It doesn’t really seem fair to pit a car from the naturally aspirated era against one that comes with forced induction. And yet, it also depends on what cars we’re talking about. If we’re dealing with the brilliant S85 5-liter V10 engine of the E63 BMW M6, we could compare it to some turbocharged engines, even if they were launched later on. For such purposes we found a video online of such a Bimmer taking on a 991.1 Porsche 911 Turbo S in convertible guise.
Admittedly, in this case, the Porsche does come with some serious added weight on its hips due to the retractable roof but even so, the power and torque difference between the two is noticeable. Whereas the BMW M6 comes with a 3.6 kg/hp ratio, the Turbo S has to carry half a kilo less for each horsepower. Therefore, the 507 HP of the M car falls rather short of the 560 HP of the Neunelfer.
On the torque front things get even more disproportionate. Since the S85 engine is naturally aspirated, torque isn’t its forte. With 520 Nm (384 lb-ft) of torque, it had less than a decent 3-liter diesel has these days. On the other hand, the 3.8-liter turbocharged monster of an engine of the Porsche develops 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque, going up even more thanks to overboost for short periods of time.
There’s also the gearbox issue to take into account. The SMG gearbox of the M6 was decent of its era but it’s terribly slow by comparison, as the PDK 7-speed dual clutch is known as one of the fastest gearboxes ever made. Then again, the BMW does come with a couple of upgrades like a ram air intake, a new ECU map and exhaust. Unfortunately, we can’t tell just how many extra ponies the changes brought along but the result of the race should offer a hint.
