The battle between charged and naturally aspirated engines goes back several decades, with fans of both groups occasionally coming up with new reasons why their choice is the better one. The British CarWOW team felt like joining in on the fray.
CarWOW held a drag race between two Mazda MX-5 roadsters. One was a first-gen specimen powered by a 3.0-liter, six-cylinder non-turbo engine rated close to 260 hp (194 kW) and 325 Nm (240 lb-ft) of torque. The other one was a second-gen MX-5 engine-swapped to a 1.8-liter supercharged unit capable of 200 hp (150 kW) and 237 Nm (175 lb-ft) of torque.
The roadsters were put to a standing acceleration test (quarter-mile), a running-start test, and a braking performance test. Predictably enough, the more powerful non-turbo car came out on top in both runs. The supercharged one turned out more efficient in the deceleration test, however.