Heavy vs. Light: BMW M2 Competition goes up against an Alfa Romeo 4C

What would you say is more important, more horsepower or less curb weight? It’s all relative, of course, but these two guys from Great Britain still wanted to find out.

Compared side by side, the BMW M2 Competition is the obvious favorite of the two, packing 411 horsepower (306 kilowatts) against the 243 hp (181 kW) of the Alfa Romeo. But things start to get interesting when you consider that the Italian coupe weighs in at a mere 895 kilograms (1,973 pounds), contrasted by the bulky Bavarian’s 1,662 kg (3,664 lbs). In the end, both accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in the same 4.4 seconds.

Since the track was wet, the drag race turned out to be a test of drivers’ abilities as much as it was a test of the acceleration performance of their chosen rides.

Watch the video for a really insightful test or read on for spoilers.

The Alfa Romeo 4C won the first run by accelerating faster and holding on to the maximum torque all the time, while the BMW driver shifted into second gear too soon. The second time around, the BMW guy engaged the car’s anti-skid system to help him gain momentum on the wet asphalt – but once again, it did not help much. The third race was marked by the Alfa driver making a blunder early on, giving the M2 the headway it needed to win. The fourth and final race conclusively demonstrated that the two cars indeed come quite close to each other in terms of acceleration potential, and the main discriminator between them is the person occupying the driver’s seat.