No, Tesla Cybertruck Is *Not* Faster Than Porsche (While Towing)

Tesla's Cybertruck Can't Beat A New Porsche 911 In The 1/4 Mile (Towing)

During Tesla's Cybertruck delivery event, they showcased the Cybertruck performing stunts to show it's performance capabilities versus the competition. One of those stunts was a drag race against a Porsche 911, while *towing* a Porsche 911. Insane, yes! Elon Musk claimed “it can tow a Porsche 911 across the 1/4 mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself" after showing a clip of it beating a Porsche 911 in an 1/8th mile drag race. Fair statement? Not exactly.

This video seeks to answer the question: which car is really faster in the 1/4 mile, a 2023 Porsche 911, or Tesla's Cybertruck towing a 911? We'll use real world data, along with some math to find the answer.

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[EngineeringExplained]

**Important Update!** I asked MotorTrend for their 1/8th mile time for the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera T (7MT). They confirmed it at 8.0 seconds and 93.1 mph. That's *FASTER* than the Tesla towing a 911 did it (~8.25s), and ~0.38 seconds *FASTER* than the Porsche 911 alone did it in Tesla's video. This implies the 911 beats the Cybertruck (while towing) in the 1/8th, as well. So... what's up with the 911's slow time in the video?
Worth repeating - 911 T is the slowest current gen hard top 911, so it's the best one to use as reference against the video.


**Edit 1:** Some folks have issue with the assumption of linear acceleration for the remaining 1/8th mile. Let's talk about it!
First off, that's a very fair thing to have issue with. My intention was not to provide an exact measurement of the 1/4 mile time, but rather to show that it is not as close to 12.3 sec as it may seem in the first half of the assessment. Hence, I used a "~" when showing the "final" quarter mile time, though I should have been more clear about this. There absolutely won't be linear acceleration, so there is some play with this number. However, let's use the Cybertruck alone as an example since we have all the numbers. 99 mph at the 1/8th, and 119 mph at the 1/4. We know it did this in 4.06 seconds. Using linear acceleration to guesstimate the time required, you would get 4.13 seconds (0.125 mi / 109 mph avg speed * 3600s/hr = 4.128 seconds). 4.06 and 4.13 are pretty close (both rounding to 4.1 seconds). Using this methodology *won't* give you an exact answer, it's just closer to reality than saying "it can't do it in 12.3 seconds, the end." Also, this is assuming the towing Cybertruck maintains strong acceleration above 88 mph, a challenging feat when the aerodynamic drag of both cars is going to be very significant. This little tid-bit at the end was meant as a "let's get closer to the real number" so we can confidently say it would or would not win in the 1/4 mile, because 12.2 vs 12.3 looks like it could be a toss up, whereas in reality the gap is more meaningful. Hope this info helps!

**Edit 2:** Some folks wanted to know where 24 FPS (frames per second) came from.

[DZDii]

The drawing of the cybertruck as a triangle, and 911 clearly as a beetle is top class automotive humour :D

[AlanCessa]

The accuracy of the 911s drawn in the board is astounding!

[bonaudi]

I can confirm it was a ¨Porsche 911 Carrera T¨ because they have Agate Gray colored side mirrors and wheels (only the T has that option as standard, and wouldn't be a common/available choice as optionals for other models).

[rhyyblh]

It's just like an engineer to do all this math to solve a point when the much easier path is: "Is Tesla's Cybertruck faster than a Porshe 911 in a quarter mile? NO, because if it was the marketing department would have shown THAT."

[Rodney.or]

Jeremy Clarkson would be proud how you drew the 911 as VW Beetle 😁

[sf]

Congrats on benching 500lbs we all knew you could do it Jason!

[sandergjertsenstvold]

Technically speaking, the 911 on the trailer was just as fast as the Cybertruck

[Patrick-xtbm]

It's really wonderful to come across people who freely share valuable information online. You never know what kind of knowledge you might stumble upon that could have a lasting impact on your life.

[godzgr]

Best part of the video is the art. The fact you characterized CT as a triangle on wheels and the 911 as a VW beetle has me dead 😅

[johnnybow]

My favourite thing in this video is the way Jason drew the Cybertruck as a literal triangle and the 911 as a VW Beetle. Love it! 🪲

[Mr_Chaos]

As someone who works in the automotive industry as a Technician at volkswagen in Germany i can totally confirm that this is the right way to draw a Porsche 😂

[----.__]

If they'd said, "The Cybertruck can tow a 911 over a quarter mile within a second of the time that the 911 alone does the quarter mile" then people would still be impressed, because that is arguably still an impressive feat.

[GBplayswithcars]

Jason, you rock. I love how you drew the 911 as a VW beetle, alongside the Cybertruck as just a triangle on wheels. Genius. I look forward to your future video on the biomechanics of benching 500 lbs.

[cromefire_]

It's impressive that people can actually calculate with feet and miles. It just looks like just guessing random numbers out of thin air to me 😂

[matusknives]

What I learned from this video is ... I would rather have the slowest 911 than the fastest Tesla truck.

[InGovWeMistrust]

The cyber truck drawn as a triangle and the 911 drawn as a beetle are just the perfect touch

[JonnyJKF]

Let's just all take a moment to appreciate Jason's impressively accurate 1:20 scale illustration of a Cybertruck towing a 911.

[knudback]

According to Jason’s own calculations the cyber truck is traveling at 88 miles per hour at the 1/8 miles mark ( 8:57 ). Any 80s kid can tell what happens next. The cyber truck travels back in time and beats the Porsche by 3 minutes. Coincidence that the Cyber truck has the same color as a DeLorean? I don’t think so.

[LordStarbeard]

You see, a detail you missed is when the cybertruck reached 88 miles per hour, it jumped in time, completing the drag race ahead of the porshe, quite simple, really.