Superbikes Went Head-To-Head With Muscle Cars – Here’s Which Came Out On Top
We have a tendency to consider the American muscle car as the undisputed king of the quarter-mile, and indeed, it was the drag strips of America where many of these V8-powered icons built their legend during the late ’60s and ’70s. But what about today?
In the modern era, when it comes to quarter-mile dominance, muscle cars face stiff competition, particularly with the recent arrival of electric vehicles and their physics-defying acceleration and four-wheel traction. But it’s not just EVs that give muscle cars and other American hot rods a run for their money at the drags. Four-wheeled performance automobiles of all types have long faced serious competition from motorcycles. Thanks to their very favorable power-to-weight ratios, even the most basic street bikes can often put down quarter-mile ETs that rival fully-prepared drag cars. But how about in the real world?
The Wheels YouTube channel, which has an extensive library of contemporary drag racing videos, put together a compilation of modern superbikes going head-to-head with a selection of vintage and modern muscle cars and hot rods, giving us an exciting look at how these two very different flavors of drag strip warriors do against each other. In nearly all of the matchups captured here, it was the bikes that came out on top – though some of those wins came after very close fights with their four-wheeled, V8 competition.
Two-wheels vs four-wheels
While enthusiasts can make a big deal about testing numbers, there’s something especially enlightening about watching real-world drag racing. Sure, the surface of the drag strip itself might be prepared for stickiness, but the racing itself is all real-world, with varying driver-skill levels and elapsed times, and head-to-head results that don’t lie. And just because a car has a published 1/4 mile time of one figure doesn’t mean it can always be replicated.
These matchups, captured at Mission Raceway Park in British Columbia and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, show a variety of cars and bikes going at it. One of the closest races in the video pits a long wheelbase Suzuki GSX-R against a rather serious Hemi-powered Plymouth Barracuda. The ‘Cuda, with its big drag slicks, gets a great launch, coming off the line ahead of the Suzuki, but the bike slowly reels the Hemi in, running a 9.11 ET to the Barracuda’s 9.39. The green ‘Cuda makes other appearances, including in one race where it narrowly gets the win after the bike gets up on one wheel and the rider has to lift.
Being a dedicated drag car with a good driver and lots of traction out of the hole, the Barracuda puts up a great fight against the superbikes. Other races, meanwhile, show the bikes absolutely blowing away late model Mustangs, including a Shelby GT500 (which can run in the low 11s) that struggles getting traction for nearly a third of the track.
The laws of physics win again
Another match shows a Dodge Challenger Hellcat run a 10.16 ET, which looks impressive, until you see the modded Hayabusa it was bracket racing against run an 8.74 in the other lane with a trap speed almost 20 MPH faster. Visually, seeing a massive Dodge Challenger lining up against little Hayabusas and Ninjas, might have the look of a David vs Goliath battle, but as we can see from the results, in real-world races, it’s often the little guy that’s the favorite.
In one of the most entertaining races of the video, an old-school, nine-second, supercharged hot rod makes an appearance, but even it gets edged out by a superbike. So ultimately, we’re reminded that, as has long been the case, power-to-weight ratio and traction are keys to going fast in the quarter-mile, and those laws of physics remain undefeated. If the cars can hook up, they put up a good fight, but the bikes simply appear to be quicker and more consistent.
Even so, while a superbike is often the cheapest and most straightforward way to running nine or ten-second ETs, motorcycles have their own, unique learning curves and risks — and are very different machines to own and race. While it’s great fun to watch them go head-to-head, the results of these races probably won’t shift any diehard muscle car racers over to superbikes — or vice versa.
