How We Source and Label the Numbers

Every published figure in the race is traced to its source, and every estimate is labeled as one, in the table below, on each car profile and in the race’s fine print. Of the 21 quarter-mile times, 12 are recorded runs, 1 is a manufacturer claim and 8 are estimates. The 0-60 times lean harder on claims: 9 are claimed, 5 are converted, 4 are recorded, 1 is derived, 1 is an estimate and the U9 Xtreme uses its sister car’s figure. Mixed labels mean the cars aren’t compared on identical terms, which is why every number keeps its label wherever it appears.

The car profiles use two more labels, verified and reported, for figures outside the race such as lap records and press reports. All eight are defined here.

Swipe sideways to see every column.

This is every figure the race uses, quickest quarter mile first, with its label and the source we took it from. Each car’s name opens its profile, where the other tests and claims for that car are listed and labeled the same way. Where a row says no published time, the race’s figure is our estimate, and it stays labeled that way until a timed run is published.

Swipe sideways to see every column.

Figures are rounded for display: GM’s 8.675 seconds for the ZR1X shows as 8.68, and its profile gives the full figure. The Top Fuel time is Tony Schumacher’s 4.428-second record from 2006, shown as 4.42, set before NHRA moved its fastest classes to 1,000 feet in 2008. The McMurtry’s 7.97 seconds was run by the Spéirling prototype over 400 meters in December 2022, not the Pure. Rimac didn’t publish a trap speed for the Nevera R, so its 186 mph is our estimate. The McLaren W1’s 2.61 seconds is McLaren’s 2.7-second 0-100 km/h claim converted, though McLaren also lists 2.7 seconds to 60 mph.

Most cars here have more than one published number, and they rarely match. When we decide how much to trust a figure, and which label it gets, we rank the evidence like this:

1. Independent instrumented tests by magazines such as Car and Driver, MotorTrend and Edmunds, and record runs measured by an outside party, such as Dewesoft’s timing of the Nevera R.
2. Official records and listings from bodies such as NHRA and the Nürburgring.
3. A maker’s own timed pass on a drag strip’s timing system, such as GM’s 8.675 seconds for the ZR1X, labeled recorded but named as the maker’s run.
4. A maker’s claim, labeled claimed.
5. Press reports we can’t trace to a primary source, labeled reported and kept out of the race.

We don’t average sources together. Every figure in the race comes from one named source, and when tests disagree we record the conditions instead: whether the first foot of rollout was left out, whether the surface was a prepped drag strip or ordinary asphalt, which tires the car wore and exactly which version was tested. The Porsche 911 Turbo S shows why. Car and Driver ran 9.7 seconds at 142 mph recorded, MotorTrend 9.9 seconds at 138.9 mph recorded and MotorWeek 10.2 seconds at 139 mph recorded, all with the same model, according to the 911 Turbo S profile. The race uses Car and Driver’s run, and the profile lists the others beside it.

Some cars still run on a maker’s claim even though tests exist, and the label says so. The Model S Plaid is the clearest case: the race uses Tesla’s claimed 9.23 seconds at 155 mph, while MotorTrend recorded 9.25 seconds at 152.6 mph on a prepped strip. The elapsed time holds up, but no stock car we found matched the 155 mph trap. We also match the exact version where we can and say when we can’t: the Lucid Air Sapphire’s recorded 9.03 seconds was on the optional Track Tire package, and the U9 Xtreme borrows the standard U9’s figure because BYD hasn’t published one for the Xtreme.

Every car starts on green together and is tuned so it reaches 60 mph at its listed 0-60 time and crosses the line at its listed quarter-mile time and trap speed. Those points always match the figures in the table above, whether they’re recorded, claimed or estimated. The motion between them is our modeling, smoothed for the screen, so in-between speeds and split times are illustrations, not measurements.

Anything that would need more data than a 0-60 time, a quarter-mile time and a trap speed. That’s deliberate: the published numbers are the most reliable thing we have for most of these cars, and adding forces we’d have to guess would make the race look more scientific without making it more accurate.

• Tire slip and launch control. Wheelspin, traction control and launch strategies are already part of each car’s published 0-60 time.
• Gear changes. The race has no shift points, though a real car’s pull rises and falls through every shift.
• Drag and rolling resistance. A real car’s pull fades as speed builds. The race doesn’t simulate those forces.
• Reaction time. Every car leaves on green together. Drag racing’s elapsed time doesn’t count reaction time either, so the finish order is a fair comparison of ETs.
• Weather, altitude and track prep. GM says the Corvette ZR1X ran 8.675 seconds on a prepared surface in standard trim, and that one with the optional ZTK package can run 8.99 seconds on an unprepped surface, in its January 2026 release. The race uses each source’s own conditions.
• Thrust as its own force. The Roadster’s cold-gas thrusters aren’t simulated separately. The car simply runs to its listed figures, like every other car.

The result: starts and finishes match their sources, and everything in between is an approximation. When the race shows a car passing the eighth mile, read that as an illustration, not a prediction.

Tesla hasn’t published a quarter-mile time, and nobody has timed the car, so 7.40 seconds at 175 mph is our estimate, modeled for this race. It will be replaced as soon as an independent test exists. Treat it as a placeholder, not a result.

The Roadster’s 0-60 time is a different kind of number. It’s Tesla’s own figure from its own timer, reported by The Drive from the October 15, 2026 reveal, so the race labels it claimed. Electrek lists Tesla’s per-version claims as 1.6 seconds for Performance, 0.85 seconds for Thrust and 0.55 seconds for the top version, all claimed. The full list of Roadster claims, each with its source, is on the Tesla Roadster profile.

Five things move a 0-60 number before the car even changes. The first is rollout: many American testers leave out the first foot of travel, matching how a drag strip’s timer starts, and that makes a time look quicker. Car and Driver subtracts a one-foot rollout as standard. Tesla claims 2.9 seconds for the Model 3 Performance with that foot left out, and Car and Driver and MotorTrend, which time the same way, both recorded 2.8 seconds. Edmunds, which times from a dead stop, recorded 3.0 seconds. Electrek reports that Tesla’s 0.55-second claim for the top Roadster version leaves the first foot out too.

The second is conversion. Europe and China quote 0-100 km/h, which is 62.1 mph, so a 0-100 claim is a little slower than the same car’s 0-60. The race converts those claims and labels them converted. The third is the surface. A prepared drag strip can be worth tenths, and sometimes far more: MotorTrend recorded the Model S Plaid at 1.98 seconds on a prepped strip and 2.07 seconds on ordinary asphalt, both with rollout left out, and 2.28 seconds from a true standstill. Dodge claims 1.66 seconds for the Demon 170 on a prepped strip, while Hagerty recorded 3.7 seconds on ordinary asphalt.

The fourth is tires and weather. Optional track tires or semi-slicks help a launch, which is why Xiaomi’s 1.98-second 0-100 km/h claim for the SU7 Ultra specifies semi-slick tires. Air temperature, altitude and track temperature all change how much grip and power a car has, so the same car can vary from one test day to the next. The fifth is who’s holding the stopwatch. Both Roadster numbers came from Tesla’s own timer at its own event: a recorded test shown early in the reveal read 1.0 seconds, and the live demo read 0.81 seconds, according to Electrek. Nobody independent has timed the car, which is why the race keeps Tesla’s figure but labels it claimed.

• An estimate is replaced when a timed run is published. An independent instrumented test, or a timed pass on a drag strip’s timing system, takes its place, and the label changes to recorded.
• A figure can be replaced by a better primary source. If an independent test of the exact version appears, or a maker publishes a figure where we had to borrow or convert one, we review the row.
• Labeling errors are corrected when a review finds one. The Nevera R’s 186 mph trap speed, for example, was relabeled an estimate because Rimac didn’t publish one.
• Every change to the race’s numbers is dated in the changelog below, and each car profile shows the date it was last updated.

• October 17, 2026. The race launched with the Roadster against the Yangwang U9 Xtreme and optional challengers.
• October 19, 2026. Every race became a full quarter mile, with 60 mph kept as a milestone on the strip, and the U9 Xtreme’s 0-60 time changed from 2.10 to 2.28 seconds, the standard U9’s converted figure.
• October 20, 2026. The race moved to its own address, and a 21-question FAQ with sources was added to the fine print.
• October 21, 2026. The Roadster’s top speed now cites Lars Moravy’s over 230 mph from the reveal, the over-250-mph target is dated to 2017, and the Nevera R’s 186 mph trap speed is labeled an estimate because Rimac didn’t publish one.
• October 26, 2026. This guide was reorganized around how we source and label the numbers. It now lists every figure with its source and defines the verified and reported labels the car profiles use. The race’s figures didn’t change.