1,800-HP Australian Sedan v 640-HP Korean EV: What's Not To Like About This Drag Race?

Australians are so far away from everybody else that they have developed an entirely unique car culture. Thankfully, they observe the same creed as their American brethren and have a special affinity for big-inch fun. That’s not to say they’re rebellious brutes who like to sprinkle high-octane perfume instead of aftershave (if they shave). Still, they share the ardent passion for big-block muscle as the boys and gals who pledge allegiance to Detroit’s finest.

In America, Chevrolet is historically the most popular domestic brand; in Australia, they have the Holden (a General Motors subsidiary for a few decades, between 1931 and 2021). Now, living on the most killer-dense continent in the galaxy has taught the Aussies how to be extremely badass.

With almost every Indigenous form of life Down Under posing a potentially deadly threat to virtually anything else, it’s no wonder the largest island on Planet Speed has produced something like a 1,800-hp family car. We are, of course, talking about a slightly modified four-door sedan that holds 9.2 liters of evidence to support its high-speed cause.

That’s 560 cubic inches of big-block V8 crammed between the front fenders of a 1976 HQ Holden Kingswood. To achieve that kind of power, the family car got a 14-71 Littlefield blower the size of a nuclear warhead sticking out through the hood.

This particular Holden has been in the same family for generations. Its driver threw a set of drag radials on it and lined it up at one end of an airfield landing strip against the Internet’s newest sweetheart, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The team from CarExpert has put the electric fun machine against pretty much everything they could get their hands on, short of a fighter jet. Hence, the Kingswood is a welcomed addition.

This is a drag race for history, and it should be a no-brainer given the devastating difference in power between the 1,800-hp blown Holden and the 641-hp Hyundai (1,822 PS and 650 PS, respectively). The battery-electric vehicle is all-wheel drive, has two motors, one on each axle, and near-instant torque.

Side note: its peak power output comes when the N Grin Boost button is pushed, so the 641 horses are only available for about ten seconds. That’s enough to last about nine-tenths the length of a quarter-mile drag race – we’ve seen it doing it against Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and AMGs.

However, this Holden is an old-school two-speed automatic drag racer that takes no prisoners, preferring to smoke them in an invisible cloud of methanol (because that’s what it’s burning to yield the aforementioned stud). As for launch control or other gimmicks – it’s all on the skill of the man behind the wheel.

Speaking of a wheel – there’s the plot twist: the airfield management imposed some very strict rules for the Kingswood and its tire-warming shenanigans, so the drag radials weren’t up to optimal temperature during the races. Furthermore, the concrete surface of the runway is not the best track possible – not by a long shot.

The Holden is at its best on a prepped sticky surface that would make a gecko lizard proud, not in the middle of the Australian outback on a sandy slab of concrete. That would fully explain why the barbarian sedan desperately spins its wheels hopelessly looking for grip – and at the Hyundai’s taillights.

The all-wheel drive system and the instant electric torque work wonders when combined with a perfectly executed launch (computer controlled, how else) and all the anti-slip aids south of the Equator. The old saying “Spinnin’ ain’t winnin’” could not be more appropriate than now, as the native Australian automobile struggles to go in a straight line, let alone catch up with its rival.

That’s the scientific explanation behind the massive gap measurable with a solar clock at the finish line. The rematch sees the exact same result, although the Holden fully shows what it’s capable of once it gets a bit of traction. Sadly, we don’t know the torque rating of the meth-burning locomotive.

Whatever it is, it’s next to useless over the dirty strip – at least compared to the accuracy of the 568 lb-ft (770 Nm) of the Korean super-EV. Again, the max output is just temporary, as the Ioniq 5 N usually boasts 546 lb-ft (740 Nm). The Koreans have imbued their rowdy Hyundai with fake exhaust sounds and fictional gear shift balks to make it more attractive for combustion worshipers.

The race consisted of three rounds – two standing starts and one roll race. Combustion lost clean two out of two in the classic quarter-mile duel. Still, when launching from around 32 mph (50 kph), it blew past the Hyundai like a hypersonic missile, winning by a car length after reeling the Ioniq 5 N in ith all its 1,800-hp might. Another important aspect is that the EV ran in rear-wheel drive mode only in the roll race.

The venerable Holden recorded a not-so-impressive 11.92 standing quarter-mile (for all the reasons explained above – insufficiently heated rubbers, lack of grip over the dusty runway), with a 5.01-second zero-to-sixty-two (100 kph). It shot across the finish line at 135.79 mph (218.54 kph), a lot over the rival’s 121.73 mph (195.92 kph). However, despite its lower top-end velocity, the EV was quicker across the 440-yard dash, with an 11.32-second personal best.