Let’s settle the debate on regular pavement and VHT: which is the quickest accelerating American car in history, the Dodge Challenger SRT Demom 170 or the Lucid Air Sapphire?

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In this episode, we race the two most powerful American production cars in history, the 1234hp Lucid Air Sapphire and the 1025hp Dodge Challenger SRT D170.

The first race takes place on regular asphalt, with our standard weathercorrected numbers. With the help of veteran drag racer, we achieve the quickest 060 and ¼mile times ever seen from a Challenger. But is that enough to beat the Sapphire?

Either way, the Demon’s Mickey Thompson drag radials aren’t meant for an unprepped surface, so we leave Willow Springs and head to the Famoso Drag Strip to race on “glue” — the VHTprepped surface.

Here, Tom Bailey’s experience launching the Challenger pays dividends as we try to recreate Dodge’s claimed 8.91second quartermile run and dethrone the Lucid. Will it work?

Let’s fight about it.

Chapters:
0:00 America Divided: ICE vs EV
1:16 The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 Specs
2:43 The Lucid Air Sapphire Specs
4:21 Asphalt Race: Demon 170 vs Lucid Sapphire
5:04 Drag Race Replay: What Happened?
8:53 Results and Willow Springs Conclusion
9:27 Moving to Famoso Drag Strip
9:42 What is VHT?
10:29 What is Rollout?
11:07 How do the Timing Lights Work?
12:55 Demon vs Sapphire race on VHT
14:53 Conclusion and Results

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Performance Testing Results:

Lucid Air Sapphire
060: 2.1 seconds
¼mile: 9.2 sec @ 158 mph

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170
060: 3.7 seconds
¼mile: 11.2 sec @ 139 mph


VHT Prepped Surface Results:
Lucid Air Sapphire: 9.002 sec @ 155.57 mph (060 in 1.92 sec)
Dodge SRT Demon 170: 9.721 sec @ 143.72 mph