In circuit racing, downforce brings an apparent paradox to the untrained eye - how can the same car corner safer at 150 MPH than at 110 MPH? Following a different principle, more speed on the drag strip can keep you on the safe side. The latest example of this comes from the Nissan GT-R in the clip below, which... wasn't exactly faster than its Mazda RX-7 opponent.
The two raced at the recent TX2K15 event in Texas, but unfortunately neither of the cars made it to the speed trap in one piece.
The race was unbalanced from the beginning since the RWD Mazda was lighter and, thanks to a Toyota-sourced 2JZ heart, packed 1,350 HP. As for the AWD Godzilla, this brought a respectable 1,100 hp to the fight.Little did the Nissan GT-R driver know that this will be more of a literal clash.
After a few seconds of the dangerous grip dance that kicks off once the cars leave the Christmas tree behind, the RX-7 let go, swerving to the right. The GT-R, which was behind, slammed the brakes, but the impact was inevitable.
The GT-R ended up plowing into the side of the diagonally placed Mazda that had entered its lane. As if this wasn't enough, the impact sent the Nissan straight into the wall, with this second crash also being rather serious due to the initial momentum of the two racers.
The only positive side of this meet-me-by-accident story is that both drivers managed to walk away unharmed from this pair of crashes.
However, this is not the kind of accident you can easily forget. For one thing, thinking about the money that were invested to double the GT-R's factory output is enough to keep one troubled for the entire drag racing season.
The race was unbalanced from the beginning since the RWD Mazda was lighter and, thanks to a Toyota-sourced 2JZ heart, packed 1,350 HP. As for the AWD Godzilla, this brought a respectable 1,100 hp to the fight.Little did the Nissan GT-R driver know that this will be more of a literal clash.
After a few seconds of the dangerous grip dance that kicks off once the cars leave the Christmas tree behind, the RX-7 let go, swerving to the right. The GT-R, which was behind, slammed the brakes, but the impact was inevitable.
The GT-R ended up plowing into the side of the diagonally placed Mazda that had entered its lane. As if this wasn't enough, the impact sent the Nissan straight into the wall, with this second crash also being rather serious due to the initial momentum of the two racers.
The only positive side of this meet-me-by-accident story is that both drivers managed to walk away unharmed from this pair of crashes.
However, this is not the kind of accident you can easily forget. For one thing, thinking about the money that were invested to double the GT-R's factory output is enough to keep one troubled for the entire drag racing season.