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Interesting drag race here with opponents that do not usually square off against one another. It's basically bike versus go-kart versus rally car. The bike being the S1000RR HP4 version which is 31 pounds lighter than the standard S1000RR. The Ariel Atom 500 V8 has a 500 horsepower 3.0 liter V8 engine which makes for an insane power to weight ratio in the 1213 pound car. Last but not least is a 600 horsepower all wheel drive Citroen Rallycross car. Since this comparison is done by Autocar it takes place in Britain. Since it is taking place in Britain the track is wet since it is raining pretty much as usual. That makes it difficult for something like the Atom to get traction considering it is rear wheel drive. The race video is below. No need to spoil the result, but drag racing in the wet does not offer the best comparison between these cars. Why the thought did not cross anyone's mind at Autocar to go from a roll and eliminate the launch beats me.

Here is a graph from Eurocharged showing three different dyno runs from a 2005 Mercedes-Benz R230 SL65 AMG. The runs show stock, then flashed with the Eurocharged Stage 1 software, and then flashed with the more aggressive Eurocharged Stage 2 software. The baseline for the SL65 shows 374 wheel horsepower meaning this is a very, very conservative reading Mustang dyno. On a Dynojet the car shows about 520 rear wheel horsepower stock so this is a heartbreaker dyno. Regardless, the Stage I software adds about 100 horsepower at the wheels on this dyno over stock. Torque jumps up 106 lb-ft at the wheels to an eye opening 628 lb-ft. Bringing up the Dynojet again that would be close to 900 lb-ft at the wheels. Yes, an insane amount of torque. The Stage II software is able to further improve on the Stage I with gains of 33 wheel horsepower and 87 lb-ft of torque at the wheels for a total of 715 lb-ft. Yes, the torque falls off hard. This is not a motor that likes to rev or that has a flat curve. It's a stump puller and all about big, big torque down low. Great comparison illustrating just how much power can be pulled out of the SL65 AMG M275 twin turbo V12.

McLaren is expanding as a sports car manufacturer and seemingly plans to add a third model. McLaren currently builds the MP4-12C which is slotted against the 458 Italia and has a ballistic hybrid supercar called the P1 coming that will compete in the highest end of the supercar sectors likely directly rivaling the Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar. It seems McLaren is not done going to head to head with Porsche and plans to take the battle to the "entry level" realm with a car to rival the Porsche 911. The MP4-12C is in the $250k and up range and the P1 will be over a million dollars. Clearly there is room in the lineup for a car to slot in beneath these. The 911 has no true rival and if anyone can take beat it at its own game that would be McLaren. The P13 would be priced slightly above a Carrera S at $120k. The motor would be a detuned version of the MP4-12C 3.8 liter V8 with approximately 450 horsepower. That would make for a very appealing car with that motor and a mid-engine layout at this price point. Source

The current Audi Q7 is a solid SUV but also pretty heavy with the diesel and V8 (which has now been replaced with a lighter 3.0 TFSI) versions coming in at about 5500 pounds. Audi has shown a lot of emphasis on as of late on lightweight materials showing they are very aware their vehicles used to be the heaviest in the segment. That is changing and Audi is quite serious about it going so far as to shave 800 pound from the Q7 for the next generation Q7 model. That means a curb weight somewhere around the 4700 pound range. That would undercut the current BMW X5, Mercedes ML, and Porsche Cayenne. It definitely is nice to see Audi put an emphasis on making its models lighter and not just adding power to mask it (like BMW as of late). Expect the new Q7 in 2015. Source