The idea of pitting the new M2 G87 against the now-old M5 F90 in a drag race might seem preposterous at first thought but we’d argue it’s interesting to discover what kind of gap there is between the two performance cars. The G87 has significantly less power and comes only in rear-wheel-drive flavor but it is considerably lighter than the recently retired super sedan.

Indeed, a look at the technical specifications reveals some massive differences between the two M cars. The newly launched not-so-baby-anymore M car weighs 3,867 pounds for this automatic model. As for the four-door rocket in Competition guise, it tips the scales at a hefty 4,345 lbs. The M5 makes up for that extra bulk by having 617 hp and 553 lb-ft from a big V8 whereas the coupe makes do with 453 hp and 406 lb-ft from its smaller inline-six.

To the surprise of no one, the M5 obviously won the drag races but we honestly had expected the gap to be significantly bigger. We were particularly surprised by how the M2 was able to keep up the pace at the start of the duels, especially when launching off the line. Many would reckon the sedan’s xDrive and extra oomph would’ve given it a clear advantage but that wasn’t the case.

It was more of the same in the subsequent rolling races from 30 mph as the M2 had a strong start but ultimately failed to keep up the pace with the objectively superior M car. The performance difference between the cars grew at higher speeds as the M5 had more punch to unlock courtesy of its larger engine. Provided those rumors about an all-wheel-drive M2 will pan out later this decade, the G87 should become an even quicker car.

It should be mentioned a beefier M2 will be launched before the possible xDrive derivative. Come 2025, an M2 CS will have over 500 horsepower and should hit 60 mph sooner than the 3.9 seconds needed by the regular M2 when fitted with the automatic. That won’t be enough to beat this M5, which will have been replaced by then by the upcoming M5 G90 plug-in hybrid rumored to offer over 700 hp.

Source: Archie Hamilton Racing / YouTube