The powerplant at the back wins.
Because both the Volkswagen Beetle and the Porsche356 shared a connection with Porsche, and had a rear-mounted air-cooled motor, they were sort of cousins. This race between the classic VW model and a Porsche 911 GT3RS can be described as a grandfather versus grandchild. This Bug is powered by a Tesla electric motor. Grandpa may have a trick or two.
The electrified Beetle produces 450 horsepower (336 Kilowatts) as well as 498 pound-feet (675 Newton meters). The weight of the carbon fiber body panels keeps it down to 2,315 pounds (1.050 kilograms).
911 GT3 RS features a naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter flat six engine with 520 hp (383 kW), and 346 lbft (470 Nm). It runs through a seven speed dual-clutch gearbox. It is 3,153 pounds (1.430 kilograms).
The drag race is the first step, and the electric Beetle is quite slow. But there’s a reason. The performance tires apparently had cooled and couldn’t grip the track.
After warming up, the men drag race once more. Because the VW is a strong launch car and pulls ahead, the results are very different. Both cars almost finish side-by-side at the finish, but the Beetle wins narrowly.
The men then swap their vehicles. The VW wins this time by a larger margin.
Next it’s time to race from a roll. Due to its gearing, the Beetle can travel at 130 miles an hour (209 km per hour) After launching, the VW easily beats Porsche but soon runs out of steam. CarWow awards the wins to GT3 RS and Bug for running a half-mile faster, but the Volkswagen is clearly quicker at street-legal speeds.
The braking test is the final step. Because the Beetle is a home-built machine, stopping is not its forte. The GT3 RS stops in a shorter distance.