Drag Race: BMW M3 vs 600 HP Nissan Silvia S15
We are never, ever going to get tired of drag race videos as long as they feature immensely cool cars racing against each other. This is why we will likely be lifetime subscribers of carwow’s YouTube channel. The crew has brought us gems like pitting the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S against the Audi e-tron GT.
We also can’t forget when they raced a Tesla Model 3 versus a Mercedes AMG CLA. We realize it is starting to look like all they race are Mercedes and electric cars, but we promise there is much more variety than that. For example, in this latest video, they decided to line up the new 2021 BMW M3 sedan (nostrils and all) against a tuned Nissan Silvia S15.
While the host attempts to find the logic in pairing these two cars up against each other for an airstrip race, we wholly recognize that this drag race makes no sense. The beauty is it doesn’t matter. Who wouldn’t want to see a BMW M3 race a Nissan Silvia S15?
BMW M3 Sedan
The new BMW M3 is built to take on a variety of motorsport challenges. It is made to be just as capable on a road course as it is on a canyon road, or in this case, a drag race strip. Despite the way the new BMW M3 looks on the outside (we’re trying so hard not to make more jokes), underneath this German performance sedan is ready for virtually any on or off-track challenge.
The particular M3 in this drag race also happens to be the personal daily driver of carwow host Mat Watson. According to Mat, his M3 is entirely stock with no modifications. It is unclear how many miles are on his M3, but the car hasn’t been out for long, so we doubt it’s high. Mat’s BMW M3 makes 510 horsepower from its inline six-cylinder, turbocharged engine. That is certainly no small number.
The M3 is also equipped with launch control, giving it a sizable advantage off the line over its competitor. One area where the M3 is at a disadvantage is its hefty weight of over 3,800 pounds, undoubtedly heavier than its opponent.
Nissan Silvia S15
A drag race is the last place most JDM car fans would expect to find a Nissan Silvia S15. Over the last two decades, the Nissan Silvia has become synonymous with Drifting and not traditional motorsports. It doesn’t mean that the Silvia cannot go fast in a straight line when it needs to. Like the BMW M3, Nissan originally designed the Silvia to be an all-around sports car.
The Silvia in this drag race is an S15 chassis which is the final generation before Nissan unceremoniously killed off the model altogether. A Nissan Silvia S15 comes with about 250 horsepower from its 2.0 liter, turbocharged inline-four engine in stock form. The Nissan Silvia S15 seen here is a totally different animal. The car’s owner had the engine stroked out to 2.1 liters. The owner then replaced the stock turbo with a much larger unit. After some expert tuning, this purple S15 makes 600 horsepower.
Not only does this Nissan S15 have more horsepower than Mat’s M3, but it is also much lighter at 2,600 pounds. However, it does have a major disadvantage. This S15 has a manual transmission and no launch control function. Getting a good jump off the line will be difficult for this JDM car.
BMW M3 versus 600 hp Nissan Silvia S15: Who wins?
Despite some over-eagerness, the two cars eventually get some clean races in. The first runs are from a dead stop, while the last several runs are from a roll at different starting speeds. Things start to look one-sided at first, but tables are quickly turned when the drag race methods were switched up. We won’t give away more than that, but we will say thanks to carwow for putting together another entertaining drag race match-up.
We can’t wait to see what eccentric pairing they come up with next.
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