Video: 400 HP BMW i8 Drag Races Stock Corvette C7

The BMW i8 can hardly be considered a dragster. It’s fast in a straight line, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not exactly defined by that speed. Or, by the handling on a drag strip. A Corvette, on the other hand, could easily be turned into a drag race master with a couple of careful thought-out upgrades.

It also doesn’t have the drag race pedigree exactly embedded into its DNA, but its V8 is definitely more appealing a drag strip than the i8’s 1.5-liter 3-cylinder.

But what would happen if the two went at it in a drag race? That’s what the video below seems to try and figure out but with a couple of very interesting twists.

The BMW i8 apparently has been upgraded and is now making 400 HP. But how did they accomplish the power upgrade?
Since the electric motor can’t be ‘tuned’ or ‘massaged’ to get more power out of it, we believe that the power increase must’ve come from the internal combustion engine.

That means, the guys from PP-Performance somehow managed to squeeze about 270 HP out of it in total, an absolutely mind-boggling number for the tiny 1.5-liter mill. That’s mighty impressive and the car seems to confirm those figures on the track.

In the video, the speedtrap shows a top speed for the i8 of 244.02 km/h across the 1 kilometer run. That’s nearly identical with a BMW E39 M5 that was also running in this event, clocked at 224.08 km/h over the same distance and which is rated at 400 HP as well, from factory.

Eulogizing the C5-7 Chevrolet Corvette

As for the Corvette, it managed to reach a higher top speed over its runs, going up to 248.16 km/h, understandably so, since it has a bit more power. What I would’ve loved to see though is how the two would compare in a standing drag race.

The Corvette has the edge in terms of power and torque but the i8 has all-wheel drive and could give it a good run for its money.

Who do you think would win in such a scenario?

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