A 5,831-lbs Porsche Hit 167 MPH Underneath A Plane As It Took Off

  • Porsche chased Roc, the plane with the widest wingspan on Earth.
  • The stunt unfolded at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.
  • Roc’s six engines combine for 340,500 pounds of thrust.

Eager to launch the all-new Porsche Cayenne Electric with the right amount of fanfare, the German brand went looking for a very special stunt, and it settled on one involving the largest aircraft in the world. While we’re not sure it’s as impressive as the time VW used a Touareg V10 TDI to tow a Boeing 747 two decades ago, it’s a decent effort all the same.

The whole thing took place at the Mojave Air and Space Port and involved Roc, the plane with the largest wingspan on Earth. The thing is so enormous it has two fuselages and can take off fully loaded at up to 1.3 million pounds (589,670 kg).

Read: Porsche’s New Cayenne Coupe EV Hits 60 As Fast As The 911 Turbo S And Can Still Tow Your Boat

In the past, we’ve seen plenty of supercars racing fighter jets off the line, but extracting maximum acceleration from the Cayenne Electric to outpace Roc wasn’t the objective here. Instead, Porsche wanted to trail behind Roc as it sped down the runway before taking off, in what it describes as a “test of precision, stability and power.”

To keep the Cayenne, and driver Patrick Long, safe, the SUV had to be positioned perfectly in between the plane’s two fuselages. If positioned too far back, it’d be hit by the jet blast from the plane’s six powerful engines that combine to deliver 340,500 lbs (154,448 kg) of thrust, enough to throw the Porsche into the air. Too far forward and Long could have been at risk of hitting the landing gear.

As Roc accelerated down the runway, Long had to push the Cayenne Electric through to 167 mph (269 km/h) and then got the perfect view of the massive plane taking off mere feet away from him.

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“It was probably one of the most focused and intense moments of my life,” Long said. “We believed in the data, and I knew I could rely on the Cayenne and the pilots of Roc – we had a good team. Operating with a fully charged battery, we started slow – I was using minimal power and holding the car exactly where it needed to be, and I knew I had the performance to maintain my position no matter what.”

The new Cayenne Electric was the obvious weapon of choice for this stunt. The current flagship Cayenne Turbo Electric uses a pair of electric motors delivering up to 1,138 hp and 1,106 lb-ft (1,500 Nm) of torque, and whereas a lighter vehicle may have been tossed around by the jet blast, the Porsche remained rock solid. Indeed, it weighs in at a hefty 5,831 lbs (2,645 kg).

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Photos Porsche


The Auto World

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