MotorTrend Comparison - CTS-V Coupe vs. M3 vs. RS5

MotorTrend has put together a very interesting comparison of the heavy hitters in the luxury sport coupe segment. We will not spoil it for you (watch the video below) but the the results are pretty much as expected. The M3 is the lightest car in the class by over 300 pounds to the next closest competitor, the Audi RS5. The CTS-V weighs in at just under 600 pounds more than the M3 at a whopping 4254 pounds. That would certainly explain why the CTS-V coupe only manages 4 more mph through the traps than the M3, despite the 140 horse advantage on paper. This just further goes to show how efficient the M3's drivetrain is.

The RS5 is way too little, way too late. The car is not even available for sale in the USA and is being touted as a 2013 model. By the time it is for sale in 2012, will anyone really care any longer? Even with a higher redline, direct injection, larger displacement, and higher compression paired to a dual clutch transmission the RS5 puts up numbers that would have a hard enough time pulling away from the E46 M3 let alone the E92. The car manages a 12.8@108.2, not even an improvement on the RS4. Audi uses a drivetrain that simply is not conducive to high revving powerplants. AWD sucks too much power and adds too much weight for the RS5 to be competitive with the M3. The car should have had forced induction, period. When this car hits, BMW will be readying the next generation M3. Is the RS5 even relevant?

The M3 continues to be the car to beat in the segment and shows that sometimes less is more.