Watch a Toyota drag race a Ferrari... backwards

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Even with the language barrier and cultural challenges, it's easy to understand what's happening here: a Ferrari F430 is racing a Japanese-market Toyota Corolla, both in reverse. It's the winner that needs some explanation.

Spoiler alert: The Ferrari gets spanked. How and why? Mainly because the TV producers snuck in a ringer in the form of the Corolla equipped with a continuously variable transmission. The Toyota Super CVT-i unit has no separate reverse gear; it provides variable drive ratios whether the car's moving forward or bass-ackward.

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Even thought the Ferrari has roughly five times the horsepower of the Corolla, it's routed through a single reverse gear that caps the stallion's rearward speed at 51 mph. The CVT Corolla hits 66 mph — and for a few seconds, becoming the most intriguing rear-wheel-drive Toyota sports car in years.

H/T to ThatDamnDrunk!