Odd drag race pairings are designed to raise eyebrows because who wouldn’t be curious about such a strange sight? That’s what piqued our interest in the latest CarWow YouTube video that has the Mercedes-AMG A45 hot hatch facing off against the 1-of-300 Jaguar Project 8 super sedans. It’s not a fair race on paper, but no one races cars there, so CarWow is back at the airstrip to determine which is quicker through the quarter-mile.
The Jaguar does have a noticeable advantage over the Mercedes. The Project 8’s supercharged 5.0-liter V8 cranks out 600 horsepower (447 kilowatts) and 516 pound-feet (700 Newton-meters) of torque to all four wheels through an eight-speed gearbox. It does not have launch control like the Mercedes. However, the AMG uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter for motivation, producing 421 hp (313 kW) and 368 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque that’s all sent to all four corners through eight gears.
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The first drag race begins with a standing start. The Mercedes gets a solid launch and is able to keep up with the Jaguar as the sedan struggles for traction through the first two gears. However, once the cat’s claws dig in, the Jaguar begins to pull away. It crossed the quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds, or just ahead of the Mercedes’ 12.1-second run. However, a previous CarWow run of the Project 8 returned an 11.3-second quarter-mile time, so the Mercedes could have lost by a bit more.
A rolling race is next, though the results are the same, with the Jaguar quickly pulling away from the less-powerful Mercedes. A braking test also had the Jaguar beating out the German hatchback. One aspect that didn’t play a large part in the race was their cars’ weight. The Jaguar tipped the scales at 1,672 kilograms (3,686 pounds), just a tad more than the 1,630-kilogram (3,593-lb) Mercedes. However, one big difference is the price, with the £56,000 price tag of the Mercedes looking much more attractive than the £180,000 Jaguar.