The World’s Quickest Cars: Lucid Air Sapphire v Bugatti Chiron v Tesla Plaid – Cammisa’s Drag Race

The World’s Quickest Cars: Lucid Air Sapphire v Bugatti Chiron v Tesla Plaid – Cammisa’s Drag Race

Jason Cammisa got the exclusive first test, strapped on his equipment, and broke the record: the Lucid Air Sapphire is the world’s quickest-accelerating production car.

With a staggering quarter-mile performance of 9.1 seconds at 156 mph, this 1200+ horsepower 3-motor Air beat out the reigning champion, the triple-motor, 1020-hp Tesla Model S Plaid, which runs the 1/4-mile in 9.3 seconds at 152 mph.

The cars are “tied” at 2.1 seconds 0-60, though some trivia: the Lucid Air Sapphire gets to 60 mph 0.03 seconds before the Tesla Model S Plaid.

We weren’t satisfied with just that race, so we also brought along the fastest-accelerating gas-powered production car, the Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport. This is the 1479-hp (1500-PS) Chiron with shortened gear ratios, grippy Michelin Cup 2R tires, a fixed rear wing, and weight-reduction measures.

Even despite these hyper-aggressive Michelins’ distaste for cold tarmac, the Chiron ripped off a 2.3-second, four-wheel-burnout launch from 0-to-60 mph, and then continued on to a 9.3-second, 156-mph quarter-mile performance. That is a tenth quicker to 60 mph than the “regular” Chiron has managed, and a tenth quicker through the quarter, too. That’s an internal-combustion production-car 1/4-mile record for the Chiron Pur Sport — and we suspect that, in warmer conditions, this Pur Sport would be even quicker!

That’s not the case with the 210-hp Ducati Panigale V4 SP2, one of the quickest superbikes in the world. It had no traction issues as MotoAmerica Supersport champion rider Josh Herrin cracked the throttle wide open, dumped the dry clutch, and ripped off a stupefying 9.3-second, 157-mph run through the quarter-mile.

This beat our last outing with the same Panigale, when it handily dusted a 2023 C8 Corvette Z06. This time, Ducati softened the suspension and dropped the fork; Josh sacrificed the clutch and kept the wheelie at bay. It’s safe to say this is the limit for the SP2 — except that Ducati offers a factory Akrapovic exhaust and tune that boost horsepower. We’d love to come back and try that again!

But for the moment, it’s clear: among production cars with four wheels, the Lucid Air Sapphire is now the acceleration king, with the Chiron Pur Sport in second place. In one video, Tesla went from first to third.

May the fight continue.

This episode of Ultimate Drag Race Replay is brought to you by WeatherTech: https://www.weathertech.com/?utm_source=hagerty&utm_medium=web_visit&utm_campaign=Ultimate_Drag_Race_Replay

===

0:00 Introducing Lucid Air Sapphire, Tesla Model S Plaid, Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport, and the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2
0:56 German 155-mph Autobahn Gentleman’s Agreement – within 1/4 mile
1:29 Tesla Model S Plaid vs E39 M5
2:04 Lucid Air Sapphire Prototype
2:30 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport
3:13 Main Event: Drag Race Sapphire vs Plaid vs Chiron!
3:55 Walkback: Sapphire Drag Race explanation
4:18 Why is Sapphire so much quicker than Air Dream Edition?
5:05 Tesla Plaid in Last Place
5:49 Bugatti Chiron Launch Control is violent
6:00 EV vs ICE traction control: The 1000-Hz advantage
7:07 Josh Herrin in the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2
7:35 Bonus Race: Ducati Panigale V4 SP2 vs Lucid Air Sapphire
8:24 The Ducati’s quarter-mile-long wheelie
9:03 Overall Drag Race Results — Rimac & Bugatti join forces

==

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Jason Cammisa on the Icons | The definitive car review
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Revelations | Untold Stories About Automotive Legends with Jason Cammisa
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29 Responses

  1. Misha Grischenko says:

    The most impressive part of all this not the cars and their ability to defy physics, but it’s how well Josh Herrin launches the bike. He’s in the top 1%. 👏👏👏

  2. Come Fast To Get Into My Body says:

    Dude, the production quality of the video is amazing. The stop-motion to pronounce the Lucid as the winner in the first race is INSANE. Props to the editor(s)!

  3. Asphalt Road says:

    Seriously some of the most excellent automotive journalism out there right now. Production quality is perfect, writing is great, everything about (not just) cammisa’s hagerty work is brilliant. Thank you for all the hours and stress you put into videos like these. Would love to gather a team that is half as capable and talented as you all are to keep car content good through the replacement of the ICE.

  4. Andrewb325 says:

    Exciting times we live in.

    What Josh is able to do on that bike is even more impressive than the cars.

  5. iPhilGood says:

    I just love these drag races from Hagerty. The video editing is sick! Keep up with the great work!!!

  6. Matt Baker says:

    Dude, the production quality of the video is amazing. The stop-motion to pronounce the Lucid as the winner in the first race is INSANE. Props to the editor(s)!

    • Levi Guyan says:

      @Herman Enzo Shot it twice, one where they raced properly and one where they drove the cars slowly from the same position🙂Cool effect indeed.

    • Sean Harlow says:

      That is my favorite part of this series as a whole, it’s such a unique and striking way to present a drag race that they manage to turn 20 seconds of drag racing in to 10 minutes of content while always keeping things moving forward.

    • SyyntaxError says:

      @Herman Enzo They defo positioned the cars again and are driving as slow as they can hehe, naughty naughty effect but looks amazing

    • YouGotSchooled©️ says:

      Editors need a huge round of applause! This is gold standard ❤️

    • Herman Enzo says:

      How the hell did they do that??

  7. Oliver Mobey says:

    That bike launch was flawless. I can’t see how a bike can do a faster quarter mile than that regardless how much power you give it

  8. Come Fast To Get Into My Body says:

    The quality of this channel is so high it’s crazy! Keep up the good work!

  9. Sebastian Muriel says:

    Huge shoutout to the editors. My gosh. The amount of work that went into graphics & sound. Chef’s kiss. Brilliantly done!

  10. Isaac Sarrión Arroyo says:

    I certainly ensure that this is the best car video I have ever seen in my life, period. Congratulations to all the Hagerty team to give us this gift. Keep going guys, “Never Stopped Driving”. 👏👏

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