The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S received so much praise when it came out, people might have thought it was all made up. However, the car developed by the AMG division proved its worth time after time, showing it has what it take to be included in the supercar realm. On the other hand, BMW hasn’t launched a proper supercar since the M1 came out and even then. But does BMW really need a supercar in the first place?
Well, it seems like as long as there are tuners out there such as Manhart Performance, there’s no real need to develop and launch a proper supercar with the BMW roundel on the tip of the hood. That’s because tuners like this will always find a way to turn ‘ordinary’ M cars into performance beasts. What we’re looking at here, is a BMW M3 30 Jahre edition that has been put through the Manhart program. The end result is still powered by the S55 3-liter straight six engine the standard M3 comes with but it develops 550 HP now.
On the other side of the race we have the aforementioned AMG GT S which is actually the faster version of the AMG GT. Using the same 4-liter turbocharged V8 engine, the S has 503 hp to play with together with 670 Nm (494 lb-ft) of torque. Thanks to its 7-speed gearbox, the AMG GT S is claimed to reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.8 seconds, an impressive figure no matter how you look at it. And even though it wasn’t developed for the drag strip but more so for race tracks, the AMG GT S is no slouch here either.
The thing is, the M3 has more power and, despite having four seats and four doors and being bigger in every direction, weighs less than the Merc, making this a rather predictable race. The key here will definitely be keeping control of the cars, as both of them can easily overwhelm the rear axle. As long as there’s no drama in that department, things should be rather straightforward.
