We all love videos on Youtube showing hypercars or even supercars going at it in a straight line, mostly because that’s an easy way to put the claims of the cars on paper to the test in the real world. We all know there’s a notable difference between what a manufacturer claims and what real-life results can yield. However, few of us can actually afford a supercar or even a super-fast sedan like an M5, considering it costs over $100,000. Therefore the guys from Autocar decided to offer an alternative at a considerably lower price.
For the BMW enthusiast in you, they chose three cars from different segments to pit against each other and see just how much bang for the buck you are getting. Out of the three Bavarian machines lining up here, only two are true M cars while the third is an M Performance model. Judging by how popular these are getting these days, the M135i deserves to be lining up at the start line, especially considering the beautiful N55 engine it has under the hood.
On the performance side of things, the M3 and M5 are standard. The former comes with 420 HP and its screaming V8 but also with the Competition Package which would help but not necessarily in a straight line. The M5 is bone stock, no Competition Package or anything, just the 560 HP of the 4.4-liter V8 under the hood. The M135i however has a surprise for the guys. It was tuned by the people over at Birds and has a couple of tricks up its sleeve.
From the standard 320 HP the M135i went up to 390 and the torque figure went up to 420 lb-ft (570 Nm) which is astounding. Whether that will turn the lightest car here into a winner, remains to be seen – we don’t want to ruin your viewing pleasure – but we’d definitely like to see this M135i on the track, especially since it also comes with a limited-slip differential.
