kW / 340 PS) and drive the rear wheels, with the energy stored in a 54 kWh battery. Even if the equipment is not quite as impressive as in the other two vehicles, the Formula E accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 2.8 seconds thanks to the low weight of 903 kg.
We don’t like spoilers, but the predictability of this race doesn’t detract from the fun. Top Gear hosts Chris, Freddie and Paddy did not drive for this stunt, but instead watched the special race safely from the sidelines and left the rest to the professional teams.
