Imagine you’re shopping for a sports car and you have around $40,000 to spend. You have two options: the Volkswagen Golf R based on the Mk8 Golf or the latest Nissan Z. Which would you choose?
There are several things to consider, of course. But if you want to know which is the fastest in a straight line, this drag race of Sam Car Legion on YouTube will show you a clear winner. Even better, the drag racing video above features both standing and rolling starts, which should somehow offset one car’s traction advantage here over the other.
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In the premise of a drag race from a standing start, the Volkswagen Golf R has some clear advantages over the Nissan Z. It features all-wheel drive and weighs nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms) less than the Nissan sports coupe.
However, the Nissan Z is significantly more powerful than the Golf R. With a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 under the hood developing 400 horsepower (298 kilowatts) and 350 pound-feet (475 Newton-meters) of torque, the rear – The Z-wheel drive is 85 hp (63 kW) more powerful and 40 lb-ft (54 Nm) of torque than the VW hot hatch.
To make matters worse for the VW, the Golf R comes here with the 6-speed manual shifter, meaning its straight-line performance will be affected by the skill of whoever is behind the helm.
The result? Well, let’s just say the VW Golf R didn’t stand a chance against the Z in both standing and rolling drag racing. Despite lots of slippage, the Z managed to beat the Golf R by a significant margin.
Again, the Golf R can accommodate more than two people with enough space for cargo, so that’s another thing to consider in case you’re cross-shopping between these two.
