Ferrari Purosangue v BMW X5 M v China’s CRAZIEST SUV: DRAG RACE

carwow| 00:18:21|May 2, 2026
Chapters7
Introduction of the four cars and the plan to race them over a standing quarter mile to compare performance.

A wild drag-race showdown where a Chinese Zika AX SUV steals the show with 1,400 hp, beating a Ferrari Purosangue and German rivals on the quarter mile.

Summary

Carwow’s Matt Watson leads a high-stakes drag race between a Land Rover Defender Octa V8, a BMW X5 M, a Ferrari Purosangue, and China’s Zika AX SUV. The quirky Chinese machine, surprisingly, clocks the fastest standing quarter mile at 10.6 seconds, stunning the lineup. Throughout the day, the crew tests rolling starts, “Octa” driving modes, and braking performance to tease out every car’s character. The Ferrari initially looks off the line but powers ahead, while the BMW and Defender struggle to keep up in different runs. The Zika AX’s audacious performance is finally explained: the car in Matt’s hands packs 1,400 horsepower and 1,400 Nm of torque, a confession that reframes the whole race. Al, Sam, and Andy provide banter-rich commentary, poking fun at driver skill, vehicle quirks, and the inevitable hype around a Chinese number-one finish. In the end, the Zika AX dominates the quarter mile, and the team delivers the kind of back-and-forth humor that Carwow fans expect, even as they tease the next big challenge.

Key Takeaways

  • The Zika AX SUV wins the standing quarter mile with a 10.6-second time, beating the Ferrari Purosangue (11.6s), BMW X5 M (12.2s), and Land Rover Defender (13.1s).
  • The Chinese SUV’s astonishing performance is later attributed to a 1,400 hp, 1,400 Nm torque setup in the tested car.
  • Octa mode and aggressive launch control can dramatically shift outcomes in high-power SUV drag races, as seen when the Ferrari and BMW briefly threaten the Zika AX.
  • Rolling starts and brake tests are used to expose traction, launch quality, and brake performance across very different vehicles.
  • The video blends technical testing with lighthearted banter, highlighting driver skill and car quirks as much as raw power.
  • Daniel, Al, Sam, and Andy provide running commentary that keeps the race entertaining while not shying away from the surprising result.
  • The episode demonstrates how a less-heralded Chinese model can outperform established European luxury SUVs in a straight-line sprint, challenging assumptions about market power.

Who Is This For?

Essential viewing for performance SUV enthusiasts and gearheads curious about how a Chinese hyper-SUV stacks up against Ferrari and BMW on a drag strip. Great for viewers who enjoy playful banter as much as hard data.

Notable Quotes

"I've got no chance, have I?"
Early joke setting up the lineup and expectations for the drag race.
"That Ferrari is cheating cuz it's a Ferrari."
Commentary on perceived advantages or skepticism about the Ferrari’s pace.
"The car that I'm in, it has 1,400 horsepower and 1,400 Nm of torque."
The confession that reframes the race results and explains the Zika AX’s dominance.
"You never had me. You never had your car."
Humorous taunt during a tense final stretch about pressure and performance.
"This has a limiter and I hit it and then that was when you were really me in."
An admission of a bad limiter hit affecting the rolling race outcome.

Questions This Video Answers

  • How did the Zika AX manage to beat a Ferrari Purosangue in a drag race?
  • What is Octa mode and how does it affect drag races for high-performance SUVs?
  • Can a Chinese SUV really outperform European luxury rivals in straight-line speed?
  • What were the official times for each car in Carwow’s SUV drag race?
  • Why did the Ferrari Purosangue appear to be slower at launch in this test?
CarwowFerrari PurosangueBMW X5 MZika AXChina’s SUV drag racestanding quarter mileOcta moderolling racedrag racing dynamicscar performance testing
Full Transcript
What will happen in a drag race between a Land Rover Defender Octa V8, a BMW X5M V8, a Ferrari Puranguay V12, and this new Zika AX Chinese SUV with a 2 L 4-cylinder engine. I've got no chance, have I? Anyway, we're going to find out by racing them over the standing quarter mile. I'm Matt Watson and you're watching Carw Wow. Right, let's get into this drag race. But if you want to compare the detail stats of all these cars, pause the video now. You seen it? Right, let's go. Three, two, one. Worst off the line. But doing fine, baby. What the Oh, it's going to be close. Oh, what? No way. Look at the Ferrari go. That's it. There you go. Oh my goodness. That was a shock. That Ferrari came from nowhere. Ow. What happened? You dropped and then you were past us. You know, the launch was a little bit off. Sam's launch is really good, but I got the timing down, so it's all right. So Al is from Quick Cars. They brought the Ferrari down. Sam, you look like you were going to win at first. Then it looked like you weren't going to win and I was going to beat you and then you came third. It looked like you were toying with me. I don't leave with that smug little face. It doesn't make sense. You were about to blast past me and then you just sat next to me and then the Ferrari came through. Oh, Andy's here. Hi, Andy. Hi, Sam. So, what I find interesting, Andy, is that your car has the same engine as the BMW but with more power and um it did crap. You cocked it up, surely. No, no. I think I'm just the wrong shape. Not physically as in the car might be the wrong shape for this. I reckon I can go faster. Let's try again. We're going to do best three out of five for the drag races. But before we get into that, I think we need to warm some tires up, especially for that Ferrari. So, let's go into a rolling race. We're going to do it in automatic mode and comfort mode. Let's go. Three, two, one, go. Oh, yes. Oh, hello. Oh, no. There goes the Ferrari. Well, I'm beating the octa. That's all that matters. Come on, Oct. Where's everyone else? This is a different race. What's happening? Well, that was interesting. You see, while my car may have a 2 L turbo engine, it's also got three electric motors. So, it's a plug-in hybrid. Most of the time, that engine is just a generator to produce electricity. So, I'm a three motor electric car, hence the pickup in comfort mode, but it wasn't sufficient to beat the Ferrari. You're looking very smug, Al. To be honest with you, I'm actually surprised how fast the car is. Al, you sort of remind me of Sylvester Stallone, like a young Sly Stallone. To survive a war, you got to become war. I wish maybe my head is as wide as his. I don't know what you said, but yes, Sammy, you're right. You're like rocking in your chair like someone with um a problem. Hey, um yeah, I'm I'm very good. Thank you. That was a good impression. And I think that Ferrari is cheating cuz it's a Ferrari. So, there we are. Andy, I guess your comfort mode is really comfortable, right? Oh, Matt, it's super comfortable, but just wait till Octa mode kicks in. It's going to be different. So, let's do that now. Let's do an octa mode. Everyone in sportiest setting, you're going to go in third gear. Obviously, there's no gears in this car. Full sport setting. Race over the half mile again. 3 2 1 go. Oh. Oh, look at it go. Oh, I don't care. Oh my god. Just wait an oct. Look at the octa. Oh, that Ferrari is going for it now. Can I reel him in? I'm really reeling him in. Can I catch him? Can I catch him? Can I catch him? Oh, another victory to the Ferrari. This is not happening as I thought it would. I think I'm just a good driver. I think that's what it is. It's all down to the driver, Sam. And that means that you're terrible. I agree. I am garbage. But you know what? You're in a fridge. That's a Ferrari. So, it's cheating. To be fair, in the Octa, that can go off-road. This can have a look at some grass maybe. So, I think morally I win. And Andy, has your car got any better or not? So, I've only just realized that when you're in sport mode, you've got to actually change gear. And uh yeah, I forgot to change up. Hence why suddenly I was very slow. Oh dear. Andy. Well, maybe you can change up in the next race. All right, team. What we're going to do now is have a rolling race from 10 miles an hour. When we get to the line, the start will start us. When the hands go down, we go as fast as we can all the way to the half mile. Let's see which car can win. 3 2 1 go. Oh, Ferrari's buggered it. Bad shift. Come on, Beamer. Come on. Oh, he's coming. Oh no, this is going to be close. It's coming past. No, do not hit a limiter. This has a limiter. I need to be enough ahead. I think my limiter is going to come past. HE'S COMING PAST. NO. DON'T DON'T DON'T. I've got some bad news for you, Sly. I think I just had you on the line. This has a limiter and I hit it and then that was when you were really me in, but I don't think you had enough space. I did not expect that. I was thinking it was me on the last races that flew. Oh my god. I'll tell you what didn't fly. Andy, the Octa put in a poor performance here. It's got a BMW engine with more power than the BMW. Yeah, it's so slow. Can we do it again, but all of us on the grass? Uh, I take your point, Sam. What's going on with you? I think this is doing a great job. It's the best color here. It looks the best by a long, long way. And I just watched you two have a silly little race in front. So, moral victory to me. Formal protest. Let's get back to the drag race. Remember, it's one point to the Ferrari. Actually, before we do the drag racing, we're just going to warm up our tires. one last time by having a brake test from 100 mph. I'm worried about this cuz this thing weighs 2.8 tons. It's the heaviest thing here. Now, if you'd rather watch another drag race with a bunch of high performance SUVs, click on the pop out banner or scan the QR code on screen now. If not, stay here for some lovely brake testing. Right, that was weird. Beat a Ferrari. Yeah, very close between us, Andy. The two heaviest cars. Ferrari, though. Ow. What happened, mate? Did you forget to press the brake pedal or a Ferrari's brakes just rubbish? I didn't see the cone because the car was blocking and then I didn't know when to break. I was trying to break as late as possible. Yo, Adrian. Sam. Yeah, he won. Let's get on with the drag race. Before we do this race, let's just have a quick comparison of the car's sound. So, Andy, can you rev up your Defender? Let me put my window down. The insulation on this car is mad. Rev it again. Are you revving it? Yeah. Sounds all right, doesn't it? Sim, let's hear your car. Not great, is it? Well, come on then now. Let's hear what the Ferrari's got. Oh, yeah. Just do that again, Al. Do listen to this. How good is the insulation on this? And now I'm going to do my car. So, I can't really rev it, but what I can do is go into P charge mode and then I can just press a button and it will start the engine. There we go. It's now running the engine to charge the batteries. I can't rev it. That That is like That's it. Can anyone hear that? Lewis, can you hear that? Yes. Yes. Sounds rubbish. Let's race. Ah, slow off the line. Like that was dreadful. Oh, here comes the Ferrari. Come on. No. No. Easy, easy. Oh, can I catch the octa? What happened to my car? Where is Al going, mate? You're driving off like Apollo Creed's after you. Al, we going to do like a victory lap or something. Coming. Coming. Coming. One sec. Hey, Al. Did he win? By a country mile. I didn't even see anyone behind me. Did he win, Sam? He did win. This didn't launch as good as it did the last time, so he won't win again. Oh, that BMW's on it as well. Come on. The Oh my god. Oh, it's close. Oh, it's coming. Oh no. What did this What's this doing? Come on, BEAMER. OH, here comes the Ferrari. Come on. I tell you what, guys. That was blooming close. Really good race, Matt. You got like right in my way. I didn't want to hit into you. You started swerving to the left. That's the only reason why I slowed down. Sam Vouch, I'm not a very good driver. Sorry for blocking you. No, it's okay. Just next time, I think I would have won that as well. Okay, well, put let's see. I won't block you this time. Put your money where your mouth is. You never had me. You never had your car. Do you know what? I've been running this car in sport mode. I'm going to put it into sport plus. In a normal internal combustion engine car, that would just improve your throttle map. But I wonder if it does something more in this mode. It is Chinese after all. Oh, we had a slow start. Oh, the launch. Oh, Sam thinks he's going to win. What the? But he's not. I knew it. So Al, that was yours for the taking, but you cocked it up and Sam was ahead of you, but then I somehow pulled past. Matt, what the was that? I knew you were toying with Let's do another race. Three, two, one. Oh, he's off the line pretty quick, but so Sam Beamer. Here he comes. Moral victory. Oh, it's going to be close. Oh, can I just nip it? What is going on? How fast is this hybrid? He's coming back. HE'S COMING BACK. BUT NO. OH, AL, you thought you were coming back then, but I don't know what happened. I don't know what mood you point your card. I know. It's madness, isn't it? You just come here for like a pleasure drive, haven't you? Really, Andy? If I want to come fast, I'll come in the McLaren. No, I better look next time. This is it. Let's do the decider. I'll tell you what would be embarrassing, Al. If the very best that Ferrari can do gets beaten by something from China, I wouldn't underestimate Chinese tech after I saw the last race. I'm not really confident anymore. You never know. Get your launch down. You could just have me. It was so close on the line. Let's go. Just realized there's this other button here called energy boost. I might use that. Well, that gave me a boost. Oh, delay on the launch. Oh. Oh my god. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it. Where is everyone? Look at Matt Golder. I don't know. Um Al, has your Ferrari broken? You know, you went so fast your tires are smoking. No, still no. No idea. Sam, it was quite close off the line between you and the Ferrari. Great launches, but your car's slow. It was a good launch. You're in a fridge. That's a Ferrari. This has got the moral victory. And and I I there's no point, Dandy. Really? So then what exactly happened? Well, the Zika won. It completed the standing quarter mile in 10.6 seconds. The Ferrari took 11.6 seconds, the BMW 12.2 seconds, and the Land Rover was last, crossing the line in 13.1 seconds. But how on earth was the Zika so quick? Guys, I do have a confession to make. Um, the car that I'm in, it has 1,400 horsepower and 1,400 new m of torque. Sorry. Formal the biggest formal protest this channel's ever had. Did you? Listen, I hope you all enjoyed the video. If you did, give it a like. If you want to watch some of the drag races, click on the windows. Huge thanks to Al for being a great sport and putting up with my antics and jokes about Sylvester Salone. Is a really nice lad and this race wouldn't have been possible without him and quick cars. So check him out if you want to rent a quick car. Oh, thanks to Andy as well for just making up the numbers. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next

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