It's not every day you get to line up a new M5 against three of its biggest competitors -- the Porsche Panamera S, E63 AMG and Jaguar XFR -- so when the opportunity arises, capitalizing on it is a must.
EVO magazine found themselves in this exact position recently (okay, it's not a new video, but it's making the rounds again and it's fun) and instead of laboring with shaving tenths of a second around a circuit, they've put the super sedans into a drag race. A 3,280 foot drag race. That's nearly 2,000 feet longer than a traditional drag race and, as you'd expect, means the numbers-- especially the trap speed-- are a lot bigger.
While the Porsche Panamera S is certainly closer in price to the sedans here, we would still have loved to see the Turbo in action. And while we're on the subject of what we want, where's the CTS-V? 556 hp from a supercharged V8 with a manual trans vs 560 from a TT V8 and an autobox over 3,000 feet? That's a race.
csubowtie says:
11:36 AM, 02/14/12
It would be a such a cool feeling keeping the loud pedal planted for that long.
I would have liked to see a Caddy in there as well, but I've noticed that other countries/continents are much more accepting of bias towards themselves. Foriegn fan-bois in America do it to. How embarassing would it be if a Caddy from that rufian America country costing literally half as much came out and whooped some ass. My favorite case was an episode of Top Gear where they tested a Corvette ZR1 against an Audi R8. They called the Audi the better car and ragged on the Corvette the whole time, but for some reason never showed the stig lapping either car, even though the whole thing was shot on their track.
pengwin says:
12:39 PM, 02/14/12
@csubowtie
They put both around the track. The ZR1 was faster but they said that the time the ZR1 put down was probably not achievable by the ham-fisted common folk.
Corvette 1:20.4
R8 V10 1:21.6
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59/features/powerlaps
teampenske3 says:
02:07 PM, 02/14/12
@ csubowtie
Part of the reason the Brits aren't huge fans of American cars is because they're all LHD. Imagine having to shift gears with your left hand rather than your right. That would suck, wouldn't it? I bet you they feel the same way when the shifter is on the right.
@ pengwin
Agreed. I believe their main complaint was that it was far more twitchy and easier to break loose than the AWD Audi.
church123 says:
05:05 PM, 02/14/12
Shifting problem has kind of solved itself for them now, hasn't it? Not a single manual in the bunch this time.
Evo is my absolute favorite print mag, and while they may be a little less euro-centric than other EU magazines, they still have a strong anti-American bias.
cr_driver says:
06:15 PM, 02/14/12
I had seen this a long time ago!
Old news Mr mm.
ls7505 says:
05:59 AM, 02/15/12
The V can't launch as well as some of these other cars but once moving, it should be pretty competitive.
bimmerjay says:
09:02 AM, 02/15/12
I expected the E63 to take it, but wow the M5 is quick. The Panamera S didn't stand a chance, but a Turbo/Turbo S would, I'm assuming they didn't use a Turbo because of the price?