Traditionally, the BMW M3 or the newer M4 are not rivals for the likes of Audi’s RS6. For the big daddy from Ingolstadt, BMW has the M5 prepared and ready to go. On occasion though, people will definitely try to race just about anything on the road and that means if you own either an RS6 or an M4, chances are you won’t back down when challenged. Therefore, the drag race at the bottom of this page might just be relevant.

With the massive price hike the M4 Competition now has compared to its predecessor, and seeing as how reach the 100,000 Euro mark for one in good old Europe is not really that hard of a task, this might also be a fair match-up in terms of pricing. But we haven’t gathered here to talk about pricing, options or anything of the sort. We’re more interested in performance and how these two cars compare in a straight line.

The BMW M4 Competition is at a bit of a disadvantage here. It only has a 3.0 liter straight-six twin-turbo engine under the hood, good for 510 PS (503 horsepower) and 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) of torque. Those might seem like big numbers but, compared to the RS6 Avant here they don’t quite rise to the occasion. That’s because the Audi uses a 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8 under the hood, making 600 PS (591 horsepower) and 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) of torque. Of course, the M4 will have the weight advantage over the heavier Avant but then again, there’s bit of an issue with the BMW as well.

That’s because this is one of the early BMW M4 models and it’s only a rear-wheel drive version. Both cars come with a similar eight-speed ZF-sourced automatic gearbox and launch control, but the RS6 has more power and better grip when setting off. That means it will be able to put more of its resources down. But will that be enough to beat the M4? Let’s see.