Once upon a time, the BMW M3 was untouchable in the mid-size luxury performance car market, but nowadays, it doesn’t only have to cope with increasingly improved rivals from Germany, but new challengers too, including one from the USA in the form of the Cadillac ATS-V.
While the M3 features a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine with 425 hp, the ATS-V utilizes a larger twin-turbo 3.6-liter powertrain that pumps out 464 hp.
Alongside the horsepower advantage, the American contender’s overall torque figure is 38 lb-ft better, 444 lb-ft versus 406. However, the Cadillac is nearly 200 kg lbs heavier than the dual-clutch BMW so, when the two recently hit the drag strip, the outcome was not easy to predict.
In this particular race, at the end of the quarter mile sprint, the M3 clocked a time of 11.6 seconds at 105 mph (169 km/h), while the ATS-V completed the same sprint in 11.57 seconds with a significantly higher (119 mph / 191 km/h) trap speed. So, in a straight line at least, the Germans aren’t having it all their own way.