Watch This Twin-Turbocharged Porsche 911 GT3 RS Outrun A Helicopter

Remember that time "Top Gear" raced a Bugatti Veyron against a Eurofighter Typhoon? The car lost that race, and despite the Veyron's immense capabilities, the numbers were stacked against it. Fast-forward to the present, and the Officially Gassed YouTube channel has arranged a more evenly matched race between a Porsche and a helicopter, because the Porsche's performance is just that good.

The 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 RS is an amazing car, with active aero and electronic alchemy that make this street car on street tires faster around the track than a race car on race tires. We've tested this ourselves. But none of that matters in this race, only straight-line acceleration. ES Motor has turned up the already hot wick of the 4.0-liter naturally aspirated flat-six engine by adding two turbos, bringing its stock 525 horsepower up to 870 bhp (or 768 at the wheels). That enables the roughly 3,600-pound car, including the modifications and driver, to get out of its way quite quickly.

That matches up nicely with the Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter that HelixAV brings to the race. The model name refers to the 505 horsepower produced by its Safran Arrius 2R jet engine. Though less powerful than the Porsche, the helicopter weighs just under 3,000 pounds, helping to make up for that loss. It also doesn't have to worry about traction or driveline losses.

The car and chopper compete in three half-mile races, skipping the quarter-mile because they want high-speed shenanigans. The first race is from a "rolling" start (with big air quotes for the helicopter) from 50 mph. The Porsche gets an instant jump and leaves the chopper eating its dust, though providing some impressive shots that look like an action movie chase along the way. The second race begins with a standing start, and the car dominates even more, finishing with a five-second gap by the end of the half-mile. For the third race, the Porsche makes a standing start, while the helicopter gets a 60-mph "rolling" start. Even with this significant disadvantage, the Porsche is rapidly gaining on the helicopter by the half-mile mark, but it doesn't quite close that gap in time.

The Porsche's performance figures during these races are quite impressive. From the standing start, it did 0 to 60 mph in 2.98 seconds, and the quarter mile in 10.56 seconds at 144 mph. By the time it crossed the finish line at half a mile, it was up to 174 mph. That's faster than the Bell 505's top speed, which happens to be the same 144 mph the Porsche was up to halfway through the run.

Despite its power, an aircraft pushes against air, not solid ground, and that's always going to slow its acceleration. According to OG's estimates and their available data, the helicopter did zero to 60 in eight seconds and finished the quarter mile in 18 seconds at 97 mph, which are pretty slow numbers by Porsche GT3 standards. By the end of the half mile, it was up to 132 mph. Its advantage, however, is the ability to maintain such speeds without slowing down or stopping for traffic, obstacles, or speed traps. The only speed limits in the air are 250 knots (288 mph) below 10,000 feet and subsonic speeds over land. That's why the aircraft will win any race over distance, at least unless James May is flying.