Porsche 992 Turbo S Crushes 488 Pista in Punishing Asphalt Volley
Ferrari 488 Pista packs more power and carries less weight, but it is still no match for the Turbo S in a drag race.
The Porsche 992 Turbo S was not designed to be the ultimate drag race car. To be fair neither was the Ferrari 488 Pista. The Turbo S is a high-speed grand touring car par excellence. The everyday super car that is blindingly quick yet still practical and comfortable enough to drive every day.
Oh yeah, and the version tested here happens to be a convertible. It also happens to be one hell of a monster on the drag strip. The Ferrari 488 Pista is the GT3 of the Ferrari range. A sharper and more track-focused version of the already quick standard 488. The cars may not be designed for drag racing. However, if you have access to both cars and an airstrip, of course you are going to line them up.
That is exactly what professional racing driver Daniel Abt did recently. He posted up the video on his YouTube channel for us all to enjoy. Sure, it is in German but there are captions in English. And for a video like this you don’t really need to understand the language to appreciate what is happening. What is happening is the Porsche putting a hurt on the Ferrari when they race from a dig. Not matter how much they try; the Ferrari just cannot out accelerate the Porsche down the airstrip.
A Closer Look At The Competitors
The Porsche 911 Turbo S model being raced here is a convertible. It makes 640 horsepower. However, at nearly 3,800 pounds it is about 500 pounds heavier than the Ferrari 488 Pista. That is a lot of extra weight. The Porsche not only has more weight but also significantly less power. The Pista spits out 710 horsepower from a twin-turbo V8.
So, the Ferrari packs 11 percent more power and carries 15 percent less weight. Those are significant advantages on the Ferrari side. However, the Porsche is of course all-wheel drive. The Ferrari puts all its power to just the rear wheels. The Porsche should be able to launch quicker and has a slight edge in torque. To mitigate this a bit, the race is not a standard quarter mile. The race is 800 meters, or nearly one-half mile. That should be long enough for the Ferrari to reel in the Porsche.
Race Number 1 – Turbo S Wins
Abt is driving the Ferrari. He straps himself into the racing harness and prepares for the race. Clearly the Ferrari is more of the racing car between the two. It also makes a glorious exhaust sound that the Turbo S cannot match. But exhaust noise alone does not get you down the track. The Ferrari launches at about 3,000 rpm and the Porsche at about 5,000 rpm. The Porsche smokes the Ferrari. At the end of the half mile the Porsche is going about 162 mph and is ahead by several car lengths. Then the excuses start. The Ferrari launch was bad, the tires were not warm, and so on. OK, fine let’s line them up and do it again.
Race Number 2 – Turbo S Wins Again
The Ferrari manages to make it a little bit closer. By the end of the race the 488 Pista is at least in the same frame. Barely. But this round also goes to the Turbo S. It covered the quarter mile in 10.42 seconds and the half mile in 16.41 seconds. The Ferrari ran a 10.75 and 16.54 respectively. A Ferrari 488 Pista is by no means a slow car, but it just can’t launch like the Turbo S. The Ferrari is travelling about 4 mph quicker by the end of the race. So eventually it should pull in the Porsche, but how often will you ever have more than a half a mile of clear track?
Rolling Race – 488 Pista Wins
In this race they remove the Porsche launch advantage entirely. Both cars are cruising at about 40 mph and launch from there. This time the Ferrari opens up a lead and the Porsche can not close the gap. So from a roll it is the Ferrari and from a dig it is the Porsche. Not a bad performance from Porsche considering it is far more practical and about half the price. Enjoy the video below.
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