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BMW M3 Competition Gets Trampled by Nissan Silvia S15 with a Twist

This one will definitely increase the heart rates for the ‘built, not bought’ crowd, and for good reason, especially since both the M3 Competition and the 600-horsepower Silvia S15 have similar costs when the curtain drops.
BMW M3 Competition vs Nissan Silvia S15 7 photos
Photo: CarWow/YouTube screenshot
BMW M3 CompetitionNissan Silvia S15BMW M3 Competition vs Nissan Silvia S15BMW M3 Competition vs Nissan Silvia S15BMW M3 CompetitionNissan Silvia S15
Why would anyone pit a 20-year-old, tuned Japanese coupe against a brand-new but stock German sports sedan, we hear you ask? Well, the two contenders actually have something in common, and that ‘something’ is the sum of money required to own either of them, with the cost of the tuning parts invested in the Nissan Silvia S15 being almost identical to what BMW wants for a brand-new BMW M3 Competition.

That said, the Nissan might actually be worth more than the Bimmer since the value of used Silvia S15 has skyrocketed in recent years, as it slowly became a modern classic.

While the M3 Comp gets 510 horsepower and 650 Nm (479.4 lb-ft) of torque from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, the tuned Silvia S15 makes do with a tiny four-cylinder and a giant, ‘dustbin’ turbo and has no less than 600 horsepower and 700 Nm (516.3 lb-ft) of torque.

Apart from the addition of the huge turbo, the Nissan’s SR20DET has also been bored out to 2.1 liters, while the standard gearbox has been switched to a 6-speed manual borrowed from a 370Z, for reasons of torque-handling.

Both cars send their power to the rear wheels, with the BMW doing it via an 8-speed automatic transmission from ZF. You should also know that the BMW is a porker at 1,730 Kg (3,814 lbs), while the Nissan is a featherweight at just 1,200 Kg (2,646 lbs).

With all those numbers in mind, the tuned Silvia S15 should simply walk away from the M3 Competition in just about every race, and yet it didn’t.

It did win the first test, though, with its modified and de-restricted exhaust sounding literally miles better than on the BMW, which also comes fitted with a gasoline particulate filter.

Yet, the heavily modified Silvia S15 is a handful at standing starts and it loses all the drag races, with its driver not being able to keep up with the launch control and the quickness of the automatic transmission in the BMW M3 Competition.

It’s the rolling races where the 600-horsepower Japanese sports coupe shines, pulling away from the BMW in each and every one, whether the start was given from 30 mph (49 kph) in second-gear, 50 mph (80 kph) in third-gear or 60 mph (97 kph) in fourth.

Being much lighter, you’d think it would win the 70 mph (113 kph) braking test as well, but the featherweight coupe has no ABS and loses by about 5 cars in length while also becoming a bit tail-happy by locking the rear wheels under braking.
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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