Popular YouTubers put a shocking end to the Cybertruck vs. Porsche debacle

On Jan. 12, Jason Penske, better known by his YouTube channel name Engineering Explained — explained in a video that Elon Musk's claim that the Tesla  (TSLA)  Cybertruck can "tow a Porsche 911 across the quarter mile faster than the Porsche 911 can go by itself" was all smoke and mirrors. 

Using math and a wealth of information gathered from both analyzing the video as well as data from car magazines, Penske concluded that though the video showed the Cybertruck towing the Porsche beating the Porsche, the race would fare differently if the race actually went over a quarter mile. 

Though these calculations could speak for themselves, Canadian automotive YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelsman — better known as Throttle House, did something a little more straightforward. 

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In their latest video, the duo raced a Porsche 911 against Tesla's Cybertruck Cyberbeast in two quarter-mile drag races on a closed course.

While Tesla seemed to use a base, manual transmission 911 Carrera T to race the fastest of the Cybertrucks, the 911 Throttle House chose the range-topping 911 Turbo S with 640 hp — a more 'balanced' fight against the tri-motor, 845 horsepower Cyberbeast. 

"Ever since Tesla showed a Cybertruck beating a [Porsche] 911 while towing a 911, that hasn't sat right with us," Engelsman said in the video. "And while some channels have gotten into the nitty gritty of that, we felt the need to straight up avenge Porsche." 

In the first drag race in the video, the Porsche piloted by Holland is the one that came up on top — though the Cybertruck piloted by Engelsman did come off the line much quicker and carried a car-length lead before the Porsche eventually passed it and finished with a significant gap. 

"[The Cybertruck] was rapid off the line," Holland told his partner in the Cybertruck after the race.

"The EVs always make the ICE cars look like you missed the launch," Engelsman told his friend in the Porsche. 

"It's crazy, and then I just walked you in the top-end, highly satisfying is what it was." Holland said back to his partner in the Cybertruck. 

The duo then proceeded to do a roll race — a type of drag race inspired by highway racing, where drivers start the race approaching the starting line at 40 mph before stepping on the pedal for the quarter mile. Here, the Cybertruck again showed an early lead, before the Porsche caught up and beat it to the finish line.

In reflection, Engelsman told Holland after the race that he felt the aerodynamic limitations of the Cybertruck came into play. 

"You know what, I was going to say, it's reaching the drag coefficient, but they need to change the word 'efficient," Engelsman joked. "I can feel the air after about 80 miles an hour — it's just like, [extends arm] 'you shall not pass.' It feels like I am slowing down, I'm decelerating."

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Towards the end of the video, Engelsman noted that the trap speed — the speed a car is captured at crossing the finish line — of the Porsche was higher than the overall top speed of the Cybertruck, and noted that such a race was "never really fair to begin with."

In a statement to TheStreet, James Engelsman of Throttle House said that the races in the video were conducted "just for fun" and that they knew that "the one in Elon's claim is not the Turbo S," that their findings "does nothing to prove nor disprove his claim." 

Additionally, he noted that "the decision to use the Turbo S was purely because its an ICE benchmark, and without a load to tow, we figured the Cybertruck had a chance at giving it a run for its money."

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