2023 BMW M8 Coupe

CARLOS LAGO: This is a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 that Edmunds owns, and you can read all about it at Edmunds.com where we report on what it's like to own and operate this vehicle. You can also go to Edmunds.com, sell my car to get an instant cash offer on your car. But, let's talk about drag racing. Next to me is what appears to be a green Mustang. Is that what that is, Alistair? ALISTAIR WEAVER: It's the German Mustang. It is a BMW M8 Competition. Can't say that in a German accent. CARLOS LAGO: I appreciate the effort. Well I've got 760 horsepower from a supercharged 5.2 liter V8, I'm about 4,200 pounds, I've got an automatic transmission, and I am rear drive and cost $80,000. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Well I have a 4.4 liter twin turbo V8 automatic transmission, but I have a choice of either rear or all-wheel drive. CARLOS LAGO: And what does that choice cost you? ALISTAIR WEAVER: Well the M8 competition starts at $146,000. But, by the time you add the fancy green paint, the carbon ceramic brakes, the fancy hifi a few of the bits and bobs, you will arrive at $176,000. So pretty much the same as the Mustang, give or take a hundred grand. CARLOS LAGO: Give or take a brand new 911 as well I guess. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Putting it another way. CARLOS LAGO: So, this is clearly not a competition of price, but this is a pairing because the power figures are similar, we know from the test track the acceleration results are similar. We want to see what happens in a head to-- Are you reading a book? ALISTAIR WEAVER: Yeah, I was just trying to work out the launch control. It's a six point plan. Number one is switch on drive ready state, select sequential mode with gear 1 and drive logic program launch S3. Launch control is available when the engine is at operating temperature. Engine is at operating time after uninterrupted trip of at least six miles or 10 kilometers. CARLOS LAGO: He's still going. ALISTAIR WEAVER: And then you have to drive a certain distance. OK, let's just get on with it. CARLOS LAGO: Yes, please. Let's do this race. So are you going to be in all-wheel drive on this run? ALISTAIR WEAVER: That would be giving it away. CARLOS LAGO: All right. So we'll both be in launch control, and we'll both do the best we can on this run. All right, let's do it. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I may be in launch control. That's determined by the German computer, which may or may not play ball. CARLOS LAGO: The Mustang-- ALISTAIR WEAVER: Carlos, have you turned your air conditioning off? CARLOS LAGO: When the race starts, I will. The GT500-- ALISTAIR WEAVER: Carlos, can I make a suggestion that we run with air conditioning on, given they're in the desert and it's about 110 degrees? CARLOS LAGO: If you really feel like you need that advantage with your $170,000 BMW, Mr. fancy pants. ALISTAIR WEAVER: OK, so we're going to turn it off now. OK. CARLOS LAGO: So to turn launch control, I'm going to put this in drag strip mode, and then I'm going to put the exhaust in track mode. Then I can actually choose the launch RPM that I want. I'm going to set the launch control RPM as low as it can possibly go because this is a rather poor street surface, and I have 760 horsepower that I'm going to try to route through two tires. Challenging predicament. ALISTAIR WEAVER: OK, so the truth is we are running in all-wheel drive, but I've genuinely no idea until I bang-- In theory, I hit the brake with my left foot as hard as I can, and then I boot the throttle with my right foot past the kickdown point. That should activate launch control, but only if the computer decides that it's happy with life. So I don't think I will actually know. If not, then we'll just use my left foot on the brake and then just try and sidestep the brake and launch it from there. CARLOS LAGO: I fear that he might do better on the launch because the front axle. It's going to help assist the car get off the line. He's putting less power to each tire than I am. If you divide his power by four and divide my power by two you'll see the difference. I can't do math, so do it at home, use Excel or Google, it's your friend. So the trick will be relying on launch control to do the best it can to get this car out of the hole, and then rely on the power surplus that I have to reel him in towards the finish. And if I lose, I can buy more go fast stuff for my GT500 because I haven't spent $170,000 on a BMW. SPEAKER 3: Are we ready? Five, four, three, two, one, go. CARLOS LAGO: The delay on the launch control, come on. ALISTAIR WEAVER: This thing just launches. CARLOS LAGO: And there's no traction in first gear, and the BMW's gone. He's just gone. Come on. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Honestly I didn't even see which way the Mustang went. We were doing 117 at the end of the run. CARLOS LAGO: The launch control, as you well know Alistair, is delayed from the time that you release the brake to the time that you start moving more so than it has any right to be. So I watched you probably get by the first cone before I even started moving. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Well, that's why you pay $176,000. CARLOS LAGO: I guess. I guess that's why you pay $176,000. And once under way, I felt like I was barely reeling you in. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Honestly, this thing launches extraordinarily well. The launch control did work, and it just picked up and flew. And you're just a passenger. There's not a lot of skill involved. We're doing about 117 as I passed the last cone. You know what else is quite cool for 176 grand? When I'm on the circuit, the satnav in the instruments actually tells me I'm on Willow Springs international, and it even told me when I'm in the pit lane. You've got to admit, that's pretty cool. CARLOS LAGO: Yeah. Fortunately you don't need to spend $176,000 to get that, because the Shelby GT500's navigation system tells me I'm on turn one. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Oh. OK, why don't we do one more and give you a chance to actually go on the beard bang? CARLOS LAGO: Right. So are you going to stay in all-wheel drive? ALISTAIR WEAVER: So let's stay in all-wheel drive. I'll give you one more go, and then I'm going to switch to rear-wheel drive and demonstrate that my German horses are better than your American nags. CARLOS LAGO: German horse is probably a horrifically long word with more consonants than anybody can rightfully pronounce. ALISTAIR WEAVER: This car has 617 [GERMANS]. SPEAKER 3: Drivers ready? CARLOS LAGO: All right. Get the launch right. Come on. SPEAKER 3: Five, four, three, two, one, go. CARLOS LAGO: Oh, that was so close. Oh, the all-wheel drive just takes him away. Come on, real-- oh, and the delay on first to second. There's just too much power, not enough traction. ALISTAIR WEAVER: It is extraordinary how this thing launches. CARLOS LAGO: This is why all-wheel drive is good, kids. This is why drag radials are good, kids. This is why a prepped surface is good, kids. But all-wheel drive just can put down more power than rear drive can. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Carlos, I had time to look in the rear-view mirror to see where you were. CARLOS LAGO: OK, I feel like we left at the same time, and yet the additional grip you have through that front axle just pulls and pulls and pulls and pulls. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I'm feeling a bit less bad about the last race now. CARLOS LAGO: So what's the acceleration like in that thing? ALISTAIR WEAVER: I don't think I've ever been in a car that launches so hard and so easily. 617 horsepower, we know this is a dusty circuit, we know it's hot, and it just goes. Like you just sort of sit here like a passenger. There's not a lot of skill involved. Oh no, actually, I'm wrong. There's a lot of talent involved, and that's why I'm winning comfortably. CARLOS LAGO: Such a humble winner. Such a humble victor. I think what we got to do now is see what happens when that thing is limited to just two drive wheels instead of four. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I will happily accept the challenge. So I'm giving away, what, 140 horsepower. We're going into rear-wheel drive only, which is the BMW's party piece. It's designed as a drift mode, but it's also fun for having drag races too with a bit more skill. CARLOS LAGO: You might say leveling the playing field, right? ALISTAIR WEAVER: So I'm going into two-wheel drive and stability control off. CARLOS LAGO: OK, I too am going to deactivate all of my electronic assists. No launch control here. And we are just going to see what happens. ALISTAIR WEAVER: OK. CARLOS LAGO: It's fair this time. Rear drive, rear drive. No launch control, no assists. A battle of whose right foot has the most restraint. ALISTAIR WEAVER: So the question now is do I actually want to ride the brake a little bit and build up the revs, or is that just going to light up the rear end? CARLOS LAGO: You tell me, Mr. Talent. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I hadn't put my racing boots. So just to be clear, with 760 horsepower, you should win this one. I was also looking at the weight distributions. We had this car on the scales at the Edmunds test track the beginning of the week. This car is not 50-50. It's 55-45 front to rear. So that's in the [INAUDIBLE] 56-44. So basically the same weight distribution. CARLOS LAGO: Are you saying this to make me feel better? SPEAKER 3: Drivers ready? Five, four, three, two, one, go. CARLOS LAGO: Come on. Oh, I pedaled it. Oh, come on. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Where is he? Where is he? CARLOS LAGO: Oh, we're pretty much-- No, I'm pulling him. I'm pulling him. I'm pulling him. Oh, come on. ALISTAIR WEAVER: That was a lot closer. That was a lot closer. I was looking in my rear view mirror where he was. CARLOS LAGO: [INAUDIBLE] so quickly. So quickly I was catching you. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I kept looking in my rear view mirror feed. I couldn't see you, so I was just kind of keeping the fun in. CARLOS LAGO: I spun a little bit too hard through second gear, and that just helped you get that inch, but if this race went on any longer, I would've had you. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Yeah, at some point the [INAUDIBLE] kicks in, right? As soon as you can deploy the traction. CARLOS LAGO: Yeah, it's just traction limited. When you don't have the surface, when you don't have the right amount of grip, that's what happens. But man, when this thing hooks up, it pulls so hard. It's unbelievable amount of acceleration. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Right. I'm going to give you one more go, just to restore a little bit of pride. A rolling race, 40 miles an hour to the first cone, and then nail it. CARLOS LAGO: You're on. ALISTAIR WEAVER: I'm going to stay in two-wheel drive. I'm going to give you everything. CARLOS LAGO: That's not that's not giving me an advantage. Roll on race. 40 miles an hour. And whoever can put the most power down the fastest will win this. ALISTAIR WEAVER: OK. Wait for the cone, wait for cones. 40 miles now exactly. 40 miles now exactly, and nail it. Come on. CARLOS LAGO: [LAUGHS] ALISTAIR WEAVER: He's coming, he's coming. CARLOS LAGO: [INAUDIBLE] ALISTAIR WEAVER: That Mustang sounds ridiculous. CARLOS LAGO: Hey, what's the saying? Give Americans long enough and they'll always come in first. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Yeah, once the plucky Brits have sorted it out first. CARLOS LAGO: At least I don't need a degree in how to use launch control, or 170 grand, to be faster when you're already moving. It's kind of a technicality of a win there, but I'll take it. Our real world drag and roll on races basically matched our test results at the laboratory. Benefiting from all-wheel drive in an effective, yet overly fussy, launch control, the M8 is significantly faster to 60 miles an hour. The GT500 starts catching up as the race goes on, assuming you get the launch just right. The Shelby loses at the quarter mile though by a tenth of a second, but check out the difference in trap speed. That GT500 is cooking. The Shelby also posts a shorter stopping distance to 60 miles an hour and slightly higher average lateral g around our skid pad. Both of these cars have the same make and model of tire, but the Shelby's are slightly larger. So Alistair, what have we learned in this experiment? ALISTAIR WEAVER: That $176,000 buys you something that can launch better than a GT500. CARLOS LAGO: But not necessarily a car that will be faster from 40 miles an hour when you're driving fast. ALISTAIR WEAVER: All of that is true. CARLOS LAGO: Until next time. Thank you for watching. Make sure to visit Edmunds.com/sellmycar to get an instant cash offer on your very car. Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe. And again, thanks for watching this video. ALISTAIR WEAVER: Thank you, everyone.