The Nissan GT-R might be one of the oldest supercars on sale today, but the R35 is still a force to be reckoned with at the drag strip. Godzilla’s current iteration has been around for no fewer than 15 years and remains a worthy competitor in an acceleration test. Mind you, this is no ordinary version of the venerable Japanese performance machine as it’s been tuned to somewhere in the region of 700 horsepower.
In the other corner, the BMW M3 G80 is not stock either. A hotter Competition version with xDrive, the sports sedan has been modified by Manhart to a healthy 630 hp. Bavaria’s first-ever M3 with all-wheel drive weighs nearly 1,800 kilograms (a little over 3,900 pounds) without a driver, but the Nissan GT-R is only a smidge lighter.
Both AWD contenders have twin-turbo, six-cylinder engines and automatic transmissions but the M3 uses a 3.0-liter inline-six hooked up to an eight-speed torque-converter whereas the GT-R has a bigger 3.8-liter V6 linked to a six-speed, dual-clutch. If the Nissan looks familiar, we saw it last month in a drag race against an 800-horsepower X3 M Competition.
While the M-badged SUV won the drag race, we can’t say the same thing about the sedan since the M3 Competition xDrive was slightly slower than the GT-R. A photo finish was necessary because it was an extremely close race between the supercar and Bavaria’s speedy saloon. Both did 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in around three seconds but the Nissan was quicker in the 62 to 124 mph (100 to 200 km/h) sprint, needing just 6.6 seconds or almost half a second less than the BMW.
The M3 was a smidge slower that day. That said, let’s keep in mind the drag race pitted a luxury sedan against a proper supercar. It’ll be interesting to see the upcoming M3 CS considering it too will have xDrive but with slightly more power and a bit less weight than the M3 Competition. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before M3 CS will begin to tune their cars since we’re already seeing modified M4 CSLs.
Source: Cars with Pilot Tseno / YouTube
