So what happens when you pit a 1975 Enfield electric city car against a British Touring Car Championships Audi A4 and a race-prepped Porsche 911 Turbo fitted with launch control? Not quite what you’d expect, that’s for sure…
Versus
But this is no ordinary electric car – this is the Flux Capacitor which, in the hands of Fifth Gear’s Jonny Smith, now packs more punch than your average supercar.
First, the Audi, a Rob Austin Racing A4 driven by Hunter Abbott – on slicks, as opposed to the Enfield’s road legal footwear:
Jonny, who has spent three years turning the derelict Enfield into a 1000bhp, street-legal dragster, said: “We ran at 1500 amps of power out of a maximum 2000amps, though we did lose a window at over 105mph – the Enfield was only designed for 40mph remember…
“At least we’ve still got a good few amps left in reserve, and I’m intending to change the rear axle gearing to get faster.”
So, having demolished a BTCC race car, next up was a Porsche 911 (997) Turbo:
A true David v Goliath drag race, the little Flux Capacitor was ahead right up until near the line, with electric muscle outstripping piston-power until the 1/8 mile mark, when the Porsche started gaining.
“This was my fastest run to date at 11.67 seconds. Look at the difference in speed off the line – in the end he beat me by 0.2 second, but this was respectable heads-up drag racing!” said Jonny.
“The Porsche driver told me it was remapped and had an aftermarket exhaust fitted, so it was over 600bhp. It was also 4-wheel-drive and had launch control too.”
Jonny’s stated aim was to build the fastest street-legal electric vehicle in Europe – and only an MoT and a race with a Tesla P85D stands between him and his goal…watch this space.
The Flux Capacitor is sponsored by Adrian Flux, and for more pictures and history visit the website.