The McLaren 720S Spins Out, Gets Utterly Humiliated By Porsche 918 Spyder In 1/2 Mile Race

The McLaren 720S is a beast of a supercar, beating drag strip monsters like the Tesla Model S P100D like they were nothing. For a while, it seemed like there was no stock vehicle that could challenge the mighty British Twin Turbo V8 monster. Until now, that is. Just recently, Brooks of YouTube’s drag racing channel, DragTimes, took his McLaren 720S and pitted it against one of the members of the hypercar Holy Trinity, the Porsche 918 Spyder, in a half-mile race.

The Porsche 918 Spyder costs almost a million dollars, and its prestige on the drag strip and track are worth a million dollars too. Powered by a hybrid system featuring a 4.6-liter Twin Turbo V8 augmented by two electric motors, the 887 hp, AWD, 7-speed dual-clutch, 3,800-pound Porsche 918 Spyder is one of the most formidable cars in the world today, period.

The reputation of the car precedes it too, with the vehicle being dubbed as one of the members of the hypercar Holy Trinity, alongside equally daunting vehicles like the McLaren P1 and the Ferrari LaFerarri.

The McLaren 720S, however, is a completely new breed of supercar. While the British firm behind the vehicle has been pretty conservative with the car’s figures and rated performance, the $331,000 720S has proven to be far more formidable than what its manufacturer would have drivers believe. Being equipped with a 4.0-liter Twin Turbo V8, the 710 hp, RWD, 7-speed dual-clutch, 3,190-pound McLaren 720S is not that daunting on paper.

On the drag strip, however, it is a monster, taking down opponent after opponent. DragTimes‘ 720S has a long list of victims, including a Tuned Porsche 911 Turbo S, his very own Tesla Model S P100D, and a modified Dodge Viper, among others.

So how did the McLaren 720S perform against the legendary Porsche 918 Spyder? Not that well, apparently. As could be seen in Brooks’ video of the races below, the 720S was utterly decimated by the hypercar. Unfortunately for the McLaren, the drag strip was incredibly dusty during the runs, causing the RWD 720S to spin out of control during launch. This caused the McLaren to lose precious seconds during the race.

Quite interestingly, however, the McLaren 720S seemed to be catching up to the Porsche 918 Spyder as the cars crossed the half-mile mark. As noted by Brooks in his recent video, the 918 Spyder was traveling at 169.81 mph at the half-mile, while the 720S, bad launch and all, was catching up at 168.33 mph.

Hopefully, Brooks’s McLaren 720S could race another Porsche 918 Spyder in the future, and unlike the results of this current race, maybe, just maybe, the British supercar can put up a decent fight.