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Watch Faraday Future's prototype race Bentley, Ferrari and Tesla
Faraday Future is going more than a little overboard with promo pieces for its production electric car ahead of its January unveiling, but its latest clip at least has some substance. The fledgling automaker has posted a video showing its prototype EV drag racing against some hot competition: Tesla's Model X P100D (the obligatory electric rival), Bentley's Bentayga SUV and Ferrari's 488 GTB. It won't shock you to hear that Faraday Future's car wins each of these showdowns (why make the video if it lost?), but that's good news for acceleration junkies. It means that FF's vehicle is quicker off the line than even the Model X, which can hit 60MPH in 2.9 seconds using Ludicrous Mode.
Watch Tesla's super-fast Model S modes square off in a drag race
When Tesla introduced its extra-fast Ludicrous Mode for the Model S, it also raised a big question: is that acceleration advantage over the already-quick Insane Mode actually meaningful? Thankfully, some owners were willing to find out. DragTimes has posted a drag race between a Model S P85D (using Insane Mode) and a P90D (using Ludicrous) to see how much that added performance really matters. And the answer is "quite a lot" -- as you'll see in the clip below, the P90D pulls ahead quickly and leaves the P85D firmly in the dust. Who'd have thought that the P85D would suddenly seem pokey? You'd expect this kind of lead when it costs at least $5,000 extra to get the Ludicrous setting, but it's still good to have evidence that you're getting more than just a spec bump.
RuPaul on 'gaymers,' Tim Cook's coming out and why we need to lighten up
RuPaul Charles is nothing if not brutally frank. And with a decades-spanning career that's taken him from former New York City club kid to one-time "Supermodel (of the World)," to current host of Logo TV's cult reality show competition RuPaul's Drag Race and all-around impresario of his brand, he's certainly earned the right to tell it like it is. That candor's what his drag persona would refer to as "No T, No Shade," and it's incredibly refreshing. Sure, Ru's name may not be the first that springs to mind when you think tech, but with his recently released freemium mobile game Dragopolis 2.0 hitting iTunes and Google Play, he carved some time out of his busy schedule to talk to me about being a "gaymer," the importance of Apple CEO Tim Cook's coming out and why Netflix is the key to his current media empire.
Tesla Model S squares off against BMW M5 in drag race, gives EVs extra street cred (video)
We already know from our own experience that the Tesla Model S is a driver's car, with acceleration and handling you wouldn't expect from a big and quiet luxury sedan. There's still nothing like a drag race to help settle the matter. Automobile has pitted the upscale EV against one of its more conspicuous rivals, BMW's M5, with performance results that might surprise those who would expect a 500HP, twin-turbo V8 to regularly come out on top. While we won't spoil the full results of the showdown video after the break, let's just say that even the M5's relatively wide torque band can only do so much when the Model S' electric motor is always at its peak. BMW's car may be better overall for those who want to travel long distances outside of certain routes, or to enjoy a burly exhaust note -- but there has to be a certain thrill for Tesla drivers who know they can hang with the speed kings while helping the environment.
Dyson's engineers head off to the races, create dragsters using spare parts, DC-16 motors (video)
Dyson engineers certainly know a thing or two about creating innovative vacuums and fans Air Multipliers, but did you know they've also dabbled in the world of high-speed racing? Such is apparently now the case, as these folks were tasked with building go-kart drag racers out of spare parts, resulting in a variety of wheeled wonders viaing for the fastest run on a makeshift strip in the office. Of course, there was a catch -- all of the dragsters had to use the motor from Dyson's DC-16 handheld vacuum in a battle for maximum torque. We won't spoil the outcomes for you, so scroll down to catch a video mashup of all the hijinks in the video below.
Power tool drag racing -- why didn't we think of this?
As much as we support the use of power tools in safe, supervised areas far away from us, we can't help but admire the crazies responsible for this year's Power Tool Drag Racing event. The basic idea is to take a hand-held power tool, mod it up a bit (or a lot), and let it race against other devices in its own class down a plywood track. Hilarity ensues, and the contestants have some pretty amazing entries this time around. MAKE is on the scene, and the event seems to be providing just as much mayhem and adult beverages as were implied. If you didn't make it down Sunday you'll just have to hope they make this an annual event, since it really is so totally punk rock.[Via MAKE]
