Who will win a heads up drag race? Will it be a 2015 Chevy Corvette Stingray Convertible or a 2015 BMW i8 plug-in hybrid supercar? As all TFLcar tests, this drag is performed at the IMI Motorsports Park in Dacono, CO and at a little over a mile above sea level.
The Corvette is normally aspirated, but the 6.2L V8 is rated at 455 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 460 lb-ft of torque @ 4,600 rpm. The base power loss calculation suggests that 17% of the output is lost due to altitude. The ambient temperature and humidity did not play a large role in this race. It means the Vette is putting out about 378 horsepower at the crank. The topless Stingray weighs in at 3,362 pounds.
The BMW i8 is a whole different animal. It uses a combination of a high-strung 1.5L three cylinder turbocharged engine in the back and an electric motor up front, for a total of 357 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque. The i8 has an added benefit of all-wheel-drive. The turbo engine is a lot less affected by the elevation, and the electric motor is not affected at all. The plug-in hybrid i8 weighs in at 3,455 pounds.
In the end, this is a fairly close match up.
Stingray Convertible starts at $59,000 ($5,000 more than the coupe) and the i8 starts at $135,700.
Watch the video to see who wins.
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, writer, reporter, and software engineer. He has been writing and reporting at TFL since 2011.
