THIS WEIRD COMPARISON PITS THE 2020 CORVETTE STINGRAY AGAINST A 2023 BMW M2 IN A U-TURN DRAG RACE.
It’s time for another one of those unconventional drag races put together by the fantastic crew at Edmunds Cars. This bunch of automotive fanatics devised a really cool new take on the generic heads-up drag race by adding in an element that also helps test braking and handling. One of the most popular ways to compare a pair of performance cars is to line them up, drop a flag and see who covers a predetermined distance in the quickest time possible - sometimes with the highest speed but not always as the two aren’t mutually exclusive. We’ve mentioned it before, sometimes a quicker car can get to the finish line before a faster car can, but while the quicker one can the finish line first, it may not cross the traps with a higher top-end speed. Measuring time over distance in official events is a worldwide bazillion-dollar industry, and the results are the most common way to prove a car’s performance. Some manufacturers even use the data to sell cars, although their focus isn’t on distance over time, they prefer speed over time, hence the worldwide benchmark of 0-100 km/h, 0-200 km/h etc, etc. The Edmunds Cars do things differently with their rather interesting U-Drag Series. In this Edmunds test, the cars are tested against each other in a U-Drag race that consists of both cars heading down the track just like in a standard drag race but at the end of the strip, they don’t hit the brakes and take it easy on a return road. In this testing, the cars get to the quarter mile as fast as possible and then it’s hard on the brakes in the right place at the right time to allow the car to complete a 180-degree turn at the highest speed possible before heading straight back to the start line for what essentially becomes a dig race.
The last race from the crew was quite similar, to, a USA vs Germany affair. The crew previously tested a Shelby GT500 against a BMW M4, and in this instalment, they pit the BMW M2 against the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray making it a turbocharged inline 6 versus a normally-aspirated V8 - front engine versus mid-engine. The BMW M2 is known for its brilliant power and speed, the turbocharged 3.0 litre is rated at a decent 338 kW of power with 550 Nm of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels via an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. It can hit 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed up at 285 km/h. Thanks to wearing that M Performance badge, you know that it has brilliant handling and superb braking. The rival is the 2020 Corvette Stingray and in this guise, the Yank is powered by a normally aspirated 6.2-litre V8 that’s rated at a decent 365 kW of power with 630 Nm of torque. It also features an 8-speed automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels only. It’s claimed that it can hit 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 296 km/h. Performance stats are quite close on paper, so testing which is faster will take the weight into consideration too. The ‘Vette tips the scales at 1,655 kg and the M2 has a little more heft at 1,750 kg. If there’s one thing that American cars aren’t known for, it’s handling, so the testing of a 180-degree turn from high speed can be interesting, to say the least. It is admittedly a strange match-up of cars, but the results will fill the viewer's head with the useless facts about how these two cars compare to each other with the only benefit being the ability to win a round of drinks by knowing the arb facts learned by watching.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off how two rather unlikely competitors fare against each other in the channel's now well-known U-turn drag race test. With no Corvettes available in SA, our money is on the BMW M2 because we've seen them, driven them and know them and that's enough of a reason to place our bets on the German: U-DRAG RACE: BMW M2 vs. Chevy Corvette Stingray | Quarter Mile, Handling & More! | Edmunds Cars
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