Can A 700bhp BMW M4 Beat A Ferrari F12 Over A 1/2 Mile Sprint?

The M4 may have half the cylinders of the exotic F12, but this particular example has been tuned up to 700bhp - not far off the Ferrari's 730bhp output. Is that enough for the German to vanquish the Italian at this 'Unlim 500' drag event?

Matt Robinson

02 Jun 2016

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Spoiler: YES it can

U da real mvp

There is a difference between 700bhp and 700whp.

The M4 is producing 700bhp at the wheels while the F12 is producing 730bhp at the crank. Meaning that by the time the power goes through all the transmission losses, it’ll have a lot less power at the wheels than what this M4 does.

True, but the difference wont be huge, the ferrari will have what, roughly 680bhp at the wheels? that is not far off the M4’s 700bhp and the m4 will also be heavier so considering this the M4 did not do too bad at all.

At the end of the day you are in a bmw rather than in a Ferrari , i’d better lose in a Ferrari x)

I would rather lose knowing that sometimes, cheaper cars doesn’t mean better, rather than to lose feeling that I just wasted my money.

Power to weight ratio is better for M5.

Most if not all people would rather have the ferrari, but this race is not about which car is better, its about which is faster and in that respect the M4 did well.

which is faster top speed wise, m4 or m5? and by top speed i mean delimited top speed of course..

If stock then, this is actually an interesting question. The M5 has a more powerful engine while the M4 is significantly lighter…hmm, not sure

Have you seen the tires on the M4? Those are drag tires, the F12 just has it’s standard tires…
And there indeed is a difference between 700hp and 700whp…
It is still impressive!!

well spotted

To be honest I was surprised that the F12 could almost keep up. I thought the M4 would have a way more brutal launch hence the drag tyres.

There are alot of people saying they would rather have the ferrari, yes most would but it is still impressive for a bmw M4 with ‘similar’ hp to beat a ferrari full stop.