This is certainly not the first drag race between the BMW M5 Competition and the Mercedes-AMG E63 S. Those two cars have been slugging it out since the former made its debut. But what about the Honda NSX? That’s a bit of an oddball to throw in the mix. So how do all three cars get on in a quarter-mile drag race? Top Gear finds out.

In this new test, we see TG’s Rory Reid in the Honda (Acura NSX in the ‘States), while he’s flanked by both the Bimmer and the AMG. Both of those flanking sedans pack a brutish 600-ish horsepower while the NSX has to make do with just 500 hp. Though, the NSX is lighter by quite a bit and has electric motors to help it get off the line quicker. So which car takes the win?

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Off the line, the BMW M5 Competition jumps the other two cars by a decent amount, getting ahead quick. Though, they all remain within a single car length throughout the entire race. The AMG starts to catch up to the M5 by the end of the race but it’s not enough and the BMW M5 takes the win, with the AMG in second and the NSX last. In the end, though, less than a car length separated the M5 from the NSX, it was that close.

We’re actually surprised to see the BMW M5 take the win over the lighter, hybrid-assisted Honda. It’s not that surprising that it beat the AMG by a bit because we’ve seen that happen several times already. But the NSX is a more expensive, much lighter, purpose-built hybrid supercar. It should have been faster off the line and faster outright. I guess the M5’s monster 616 hp 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 is just too much for newfangled technology. So, as Reid puts it, the dinosaurs beat the new tech.

[Source: Top Gear]