Races between planes and cars are nothing new. Red Bull pulled a similar stunt back in 2011 with a Porsche Carrera Convertible. A 997 GT3 faced off against a 747 back in 2009. Another 918 Spyder faced off against a Biplane stunt plane back in November of last year. Top Gear pitted a Bugatti Veryon against a Eurofighter Typhoon several years ago in a similar vertical vs. horizontal race.
It doesn’t mean we get tired of seeing races like this, however, and this is one of the closest races yet.
While the 918 Spyder’s specifications are well known, the stunt plane’s are not. The Zivko Edge 540 used in the video has a modified 340 horsepower Lycoming engine and can climb at an astounding 3,700 feet per minute. The Lycoming engine is based on the venerable air cooled O-540 flat six, which dates to the late 1950s. As equipped the engine should displace around nine liters- more than double the displacement of Porsche’s largest flat six!
For our German speaking readers the show “GRIP” has an extended behind-the-scenes video. Even without mastery of German the video is still quite interesting. Plenty of cool footage of both the car and the plane is included.
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I do not speak or understand German, but you have to love the accent. I got goose bumps and could feel Matthias excitement when he was sitting in the 918 Spyder and talking about this beautiful machinery's power. I just loved it.