With over 3.2 million followers on TikTok and 2.4 million on Instagram, it's hard to imagine a scenario where, if you used a social media app for the last four years, you didn't come across Francis Bourgeois' trainspotting videos. The world-renowned content creator uses a fisheye lens camera pointing at his face while getting overly excited at trains passing by and whistling. However, it turns out he's also a car enthusiast and this time, he's racing Mat Watson over the quarter-mile.
Francis describes trains and subway stations with the same passion and enchantment that Jeremy Clarkson poured into his storytelling craft in the Top Gear and Grand Tour car enthusiast shows. But train and subway serial numbers aren't all he knows. Being a true passionate, he could tell you how many valves and horsepower locomotives output and what sort of speeds they can reach.
In this race, he's behind the wheel of a 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63. With so many YouTube videos of it, it seems like everybody's been racing this Merc since it came out, but it's no wonder, given how incredible it looks, feels, and drives.
The AMG GT 63 is well equipped with what Mercedes boasts to be a "handcrafted" AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, which develops 577 hp and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque. Its AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT 9G 9-speed automatic transmission sends all that power to the AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive system.
Photo: carwow
Opposite the car enthusiast trainspotter lies "carwow's" Mat Watson in a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Using two electric motors, the N version can usually develop 601 hp with 568 lb-ft or 770 Nm or twist. However, thanks to its fancy-schmancy N Grin Boost feature, it ups those rookie numbers to 641 hp or 650 ps for up to 10 seconds. It also makes a weird digital revving noise in "manual" mode.
Its 84 kWh battery pack can last for an EPA-estimated 221 miles or 356 kilometers. A 2025 Ioniq 5 N in the US starts at around $66,000. Of course, the MSRP excludes freight charges, tax, title, license fees, and other nonsense. Previously, the Ioniq 5 N lost to a Lamborghini Aventador SV LP750-4, which had a base price of $493,095 in the US, compared to the $66k Hyundai, so did it really win, or was it just faster?
The $175,900 (MSRP) Mercedes-AMG GT 63 Coupe was also put to the test recently, drag racing the 2017 AMG GT S, the 2022 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, and the 2017 Nissan GT-R. Long story short, it beat all of them. However, it can't hold a candle to the Porsche 911 Turbo (not S), BMW M8, and Audi R8 V10 Performance Quattro.
Getting back to our neck of the woods, Mat and Francis the trainspotter went for two drag races, which the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N won each time. The EV beat the Mercedes off the line during the first race, deepening the gap until it crossed the finish line. In the second race, the AMG menacingly took the lead and looked like it had it in the bag until the end, when the EV reeled it in and won by mere inches. Both cars finished in 11.4 seconds. Sadly, we didn't get a 0 to 60 mph time.
Photo: carwow
Now, because the winner sort of has an electric manual mode that simulates revving and gear changing, they went for a few 1/2-mile roll races for kicks and giggles. The Mercedes finally scored a victory, proving its $176k worth. Sadly, as it turns out, the AMG won because the Ioniq 5 N was in manual mode and didn't use the N Grin Boost. So after another go in auto mode using the boost, the Hyundai knocked it out of the park.
Finally, it was time for the customary brake test at 100 mph or 160 kilometers per hour, which revealed that the $66k EV had better brakes than the Mercedes sportscar. After Mat invited Francis to see what the N feels like in the passenger's seat, the train enthusiast was so smitten with the EV launch that he wanted to switch cars and go for another drag race.
Unfortunately for him, the AMG won, even though it was only by a fraction. But after experiencing how the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N felt, win or lose, it didn't matter, with Francis Bourgeois ending in, "Proper bit of racing, that." In American translation, this meant he was nothing less than ecstatic about drag racing in such a powerful EV. And that's saying something, coming right off the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT 63, which is no slouch, either.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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