If you live in the US, you can actually get the BMW M340i in rear-wheel drive guise, something that European enthusiasts cannot. Since the all-wheel drive version is more popular (for obvious reasons) and the only choice a lot of markets get, people tend to forget that pure rear-wheel drive is still available on this car. The best part about the rear-wheel drive M340i? It’s $2,000 cheaper than the all-wheel drive version.
Is it worth the money? Well, that will depend on what you’re looking for. The xDrive version will be faster in a straight line but it will also be a bit heavier and drives a bit differently in a set of twisty bends. According to BMW’s own website, even though both cars have 382 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, the xDrive M340i will do 0-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, while the RWD version will need 0.3 seconds more. That’s the advantage of being able to put the power down better.
And that advantage would’ve come in handy in the video below. That’s where we can watch a BMW M340i RWD go up against another RWD car, the Chevrolet Camaro SS. What should be noted here though is that there’s a massive power difference between them. While the European uses a 3.0 liter straight-six engine, the Camaro has a 6.2 liter naturally-aspirated V8 under the hood, good for 453 horsepower and 455 lb-ft of torque.
The American has the upper hand in that department then, and both cars use an eight-speed automatic gearbox. As we’re about to see, that’s not the only thing they share. Both have trouble putting the power down on launch and we can hear the tires screeching, struggling for traction. Unfortunately, the race is done only over the 1/8 mile, not a 1/4 mile, because that would’ve been a lot more interesting. Especially since the BMW seems to be catching up towards the end of the video.
