It's no secret that cars have continued to get faster over the years. With a few exceptions – such as the mind-blowing McLaren F1, which still holds the record for top speed of a naturally aspirated car– sports cars and supercars of yesterday are no match for those of today. This is just business as usual. However, what we fail to realize is that as the performance improves for sports cars, it also improves for common everyday vehicles as well. The guys over at Hoonigan put this to the test in the video below as they pit an '80s legend against a 2020 family SUV.
Old Rocket Vs New Ship
On the most recent episode of Hoonigan's "This vs That" series, they pit a new 2020 Hyundai Palisade against a 1987 Buick Grand National. Now, you might be thinking that these two cars are a weird match, but a quick look at the numbers, and you can see why they picked these totally opposite vehicles to go head-to-head.
The 1987 Buick Grand National
The Grand National project was a total underdog when it was first introduced. By 1987, it featured a turbocharged and intercooled 3.8L V6 making 245hp. Weighing in at roughly 3,700 lbs, it was good for a quarter mile time of 15.8 seconds. Although this number is nothing to get excited for today, it truly was one of the fastest road cars of its time.
The 2020 Hyundai Palisade
The Palisade is Hyundai's big success in the SUV market, but it definitely isn't a performance car by any means. However, it's figures are roughly the norm for today's vehicles of it's class. It features a 3.8L naturally aspirated V6 making 291 hp and the same advertised quarter mile time as the Grand National.
Time To Settle Things
With these two vehicles surprisingly closely matched, it was really looking like it could be a good race. At the start of the race, the Grand National shows what it has by doing a massive burnout, while the Palisade is completely unable to. However, with intelligent AWD, doing a burnout to warm up the tires isn't that necessary.
In the first run, the Grand National takes an early lead and although the Palisade starts to close the gap, it still takes home the win. The second race had a much closer start, with the Grand National pulling away at the end for the win. For the final run, they decided to give the Palisade the jump in order to see if the old Buick could chase it down and still win. With the Grand National smoking out it's exhaust, the tired '80 legend just didn't have what it takes to win with the disadvantage.
Source: YouTube