BMW M8 vs Mercedes-AMG A45 S drag race

Could a Mercedes A45 really beat a BMW M8 in drag race? Tap on the video below to find out.

BMW versus Mercedes. A grudge match that has played out in the worlds of Formula 1, DTM (German Touring Cars), the British Touring Car Championship, and just about everywhere else – including our drag strip.

On the surface, this looks like a proper David and Goliath match-up. The BMW M8 has a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8, while the little Merc has a single turbocharger force-feeding air into a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine. That BMW V8 wallops out no less than 625hp and 750Nm, while the Merc’s engine develops 421hp and 500Nm or torque.

Both cars have four-wheel-drive and eight-speed self-shifting transmissions, so there’s no help for the Mercedes there, either. If you were the driver of the Mercedes A45 S, you might not be feeling too confident about now, reduced to consoling yourself with the thought that you’ve only spent £51,000 on your car, while the BMW driver has shelled out more than double that, £121,000. And yet…

Bear in mind that the Mercedes’ engine is the most powerful 2.0-litre engine ever in a standard road car. And also that the Mercedes weighs more than 350kg less than the BMW.

We wanted this test to be comprehensive, so we made full use of the BMW’s switchable four-wheel-drive system, and recorded runs with the M8 using two-wheel drive and then four-wheel drive. Without giving anything away, it’s fair to say the differences in the two runs are stark.

Can the AMG’s weight advantage help it in the in-gear roll-on tests, and can it use its lightness to leave the BMW rolling in the emergency-stop test? Sit back and check out the video.