In a drag race battle of hot hatch versus iconic sports car, the YouTube channel Drag Car 4K pits an Volkswagen Golf Mk1 1.9-liter TDI against a Shelby AC Cobra with a 7.0-liter V8. The video shows both cars flexing their muscles on the 1/4 mile strip before speeding down the pavement to see who reaches the finish line first.
Check out the video on YouTube to see this Volkswagen take on the Cobra and determine which car will leave the winner of this drag strip battle.
Volkswagen Golf TDI Vs AC Cobra Drag Race
The red Golf Mk1 TDI has a hood stack that it utilizes to produce a display of diesel smoke before taking the AC Cobra on in the race. The Cobra does a burnout before pulling up to the starting line of the strip which the Golf repeats before pushing more dark smoke out of the stack as it approaches the AC Cobra at the line.
As they leave the strip, the Mk1 Golf and the AC Cobra each take off aggressively and appear nearly equal in velocity as they move down the strip.
Throughout the length of the strip from the camera angle, which remains stationary at the starting point, the cars appear close to one another from the start of the race and down to the end of the quarter mile. However, visibility is somewhat compromised by the smoke. It isn't immediately clear which car will be victorious but the Cobra appears to have a slight edge over the Volkswagen as each car moves towards a possible victory.
A Win For the AC Shelby Cobra
The AC Cobra wins the 1/4 mile race with a 12.38 second time vs the VW Golf's 12.88 second time; a close result that isn't surprising given the visuals of the race. The Golf's top speed for the entire quarter mile was 122.90 mph while the Cobra's speed comes out at a barely faster 123.58 mph top speed. It's a close race both in terms of overall time and top speed, making a different result in a different run entirely possible.
The times at the 660 ft mark or the halfway point on the 1/4 mile strip tell a slightly different story with the Golf's time to that point at 8.85 seconds vs the Cobra's 8.40 second time. At the halfway point, the race was slightly less close in terms of speed, with the Cobra's top speed being 94.18 mph vs the Golf's 92.62 mph top speed. Given the larger gap in top speed at the halfway point, it's clear the Golf made up time in the second half of the race, making it all the more likely that the AC Cobra's win over this hot hatch may not be the case every time.