Side by side drag race between DA42VI and DA62

[neema]

Not sure if this has been done, but in the name of science, we conducted the experiment!

Similar weights. If anything, more weight in the 42. Slightly more TKS on board, 2 people vs 1, but a little less fuel.


Race starts around 0:50. Too lazy to edit. Used takeoff power/full throttle.

[steve_falconer]

Wow! I love it and had no idea the outcome would be so clear.

[CFIDave]

Interesting "drag race."

A few years ago I graphed the AFM/POH published speeds of DA42 and DA62 models using "maximum continuous power:"

DA42vDA62 Performance.pdf

(34.94 KiB) Downloaded 74 times

rather than full power (good for only 5 minutes) that was demonstrated in the video.

At max continuous power, the DA62 engines each have 11 % more power than the DA42-VI: 171 hp (95% of 180 hp) vs. 154.5 hp (92% of 168 hp), which may account for the DA62 being faster using the AFM/POH numbers.

But at full throttle (shown in the video), the DA62 engines each have only 7% more maximum power (180 hp vs. 168 hp) to overcome the DA62's greater weight, a larger frontal area, and longer wing/bigger tail with more drag.