People shopping for a Porsche 911 GT3 or a BMW M4 CSL aren’t necessarily interested in top speed as these two cars are all about going fast around the corner. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting to see which of the two track-focused machines is better for accelerating in a straight line. With both high-powered coupes being offered exclusively with rear-wheel drive, a drag race on a damp surface should prove to be quite interesting.
The folks over at AutoTrader lined them up and put Rory Reid behind the wheel of the Porsche while Alex Kersten drove the BMW. The 911 GT3 and M4 CSL are similar to a certain degree as both have six-cylinder engines, automatic gearboxes, and a RWD layout. Thanks to its twin-turbo setup, the M model is more potent by packing 550 hp and 650 Nm (478 lb-ft) whereas the naturally aspirated flat-six of the GT3 produces 510 hp and 465 Nm (343 lb-ft).
While the limited-edition M4 CSL is automatic-only, you can get the Porsche with a six-speed manual. However, the car featured here has the seven-speed PDK to even the odds. Although the GT3 is down on horsepower and torque, it makes up for that by being significantly lighter since it weighs only 1,435 kilograms. That’s 190 kg (nearly 420 lbs) less than BMW’s Competition Sport Lightweight.
The M4 CSL struggled for traction considerably more than the 911 GT3 and won only one of the four drag races. In the subsequent rolling race from 60 mph (97 km/h), the BMW was initially the slower car, but it managed to recuperate the lost ground to win by a hair.
In the final comparison, the brake test from 100 mph (161 km/h) showed a massive gap as the much lighter sports car from Zuffenhausen came to a full stop way sooner than Munich’s coupe of which only 1,000 units are being made.
As a final note, we should point out the price difference between the two since the M4 CSL is roughly €28,000 cheaper than the 911 GT3 if we compare their prices at home in Germany.
Source: AutoTrader / YouTube
