Initially powered by a four-cylinder mill, the M3 leveled up to six cylinders, then eight, after which the compact executive sedan downsized to a sixer. Similar to the F80, the G80 features a six-cylinder lump as well. But as opposed to its predecessor, the current-gen M3 can be had with all-wheel drive.
Pictured at the Mission Raceway Park in Canada, the blue-painted M3 in the video below is equipped with M xDrive. You can think of it as xDrive tuned for high-performance driving. While it does have a rear-drive mode, the M xDrive system was developed around the ZF-supplied 8HP gearbox.
Said transmission shifts quicker than the manual does, and lest we forget, this torque-converter automatic transmission can also take more torque than the M3's base manual. In the other line, you'll find a car from a segment above the BMW M3. That car is an RS 6 Avant, with Avant being Audi vernacular for station wagon. By comparison, BMW uses the Touring moniker for its wagons.
As you're well aware, Audi's first-ever RS 6 sports a twin-turbo V8. After being upgraded to a V10, the RS 6 downsized to a V8 for the C7 generation. The outgoing C8 rocks the Volkswagen Group's 4.0-liter V8, a twin-turbo affair developed by Audi and Porsche. Internally referred to as EA824 and EA825, this powerplant has been taken to 666 ps and 850 Nm in the Urus S and Urus Performante.
That's 657 horsepower and 627 pound-feet. As for the S58 twin-turbo sixer of the M3, it's advertised with 503 horsepower and 479 pound-feet (or 510 ps and 650 Nm if you prefer metric units) in Competition spec. Equipped with Torsen all-wheel drive, Audi Sport's most badass wagon to date is a bit of a porker at 4,982 pounds (2,260 kilograms) in North America.
Photo: Wheels Plus on YouTube
Rated at 591 horsepower and 590 pound-feet (make that 600 ps and 800 Nm), Audi's family-sized thriller clocks a seriously impressive 11.96 seconds at 117.71 miles per hour (189.43 kilometers per hour) in the quarter mile. Be that as it may, the lighter M3 Competition proves marginally faster.
120.97 miles per hour (194.68 kilometers per hour), that is, with the Bimmer clocking 11.37 seconds. A fairer pairing would have been Audi RS 6 Avant versus BMW M3 Touring, though it's not exactly fair either due to different segments (D for the M3 and E for the RS 6). Not long now, the Munich-based automaker will have a right-sized rival for the Audi RS 6 Avant in the form of the M5 Touring.
Codenamed G99 as opposed to G90 for the sedan, the 2025 BMW M5 Touring is due this year as the follow-up to the V10-powered E61. The rumor mill suggests over 700 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged V8 and plug-in hybrid assistance, but only time will tell if BMW is willing to bring the standard M5 Touring this close to the 738-horsepower XM Label sport utility vehicle.
Over at Audi, the internal combustion-engined A6 line will be replaced by the A7. Adding to the confusion, there will also be a zero-emission A6 dubbed A6 e-tron. The RS 7 is rumored with V8 muscle and an element of hybridization à la the upcoming Lamborghini Urus PHEV, whereas the RS 6 e-tron is believed to pack north of 738 pound-feet (1,000 Nm) from a dual-motor arrangement.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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