The duel between BMW and Audi is still raging on, no matter what some people say. The two companies are as close as ever, even though in some segments one or the other has the upper hand. With the new M3, BMW is now the reigning king of the compact sedan segment.
In the true sports car division though, the Munich-based company is not on par with Audi, however. The R8 is still unchallenged by any M product right now and things won’t change in the near future either.
That doesn’t mean that other cars from the line-up can’t take the R8 straight on in performance. That’s how we stumbled upon a drag race between a brand new BMW M3 and an older Audi R8 V8, the 2008 edition.
The don’t usually compare to one another but this time they went at it straight up. So how do the specs compare? Well, on paper, they are closer than you’d think.
With a 4.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 under the bonnet, making 420 HP and 430 Nm (317 lb-ft) of torque, the Audi claims a 4.6-second sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) when fitted with the manual 6-speed gearbox. It will also go up to a top speed of 301 km/h (186 mph) when pushed to the limit.
On the other hand, the M3 in this video is a 2015 model, fitted with the 7-speed DCT gearbox. That means it will do 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). That’s all due to the S55 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine making 431 HP and 550 Nm (406 lb-ft) of torque. On paper, the race should be close, right? Check out what happened.
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