C8 Corvette vs. BMW M4 Comp: Who Wins a Drag Race?

Both of these brand icons perform surprisingly similar on paper. Will the BMW’s 20k premium over the C8 give it the advantage?

Nothing like a good old drag race between two sports coupes. This time the challenger to the C8 Corvette is none other than the 2021 BMW M4 Competition.

The good folks at Edmunds on YouTube decided to take these two respective icons out to Willow Springs International Raceway for some testing. What’s your guess on the results?

Turbo inline-6 vs naturally-aspirated V8 – a historical battle of the engines

Starting off, let’s talk a little bit about the racing line up. A completely new car for the year, BMW has updated their iconic M car with 503 HP from its twin-turbocharged S58 inline-six engine.

The C8 finds itself with just a bit less horsepower and weight than its German rival. These cars are surprisingly similar from a performance standpoint on paper.

One glaring difference however is the price gap between these two sports cars. The BMW is at a premium of over $20k compared to the Chevy.

Imagine what one could do with $20k worth of modifications on the C8. There most likely wouldn’t even be a chance for the BMW in this race if that were the case. Just something to keep in mind.

4 different races – two from a dig and another two from a roll

So after getting rid of all the boring traction and stability aids, the cars were ready to rumble. Hosts Carlos Lago (in the Corvette) and Kurt Niebuhr (in the M4) decided on a simple format.

There would be two races from a dig and two more from a 40 mph roll. Let’s see who came home victorious.

Race 1 would be a decisive win for the BMW, as Niebuhr would get an amazing start off the line. However, they couldn’t consider this definitive so they had to run it back.

Race 2 would go to team Corvette by a narrow margin. Without a doubt, the Corvette’s lower weight and engine location help it gain traction to fly off the line.

The first 40 mph roll race would result in another win for the M4. Niebuhr would use some cheeky brake boosting to help the BMW move with immediacy.

The second race would seal the deal with the BMW closing out the Corvette by about a car length.

BMW wins more races, but does it beat the Corvette outright?

After the results of the second race, Lagos could hardly control his laughter. Both hosts were convinced that BMW had severely underrated the power output of the S58 engine (not an uncommon occurrence for the brand).

While the Corvette was surely quicker off the line, the BMW managed to perform better from a roll race. Let’s see also consider the test track results as well.

Both cars perform spectacularly close in mostly all disciplines, but there are some nuances between them. The Corvette has a faster 0-to-60 and 1/4 mile times, but the M4 maintains a higher trap speed overall.

When it came to both braking and skidpad performance, the Corvette beat out the BMW in both standards by small margins.

Is there a clear winner here? Well, we think so. If we consider that there is only minor differences in the performance of these cars then the most evident deciding factor is price.

The C8 is capable of providing similar, if not better performance than the BMW for $20k less. We think that speaks volumes about both the capabilities and the overall value the Corvette provides!