Usually, the traditional quarter-mile action involves at least some measure of U.S.-made involvement. Not this time around, though, although it’s clear the battles do take place on American soil. Nevertheless, it’s all about import knights... both on two and four wheels.
After originally being manufactured in Graz, Austria, BMW made the second-generation X3 at their Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, United States. But once it was time for the arrival of its third generation, the compact luxury crossover once again turned into a proper import as its production was relocated to South Africa. Still, this X3 M features a few enhancements that will make it worthy of a triumphant return to its adoptive home.
According to the scarce details shared by the folks over at the Drag Racing and Car Stuff channel on YouTube, this isn’t a regular 473 to 503-hp X3 M (there’s no mention if we are dealing with the regular or Competition version). Instead, it has been thoroughly enhanced with an e40 blend. And the spice seems to do wonders for the German SUV as evidenced by the initial first run (with a flappy rear license plate), a solo yielding a 10.97 ET.
Of course, there’s no substitute for actual battles, and the X3 M has its job cut out for it as far as we’re concerned. That’s because it’s meeting a roster of hardened quarter mile warriors, in the form of a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle, a tuned 2015 Nissan GT-R running its own “e70-ish” mixture and some bolt-ons, along with a spectacular B-Rogue Built twin-turbo Audi R8 (which sounds like a hoot from the six-minute mark).
After the initial presentations (for both the X3 M and R8) it’s time for the Bavarian to meet the Japanese master (at 2:46). Of course, the GT-R doesn’t look deterred by whatever this X3 M hides underneath and finishes the run as the logical victor, with a 10.69s to 10.98s result. But, as far as we can tell from afar, it’s really not that big of a difference.
One would expect the gap to widen from the 3:15 mark when it’s time for the Busa to showcase its crimson assets... but again the difference is not that sizeable, as shown by the 10.5s to 11.13s passes. On the other hand, the R8 does come out for some fun at the 3:50 mark, nailing a couple of wins by a larger margin. Still, we really can’t help but remain impressed by this constant X3 warrior...
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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