These days, we are long past staring at oddities – today, we embrace and cherish them. And it's only natural, even across the imaginative realm of the automotive industry – as these vehicles need to cater to vastly different needs.
The choice is far greater than a few years ago – as we have passenger cars, crossovers, SUVs, trucks, and the novel EV lifestyle. But how do you stand out in a crowd? Do you go for the trendy and sustainable solution of buying a Tesla? Or do you expect everything from legacy carmakers?
If you're undecided about what to choose between an EV sedan and an ICE-powered compact executive model like the BMW 3 Series, maybe this quick brawl will help you make a case for one or the other. So, the videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube is a big fan of MRP and Bandimere Speedway, but he also loves The Strip for its feisty ICE vs. EV brawls.
When we mean MRP, we talk about Misson Raceway Park in British Columbia, Canada – which is known in the NHRA as 'Thunder by the River.' Concurrently, when we say Bandimere, it's 'Thunder Mountain' in Colorado – where elevation is critical when considering the brawlers' performance. As for The Strip, it's obviously the prized four-lane possession of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, right?
Anyway, the protagonists are not only of different powertrain types but also like night and day – one is white and the other dark and menacing. We have seen many Teslas dressed in white since it used to be the included option before Midnight Silver Metallic changed that, while the G80 BMW M3 is usually shown in dark colors in a (sometimes futile) attempt to make the odd dual-kidney grille a little more bearable.
Unfortunately, the description doesn't shed any light regarding the exact versions of the Model 3 and M3. Still, it's safe to assume that we are dealing with the top dogs – the $51k Model 3 Performance and the M3 Competition, perhaps even the BMW M3 Competition xDrive. Well, if we are to offer the laurels based on the purchase price, the Tesla EV would easily win the day because the M3 starts at $76k and the Competition or Competition xDrive are even more expensive at $80,200 and $84,300, respectively.
However, let us offer them the chance to show their worth on the track first. The initial skirmish debuted with the Tesla Model 3 taking point with a better reaction time or due to the instantaneous torque, so the M3 was left trying to recover the gap. It almost performed a spectacular comeback, but in the end, the Model 3 won by a whisker: 11.84s versus 11.86s!
Chivalrous, the Tesla Model 3 owner allowed a rematch, and the M3 driver took full advantage of that second chance, narrowly beating the EV with an 11.7s versus 11.73s pass. Well, that was quite a photo-finish encounter, right? Too bad they didn't go for a decisive third race to settle the potential conundrum about who's better at the quarter-mile dragstrip…
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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