When it comes to drag racing, cars fitted with internal combustion engines don’t really stack up well against electric counterparts. The reason for that is that unlike ICE electric motors don’t have to rev up to get to that sweet torque band we all love. Instead, they have all the torque they can develop available from the get go which gives them a serious advantage. The Tesla Model 3 Performance also comes with all-wheel drive and that’s yet another advantage in the showdown you’re about to see.
The guys from DragTimes got the Tesla and a BMW M3 fitted with the Competition Package together on a drag strip to see which is faster. Of course, with the two advantages the Model 3 has, mentioned above, the contest doesn’t seem like a fair one. Then again, the Tesla might be faster in a straight line but it’s also considerably heavier and should we take this duo out to a proper track, the results would be drastically different.
Yet, not many are actually cross-shopping between these two, especially if they plan on going to the track. The Model 3 has its advantages, no doubt about it, but the M3 strikes back with its handling and considerably lighter construction. To put things better into perspective, the Tesla has two electric motors delivering 450 HP and 471 lb-ft of torque to all four corners of the car, while tipping the scale at 4,072 lbs.
On the other side of the strip we have a BMW M3 Competition Package model with 444 HP and 443 lb-ft of torque on tap, sent to the rear wheels alone through a 7-speed DCT gearbox. It tips the scale at 3,540 lbs and, on paper, is slower than the Tesla by nearly half a second. On the longer haul though, things might not be as different after all.
