Precisely a month ago, Carwow pitted the rear-wheel-drive BMW M3 Competition against the Audi RS3 Sedan. Spoiler alert in case you haven’t seen the duel, but it won the drag race despite its lack of xDrive. A far less famous YouTuber that goes by the name of Archie Hamilton has now lined up the M4 against the RS3, but with a different outcome.
Yes, the RS3 was once again far quicker off the line courtesy of its Quattro setup. It makes sense especially once you take into consideration the surface was a bit damp that day. Not that we’re trying to find the M4 any excuses, but the driver’s reaction was pretty slow. It also looks as though the two drag races weren’t until the quarter-mile, so the BMW didn’t have enough time to catch up.
In the rolling race from 30 mph (50 km/h), traction is less important. The bigger and more powerful engine of the M4 shined, allowing the coupe to comfortably pull ahead. We are talking about two cars from different segments after all. The Audi is undoubtedly a firecracker with its feisty inline-five engine, but it’s down by 100 hp and 110 lb-ft compared to the BMW.
Archie Hamilton believes the RS3 would’ve still won in a drag race from a standing start against an M4 xDrive. That seems unlikely since the AWD shaves off 0.4s from the sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) over the RWD. With previous videos showing that even the xDrive-less M3 Competition can beat Ingolstadt’s sports sedan, AWD would create an even bigger gap.
As always, drag and rolling races don’t paint the complete picture when it comes to a car’s performance. It’s a fun way to see cars being launched hard, just as long the drivers’ reaction times are the same.
Source: Archie Hamilton Racing / YouTube
