It is a well known fact that German automakers can be a little conservative with their performance statistics in order to ensure that customers and critics are never disappointed. Car and Driver, though, has found that BMW has been more than a little conservative with its M4 Competition xDrive.
The outlet found that the all-wheel-drive sports coupe was able to reach 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 2.8 seconds, considerably less than the 3.5 seconds the automaker estimated it would take to reach that speed when it unveiled the car in 2021.
The M4 Competition xDrive continues to be impressive after it reaches highways speeds, too. The car managed to complete the standing quarter-mile in 11 seconds flat at a speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). That’s 0.6 seconds faster than an M3 Competition powering just the rear wheels could manage in C/D testing, illustrating the off-the-line advantage that comes with all-wheel-drive.
Read Also: BMW M3 And M4 Competition Gain xDrive, Hit 62 MPH In Just 3.5 Seconds
A standard M4 with rear-wheel-drive and the manual transmission, meanwhile, was only capable of reaching 60 mph (96 km/h) in 3.8 seconds and took 12.1 seconds to run through the quarter-mile sprint.
The M4 Competition, on the other hand, is only available with an eight-speed automatic transmission. It’s attached to a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that makes 503 hp (375 kW/510 PS) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque, though BMW is potentially being conservative about that, too.
In March 2021, IND Distribution put a standard M4 on its dyno and found that it could be making as much as 547 hp (408 kW/555 PS) at the crank. That’s 74 more horses (55 kW/75 PS) than the standard car and 44 (33 kW/45 PS) more than the Competition.
Little surprise, then, that the car outperforms BMW’s estimates when it hits the track, too.
