BMW 745Le Hybrid Vs Tuned Octavia RS Drag Race Ends In Photo Finish

The BMW 7 Series, especially in its long-wheelbase G12 form, is essentially a limousine. The hulking sedan caters to the chauffeured market, but that doesn't mean that the stately sedan doesn't have any grunt in it.

Autocar India tests what's under the hood of the 7 Series, specifically the hybrid version 754Le. This isn't the most powerful in the 7 Series lineup, though. But that's fine since the rival on this drag race is a bit out of the 7er's league.

Meet, the Skoda Octavia RS. It recently got a complete revamp, but its predecessor is still on sale in some parts of the world. Now, the Octavia RS is a family car, but the one for this race is a whole lot different from the regular Octavias in the market.

Tuned to a claimed 400 horsepower (298 kW), the Octavia RS here means business and it's ready to take on the 7 Series limo. Tuned by APR, there's one major disadvantage that this Octavia has over the BMW – it's only front-wheel driven.

And then there's this fact that the BMW 745Le is no pushover. Propelled by a 3.0-liter twin-scroll turbocharged inline-six and an electric motor, the 745Le makes 389 hp (290 kW) and 443 pound-feet (600 Newton-meters) of torque. All of these numbers are sent to all four wheels, which is the major factor that offsets the output disadvantage versus the tuned Octavia RS. Plus, the instant torque that the electric motor sends.

Given the figures started above, which one of these mismatched sedans do you think won the straight-line race? The headline said that it was a photo finish, so there's only one way to find out – by watching the video.