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2001 BMW E46 M3 Vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Drag Race Is Just a Bit of Fun with Cars

Welcome to the battle of the Smurf-Mobiles. Apart from being RWD, convertible, and sharing the same color, these two cars have virtually nothing in common. Well, there would be this one more thing...
2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race 9 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race2001 BMW E46 M3 Cabriolet vs. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata drag race
They are owned by the two front men of the Throttle House YouTube channel. Thomas, the guy famous for almost always picking the losing car in the featured drag races drives the 2001 E46 BMW M3 convertible, while his camera partner, James, brought his 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata.

The German machine comes from the ancient, simpler times when there was no 4 Series and hence no M4, so the performance drop-top of that size was still called the M3 Cabriolet. It had - and still does, though only barely in the case of Thomas' car - the S54 3.2-liter straight-six naturally aspirated engine developing 343 hp housed in a vehicle weighing around 3,520 lbs (1,600 kg).

Obviously, the coupe version of the E46 M3 provides much better performance - stiffer body, lower overall weight, less drag - but life doesn't always give you what you want, so Thomas somehow ended up with the drop-top version. Does he regret it? Probably. Will he admit it? Never.

Over on the other side, we have James and his 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata. The small Japanese car is known for a lot of things but excelling at drag racing is not one of them. You might find some builds around the world that put in a decent shift, but of the tuning-inclined owners tend to veer toward the drifting area.

James, on the other hand, drifted toward the stock area. His Miata only has minor modifications, the most noteworthy here being the Axle Back exhaust. In fact, that's the only noteworthy one, which really says a lot about the rest of them.

Everything considered, there shouldn't really be much of a contest here: the Miata packs just 155 hp and, even though it is significantly lighter, at 2,332 lbs (1,058 kg) it's nowhere near less than half the weight of the M3 to give it a better power-to-weight ratio.

Well, yes, but only if you're expecting a plain old drag race. Don't worry, there's that as well both in standing and rolling flavors, but the guys have something else in store for you as well. At least James does because Thomas seems to have been just as much in the dark about what was planned as you are right now. We'd say "enjoy", but we know you will.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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