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The Rudest Canadian: BMW M3 Thrashes Challenger, Camaro, Doesn't Say "Sorry"

Not all Canadians are mellifluously lovely and polite – at least not those with German origins, like this BMW M3 Competition. Although registered in Canada, the Bavarian barbarian still roots its Teutonic lineage and has no mercy whatsoever for the All-American muscle cars that stand up to it at the drag strip.
BMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro 12 photos
Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion
BMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet CamaroBMW M3 drag-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro
Courtesy of Sam Carlegion, the Canadian YouTubing gearhead, a three-way duel is set between a previous-gen Bimmer, a six-year-young Mopar, and a last-year Chevy Camaro LT1. All three contenders have performance pretenses, but they’re not equally matched.

Going from the lightest and least powerful upwards, the 2018 BMW M3 Competition opens the grid. The set-in-stone München recipe for entry-level piston fun is the powerhouse three-liter inline-six imbued with a pair of exhaust-gas-driven air compressors.

The firepower rating of the iconic BMW model reads 444 hp and 406 pound-feet of torque (in rest-of-the-world metric standards, this means 450 PS and 550 Nm), all sent to the back with the assistance of a seven-speed automatic gearbox with dual clutches.

BMW M3 drag\-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro
Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion
As far as body mass goes, the M3 is the slim-fit champion of the pack, with 3,575 lbs. (1,620 kg). According to its owner – the YouTube host himself – the engine software upgrade improves throttle response, making the already-quick BMW even more agile.

Something that can be very useful when racing a HEMI Mopar. Well, not a real red-white-and-blue HEMI from the space-conquering era, but a pretty impressive V8 muscle, nonetheless. The 392 cubes of this Dodge Challenger T/A (6.4 liters) don’t believe in artificial breathing. That’s why it makes just 41 more hp than the twin-turbocharged German.

485 hp (492 PS) and 475 lb-ft of crankshaft-turning force (644 Nm), that’s no breadcrumbs. The mighty Mopar clearly stands by its American origins regarding weight. The battleship breaks the scales at 4,274 lbs. (1.92 tons), and it’s up to the eight-speed automatic gearbox to cope with the bhp/ton and make the most of what’s available.

BMW M3 drag\-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro
Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion
Standing in between these two different-category punchers is the General Motors contender. A 2022 Camaro with the LT1 package – the small-block big boy with the 6.2-liter V8. 455 brake horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque (461 PS and 617 Nm) go to a ten-speed gearbox (automatic, but that is a superfluous statement, given the number of cogs inside the go-fast assembly).

Weight-wise, it stands in the middle between the heavyweight Dodge and the dietary BMW, at 3,788 pounds (1.72 tons). The joust is not a direct head-to-head sprint but a mediated affair, with the M3 standing as umpire and contender at the same time.

It makes quick work of the races, mauling the Dodge like a piece of misfortunate (gear)shift (with an F!) that it is. The Challenger’s bulk and lazy transmission pull it backward, and the M3 simply walks all over the Detroit rival.

BMW M3 drag\-smacks Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro
Photo: YouTube/Sam Carlegion
The Bimmer takes just 3.6 seconds to hit 60 mph (97 kph), crossing the quarter-mile mark after 12 seconds flat. A full half-second earlier than the massive more-than-twice-in-displacement Mopar, which is also slower to 60, at 4.2 seconds.

The Camaro doesn’t have it better than its American co-national, although the difference in weight is visible. The Chevy is quicker, but not BMW M3 Competition-quick. Four seconds to get to 60 mph and another 8.3 to cross the 1,320-foot mark is still four car lengths behind the German.

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About the author: Razvan Calin
Razvan Calin profile photo

After nearly two decades in news television, Răzvan turned to a different medium. He’s been a field journalist, a TV producer, and a seafarer but found that he feels right at home among petrolheads.
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