Has the superbike met its match?
As most motorcycle riders know, bikes will beat cars on pull-away. But what happens if you bring a really big gun to a quarter-mile duel – a supercar that’s probably the second fastest production car money can buy here in South Africa: the McLaren 650S Spider. Why “second fastest”? Because its Coupé brother is 4 km/h faster on top whack, whereas their 0-100 sprint times are the same. That’s what our friends at MotorTalk procured while we acquired something equally exotic: the MV Agusta F4 RR. We weren’t going to take this lying down.
Then we took these beasts to an unused road on the Highveld, let them loose and stood back.
So there you have it. Under 300 km/h the bikes generally still rule.
To compare their technical specifications, see below.
| MV Agusta F4 RR | McLaren 650S Spider | |
| Engine | 998 cc, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, 16 valve DOHC, radial valveCompression ratio 13.4:1Bore x stroke 79 mm x 50.9 mm | 3 799 cc, 32-valve, V-8 twin turbo, mid-engineCompression ratio 8.7:1Bore x stroke 93 mm x 69.9 mm |
| Transmission | 6-speed constant mesh electronic quick-shift MV EAS (Electronically Assisted Shift), | 7-speed SSG (twin-clutch auto), rear-wheel drive |
| Max. power | 147.7 kW (201 hp) @ 13 600 rpm (at the crankshaft) | 478 kW (650 PS) @ 7 250 rpm |
| Max. torque | 111 Nm @ 9 600 rpm | 678 Nm @ 6 000 rpm |
| Weight | 190 kg (dry) | 1 330 kg (dry) |
| Top speed | 297.5 km/h (184.9 mph) | 329 km/h (204 mph) |
| 0-100 km/h sprint | unknown | 3.0s |
| Seat height | 830 mm | unknown |
| Fuel capacity | 17 ℓ | 72 ℓ |
| Fuel consumption | unknown | 11.7 ℓ/100km |
| Price | R290 000 | Around R6m |
