In a fascinating race, the folks from Edmunds decided to pit the BMW M8 Competition against a rather unlikely rival, the Ford Shelby GT500. Sure, some have immediately pointed out – as soon as the M8 came out – that the Shelby might be a better deal but they really aren’t playing on the same field though, as one is a premium product and the other is not. And those are not the only differences either.
Whereas the BMW is using a turbocharged engine under the hood, the Ford uses a supercharged mill. To top everything off, the 5.2-liter V8 of the Shelby GT500 makes 760 HP, noticeably more than the 625 HP of the Competition BMW M8 Coupe. Adding insult to injury, all that extra power from the American muscle car has to be put down through the rear axle alone and that’s where the German might have the upper hand.
It’s pretty close, if you look at the claimed specs of the two cars, to be honest. The Ford is capable of delivering a 0-60 mph sprint roughly around the 3.6 second mark which is pretty damn close to the BMW. The big issue, though is getting enough grip so that you don’t drift out of the drag strip and end up in the bushes. Therefore, the standing drag race seems like BMW’s best bet to beat the Ford here.
Fortunately, to even out the odds, the new BMW M cars come with M xDrive and that means you can deactivate all-wheel drive, to send power to the rear axle alone. And that’s what the guys did. Of course, doing that also disables the traction control and launch control features. Therefore, you do have to be pretty careful with how you stab the throttle, to make sure you don’t crash. So, who do you think won in the RWD showdown? Check out the video to find out and don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel as well.
