1,200 HP Audi TT RS Takes on Wicked RX-7 in Intriguing Drag Race
This heavily modified Audi TT RS proves to be a close match for the equally wicked Mazda, making for some exciting action.
Outside of our world, the Audi TT RS is somewhat of an unknown, a special performance machine that few are aware of, which is obviously a shame. We’ve always felt like the high-performance version of the already-cool TT is an amazing all-rounder, one that delivers a muscle car experience in a comfortable, luxurious, and handsome package. However, if you throw a couple turbos at it, the Audi TT RS can be taken to the next level, as we can see in this new video from Hoonigan’s This vs, That series.
The Audi TT RS in this video has been modified in a number of ways, giving its 2.5-liter inline-five cylinder powerplant a rather hefty output of 1,200 horsepower. Built by Iroz Motorsport, the little Audi features the company’s IMS 1000 kit, a huge air intake, billet manifold, nitrous, and some massive 2600cc injectors. A pair of carbon fiber seats help shed some pounds, along with a rear seat delete, but the stock dual-clutch transmission handles all that extra power with no modifications, while the suspension gets KW lowering springs.
In the other lane on this particular day is an equally wicked Mazda RX-7 powered by a billet four rotor rotary powerplant with a 94mm Garrett turbo, sending its 1,000 horsepower to all four wheels (thanks to an AWD conversion) via a sequential six-speed transmission. The addition of that extra gear does give the RX-7 a bit of a weight penalty, however, as it tips the scales at 3,500 pounds versus the TT RS at just 3,000 pounds.
So how does all of this translate to straight line performance? In the first race from a dig, the Mazda uses its traction advantage to get a jump on the Audi, which hangs right with it until the very end, though it ultimately loses out by a small margin. The rotary-powered beast isn’t quite as lucky in round two, however, as the Mazda struggles to find traction and the TT RS takes an easy win, setting up the third and final showdown to determine a winner.
This time around, it’s no contest, as the Audi TT RS rockets out to an early lead and holds it to the finish line, winning by the largest margin of the day. But these Hoonigan-hosted races are rarely this close, nor do they require a tie-breaker, so we can’t help but be impressed by how well these two very different machines match up.
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