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Can Google Street View car beat 'Top Gear' Mercedes? No, no it can't


There is a reason that NASCAR drivers don't strap giant, 360-degree cameras on the roof of their racecars.

That, however, is exactly what Google did when it pitted its Street View car against a Mercedes SLS AMG driven by the mysterious "Stig" from BBC's "Top Gear."

Spoiler alert: The Mercedes won. In fact, it spun doughnuts around the Google Street View car — an Opel Astra outfitted with the company's hulking Trekker camera — on the show's test track in the U.K. The Mercedes SLS AMG, on the other hand, boasts a V-8 engine capable of going from 0-60 m.p.h. in 3.6 seconds. 

It's fair to assume that Google didn't expect to win the race. Instead, it was promoting the fact that it had added "Top Gear's" test track to Street View, giving fans of the show glimpses of gorgeous cars they will never be able to afford. 

This isn't the first time Google has mapped the locale for a famous BBC show. In August, "Doctor Who" fans were treated to a Street View look inside of the TARDIS, which, presumably, could beat the Mercedes SLS AMG in a race, as it can travel through both space and time.

Keith Wagstaff writes about technology for NBC News. He previously covered the tech beat for TIME's Techland and wrote about politics as a staff writer at TheWeek.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @kwagstaff and reach him by email at: Keith.Wagstaff@nbcuni.com