TWO OF THE BEST LONGROOFS DRAG RACE FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS - THE BMW M3 TOURING VS THE AUDI RS4 AVANT - WHO'S YOUR MONEY ON?
There was a time not too long ago when it looked like the beloved wagon versions of our favourite cars would become a thing of the past, something we’d tell our grandkids about because they’d be living in a world of crossovers and SUVs with nary a wagon in sight’ Luckily the powers that be who are in charge of culling slow-selling models and introducing new models started to actually listen to what customers wanted, and so thanks to a few very tasteful models from a couple of the world’s best automakers the longroofs have been saved. We now see a Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon, the Audi RS4 and RS6 Avants and one that the world begged for, the BMW M3 Touring among a few others - all of them being performance models with more power than a wagon should have, just the way we like it. This means there are fanatics the world over that now have something cool to argue over at braais and in the local watering hole - which wagon is best. Thanks to the talkative and expressive Mat Watson from Carwow, we now have an answer as to which one is best out of the two most popular options, the M3 Touring and the Audi RS4 Avant. The RS4 and the M3 are perfect rivals being in the same class and being of similar sizes. One setup features a twin-turbocharged in-line 3.0-litre 6-cylinder powerplant and the other a twin-turbocharged V6, and both have power directed to all four wheels.
The BMW M3 Touring was something BMW fanatics, and the market in general really needed and as a result, it had to be something very special, and it seems that BMW got the recipe right. The M TwinPower Turbo inline-6-cylinder powerplant is rated to produce a healthy 375 kW with a very healthy 650 Nm of torque. Mated to the lightning-fast 8-speed M Steptronic transmission with Drivelogic and the associated M xDrive all-wheel drive system with the Active M differential, BMW techs claim the car can reach 100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds and 200 km/h in 12.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 280 km/h if the M Driver’s Package is optioned. The car tips the scales at 1 865 kg. Pretty impressive. The longroof from Audi, the RS4 Avant is equipped with a 2.9-litre V6 that’s also fed boost via a pair of turbochargers, and in the case of the four rings the setup is rated at 331 kW with 600 Nm of torque which is less than in the BMW rival, but the Audi does come in 120 kg lighter and that’s like having a Fourways Boet riding shotgun. Does the power difference make up for it or not? That’s what this test has been set to determine, which longroof is the boss. The RS4 Avant is claimed to hit 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed limited to 250 km/h in stock form.
Take a look at the YouTube video pitting two of the coolest cars on the market today up against each other to see who rules the proverbial roost when it comes to the lesser-spotted station wagon / Avant / Touring. Both cars feature rather similar-sized powerplants that are both twin-turbocharged and mated to very competent all-wheel drive drivetrains, which means they're greatly matched. It's a hard choice for us to choose, where is your money leveraged?: BMW M3 Touring v Audi RS4: DRAG RACE | Carwow
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