There are a handful of cars capable of busting out a quarter-mile sprint in less than 10 seconds, straight out of the crate – but there's only one that can do it under nine. Rimac's all-electric Nevera has recorded an astonishing 8.582-second run.
We already knew it was quick; firstly, it's a four-motor electric hypercar making an insane 3,600 Nm (2,655 lb-ft) and a ridiculous 1,914 horsepower. Anyone who's ever tried taking on a Tesla at the lights knows electrics are frighteningly fast off the mark, but the Nevera is next-level. If Tesla's Model S is the tip of the spear plunging into the hearts of gearheads, the Nevera is the fat bit that does the real damage. Sorry, internal combustion, there's no turning back.
At Famoso drag strip, fully prepped with a sticky VST surface, under hot conditions, Brooks Wieselblat from Dragtimes strapped in and did 11 runs in quick succession – Rimac's traction control software needs to see a given track a few times to optimize itself for the best possible time. There were no dips in performance as the battery ran down.
Legendary acceleration has arguably never been easier. You stop, stomp the brakes, flatten the accelerator, and then release the brakes when the lights go green at the drag strip, or your brother goes to take a sip of his drink in the passenger seat. Electric motors can monitor and modulate power so rapidly that there's barely a chirp as the torque vectoring system keeps everything in line with the tires on their very limit.
Wieselblat's first run, without even burning rubber in drift mode to warm the tires up, brought home an 8.74 and elicited a range of fun noises from the driver's seat, concluding with "wow. That is unlike anything I've ever driven."
His second attempt, after a couple of small burnouts, nailed 8.61 seconds and sent him into fits of laughter: "God, this car is... Takes your breath away... (manic laughter and panting) I can not believe how hard this thing starts pulling at the top end. It is quite scary!"
On the 11th run, he laid down the new record: an 8.582-second quarter mile with a top speed of 167.51 mph (269.58 km/h). The best 0-60 mph (0-96.5 km/h) time recorded on the day was 1.90 seconds.
And if that wasn't impressive enough, Rimac says it timed itself doing an 8.62-second quarter mile earlier this year, on a Croatian airstrip runway with no sticky VST preparation on the track. Remarkable.
Wikipedia's list of production quarter-mile champions (built for retail sale, fitted with standard tires, at least 25 units produced, street legal) is yet to be updated, but the list now looks like this:
- Rimac Nevera @ 8.582 seconds
- Tesla Model S Plaid @ 9.23 seconds
- Bugatti Chiron Sport @ 9.4 seconds
- McLaren 765 LT @ 9.419 seconds
- Porsche 918 Spyder @ 9.7 seconds
- McLaren P1 @ 9.8 seconds
- Bugatti Veyron Super Sport @ 9.9 seconds
- McLaren 720S @ 9.9 seconds
That's going to be a tough time to beat. Enjoy the Dragtimes video below, including a full run-down on the car's control systems and some silly sideways fun before the top speed attempts begin.
Source: Rimac Automobili
