Benjamin M. Monroe Blog: Video: BMW M5 Challenges Tuned GT-R and 911 Turbo S to Drag Race

Friday, August 31, 2018

Video: BMW M5 Challenges Tuned GT-R and 911 Turbo S to Drag Race

As we’ve seen numerous times since the new M5 came out, everyone wants a piece of the new uber-sedan. When it comes to its traditional rivals from the same niche, the M5 already seems to have them beat. Whether we’re talking about the standard model or the Competition one, it doesn’t really matter, as the win will go to the Bavarian on almost every scenario. This time though, we’re checking it out against some rather unexpected competitors.

The guys from Autocar had a Nissan GT-R on the set, offered for reviewing purposes by the people over at Litchfield. Therefore, you can probably guess already that this is no ordinary GT-R. The tuner tried to make it more track-prone and added a couple of very well picked upgrades, instead of the usual stuff they pull, like 1,000 HP engines and stuff. This Nissan, as a matter of fact, has only slightly more power than the standard model, rated at 631 HP and 600 lb-ft of torque.

That’s already more than what the M5 has under the hood, as the 4.4-liter V8 it uses is rated at 600 HP and 553 lb-ft. Throw in the weight and size difference between the two and it’s not looking good for the M5, even though it has all-wheel drive now. To be honest, the M5 has no business racing the GT-R here as they don’t really compete against each other. The natural rival of the GT-R is the Porsche 911 Turbo S though and the Autocar people have one on set too.

The Porsche comes with 580 HP and 516 lb-ft of torque, the lowest numbers here. However, it’s also the lightest of the pack and has that wonderful PDK gearbox to help it duke it out with the GT-R, as the M5 is not really the car to beat here, despite its superior power figures. As the presenter says, the M5 is only part of this race because they had it around the office when this was filmed. Nevertheless, the big, heavy sedan did great considering everything, as you can see in the footage below.