Outside of supercars and EVs, the BMW M4 Competition with xDrive is one of the quickest-accelerating cars money can buy. It needs only three and a half seconds to reach 62 mph (100 km/h) from a standstill. Going from 50 to 75 mph (80 to 120 km/h) in fourth gear takes just 2.6 seconds. Switch to fifth and the task is done in 3.4 seconds. But how does the all-paw coupe fare in a drag race against a lightweight track-focused machine?
The G82 had to duel the less powerful but far lighter Ariel Atom 4R in a series of straight-line acceleration tests. BMW’s luxury coupe certainly has an advantage when it comes to power by delivering 530 hp and 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) from its twin-turbo, 3.0-liter inline-six engine. Its opponent uses a more modest turbocharged 2.0-liter unit borrowed from Honda. The Civic Type R’s engine has been tuned to deliver 400 hp and 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) for this road-legal track toy.
The M4 weighs 1,775 kg (3,913 lbs), whereas the Ariel Atom 4R is just 665 kg (1,466 lbs). It means the BMW is more than two and a half times heavier than the Ariel. That said, the car with a roof above the driver’s head has the advantage of all-wheel drive. The open-top machine routes power to the rear wheels only.
As you can imagine, the BMW’s tires are much wider, making it even easier to put the power down on the road. Another major difference between the two is that the Bavarian machine has an eight-speed torque-converter automatic transmission, as opposed to the quicker six-speed Quaife sequential gearbox inside the Atom 4R.
Although the M4 has some clear advantages, these can’t offset the weight gap between the two cars. Despite initially pulling away in the drag races, it always finished second. Nevertheless, the BMW did complete the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds on a less-than-ideal surface. It was only a tenth of a second slower than its opponent. The M4 didn’t stand a chance in the subsequent rolling races to the half-mile mark and also lost in the brake test.
It would be interesting to see a BMW fighter for the Ariel Atom 4R, but it likely won’t happen. It would target a niche market already well-covered by other brands such as Caterham.
Video: Carwow / YouTube