The new Cadillac CTS-V is definitely pushing enough power to its wheels to be considered a proper challenger on a drag strip. That said, it’s probably not a great idea to go up against it unless you also have at least a 6-liter engine under the hood. And yet, that didn’t stop a brave BMW M3 to go up against it, even if it has just a 3-liter straight six powering its rear wheels.
But this BMW is more than meets the eye at first and, according to the video description, it pushed some 475 HP at the rear wheels, considerably more than what the standard car comes with. Putting in some 12% transmission loss, that means the S55 twin-turbo engine under the hood was tuned to make over 530 HP at the crank, thanks to a JB4 tune and some downpipes. What also works in favor of the M3 is the fact that it is wearing the latest Michelin PS4S tires that we had the chance to test out a while back. On a rear-wheel drive car with so much power, the added traction make a whole lot of a difference in drag races.
While that looks impressive, it’s nowhere near what the CTS-V has at its disposal. The bruiser from the U.S. has a 6.2-liter V8 supercharged engine making 640 HP and 854 Nm (630 lb-ft) of torque. Even though it does weigh considerably more, tipping the scale at 1,880 kg (4,145 lbs) the CTS-V is still quite fast, especially in the triple digit territory.
The BMW with its lighter construction managed to push ahead at first in this drag race, admittedly jumping the start a little. Even so, the Caddy did catch up, leaving us impressed with the way it managed to eat up the road ahead of it. Considering the power difference between the two cars at play there the result is definitely closer than expected.
