The Ford Mustang and Toyota Supra might not be direct competitors, but they do offer similar driving experiences. Both are front-engine, rear-wheel-drive coupes with enough power to burn rubber. However, there are distinct differences that make betting on which would win in a drag race near impossible. The Mustang has more power, but the Supra is lighter, and a new video from the Motor YouTube channel settles the debate once and for all.
The Mustang arrives in Mach 1 spec, the highest trim available in Australia. It packs a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 that produces 463 bhp and 410 lb-ft of torque. That’s a lot more than the Supra’s 382 bhp and 368 lb-ft; however, there’s a 274-kilogram weight difference that gives the Toyota a substantial advantage. The Supra doesn’t have a rear seat, unlike the Mustang.
Gallery: 2022 Toyota Supra A91 Carbon Fiber Edition
The two sports cars performed four drag races (in order): a launch control start, a street start, a rolling start in automatic mode, and a rolling start in manual mode. The Supra won all four, though by varying margins. The Supra won the first one by several car lengths. The street start race, with the cars in their laziest (comfort mode, automatic gearing) settings, was much closer as the Supra won by a bumper. The final rolling start races had their results fall in between those two.
The Supra’s superior performance played out in the numbers. The Toyota’s best quarter-mile time was 12.55 seconds at 116 miles per hour. It hit 62 mph in 4.49 seconds. The Mustang was slower in every metric, needing 12.89 seconds to complete the quote-Emile at 114 mph. It needed 4.86 seconds to hit 62 mph. The race shows that there’s more to a performance car than the horsepower it can produce.
Source: Motor / YouTube