Audi S8 Vs Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid Drag Race Has Undisputed Winner

Racer Daniel Abt has a new drag racing series on YouTube, and for the first installment, he's running an Audi S8 against a Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid. The result is a fantastic example of the power of electrification. 

On paper, these two vehicles are evenly matched. The S8 has a V8 making 563 horsepower (420 kilowatts) and 590 pound-feet (800 Newton-meters) of torque. The sedan weighs 5,082 pounds (2,305 kilograms). This one rides on Abt wheels, which makes sense because Daniel's family runs the famous tuner.

The Panamera 4S E-Hybrid has a V6 and electric motor making a total of 552 hp (412 kW) and 553 lb-ft (750 Nm). It weighs 5,071 pounds (2,300 kilograms), which is a bit less than the Audi.

If you recall, Lamborghini's design boss Mitja Borkert said back in September 2019 when the Sián FKP 37 debuted that the hybrid supercar's design would not serve as an early look at the next-gen flagship V12 model. It now appears the new model will have a different design while inheriting the hybrid powertrain from the company's first electrified production model.

The company's technical boss Maurizio Reggiani has already confirmed the V12 will not adopt turbocharging. Instead, a hybrid setup will provide the best of both worlds by increasing the total output while helping Lamborghini meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations. An all-wheel-drive layout was under consideration at one point, with the naturally aspirated twelve-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels and an electric motor powering the front axle.

Weight is the enemy of performance, so it's more likely the Aventador replacement will use a supercapacitor built into the gearbox along with a lithium-ion battery to obtain the extra boost without adding too much bulk. In the Sián FKP 37, the extra hardware weighs only 75 pounds (34 kilograms), so significantly less when compared to a regular hybrid powertrain. The mild-hybrid setup has a 1:1 power-to-weight motor as it delivers 34 hp.

As for the other V12 Lambo debuting this year, it too will allegedly inherit the supercapacitor technology from the Sián FKP 37, which offers a combined output of 808 horsepower. Further down the line, an updated Urus with a plug-in hybrid setup will arrive in 2022, while the Huracan won't be replaced until 2024 at the earliest, according to Autocar.

A fourth model, possibly a 2+2 fully electric grand tourer, has been under consideration for a while, but it's unlikely to hit the market before 2025.